Professional identity

I am curious about everything around me, how things work, and why they function the way they do. Ever since I was a child, I remember that I took things apart to see their mechanisms, but also create them myself using LEGO. Setting the foundation of my spatial awareness and mechanical skills of today.

I have a very broad interest, and love to listen to someone talk about something they really enjoy. But I can’t really say that I have one subject in which I excel. These broad interests originated from the enjoyment of starting new things, whether these were projects, or learning new hard skills. Ranging from learning how to animate, coding simple digital tools back to learning how to 3D model. Coming from a multimedia and communication background, my comfort zone extends to users and other designers. Helping them to achieve their goals, discussing ideas or co-creation. Because of my relaxed nature and professional attitude, I am easy to work with, people – either users or other designers – feel comfortable talking to me.

When starting a project, I like to debrief the project and analyse the stated goals, by observing users through their everyday routine, or -when applicable- by using the inside out method, to experience the routine myself. Mixing the wishes of the client with the experiences the users have. Ideas start inside my head, up until I have a clear picture of where I want to go. With my comfort zone in the digital world, I look at which (digital) tool helps me best to communicate what I have in mind.

I like to be working on projects in which I can challenge myself to learn new things. One of my strengths is to continue and sharpen ideas of others, getting to the essence of an idea or complex scenario or to find alternatives if solutions don’t work as intended. I prefer to work with programs such as Illustrator, InDesign or Blender over craftwork or sketching, mainly due to the fact that these tools help me to create the idea in my head with a higher accuracy, making it easier to communicate.

I am young, finished my middle school (HAVO) at 16 years old, my bachelors degree at 20 and if everything goes well, finish my masters at 23. Where this is often a positive remark, I do notice some downsides. Where I am still malleable, I sometimes have a difficult time expressing myself or standing my ground during an argument, seeing the other as more knowledgeable as they have more experience. Another downside is to know when to ask for help, as I will postpone these questions as a result of not wanting to be a burden to others.

Everything combined ensures a drive to always find a solution. This solution is created via an iterative design method, having multiple phases of research and scoping, idea generation, creating and testing. I like these methods due to the trial and error possibilities it provides. Quick, shorter steps that can be validated due to the high interactivity with experts and users.