Identity

My identity in detail

 

The rational, intuitive observer – The why

 

Being a designer, for me, is more than a profession. It is a way of life. In its essence, design is about looking around you, understanding how the world works, and questioning how it can be different, better, or remain the same. At every moment of the day. It is the lived experience of being a human being, that gives me insight into the gaps that still need to be filled or opportunities that still need to be taken. And so I look. I look at different things in different ways. I look at people, buildings, maps, and nature, at systems and histories. I learn about, discuss, and explore different sciences, creative practices, socio-economic developments, and cultural events. And I experience friendship, citizenship, collaboration, and competition.

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I do not do these things because I have to, but because I love to. It is why I try to offer other people those same things through my work. To learn, to look, and to experience.

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The blinded observer

I understand that the trust in my personal observations makes me prone to a skewed worldview. This is why I try to never press my personal beliefs onto others, but always propose it as a possible way of looking at things. Why I am always eager to obtain more understanding and to have my beliefs disproven. And why I am always intrigued, rather than appalled, by other ways of living and thinking. The fact that I can never design anything with certainty about how this world works or what it needs, means that I should do the second-best thing. To design things my friends and I love, and to trust that there are others out there who would too.

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The social, entrepreneurial magnet – The how

 

I love meeting new people and I love how groups of people can achieve great things under a common goal. That is why my work always revolves around bringing people together under a common passion. At the start of my studies in 2019, I wrote in my first Professional Identity draft: “If I would have to describe what I want to be as one thing, it would be in the analogy of a magnet. I want to be a magnet that attracts talented people by being interested in them and interesting to them,...”

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This desire has remained virtually unchanged. Over the past three years, I have had the pleasure of having met and worked with countless talented people. At first among my peers within the Industrial Design faculty, later at innovation Space during my work as a student assistant, and eventually at Team HART that I co-founded in 2020. During all this, I have built a network that enables me to create and participate in new opportunities. I take on these opportunities by using the knowledge that I have obtained through a variety of entrepreneurial courses, including; Technology Entrepreneurship, Disruptive Technology, and Design Innovation Methods, as well as through my extracurricular activities like participating in three consecutive years of the TU/e Contest and partaking as a finalist in the Philips Innovation Awards.

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My ability to be a magnet can be thanked to my enthusiasm for what others and myself do, my deep attention to the people I talk to, my broad set of conversational topics, my vocality about future ideals, my strength in storytelling and public speaking, and my lighthearted way of interacting. On a more practical note, I have knowledge of a broad set of business tools, possible business and revenue models,  and basic idea-to-market pathways.

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The generalist tinkerer – The what

 

The power of creation, of taking something as abstract as a thought and turning it into something real, is one of the most amazing human abilities that I have witnessed as of yet. For me, the ability to create is a way of expressing deeper underlying philosophies and ideals in order for them to materialize into society. That is why I have always explored what can be made, how can be made, and what should be made.

 

From building sandcastles, blanket fortresses, LEGO structures, and tree houses, to making Minecraft buildings, writing software plugins, wiring electrical prototypes, modeling 3D objects, and ideating new concepts.

This journey of discovery has provided me with a broad and relatively developed set of tools that allow me to convey and present my ideas physically, visually, and convincingly. These tools include sketching, brainstorming techniques, graphic design, 3D modeling and printing, electrical prototyping, and executing user research. However the most effective tool, for me, has to be collaboration. The creative spark that can happen when multiple people think and work on the same problem is more effective than the most expensive piece of equipment in my workplace.

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My love for creation and how the act of it can be a unifying experience is why my work aims to enable people to create new things in new ways and to do it together.

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The clumsy tinkerer

Although I have made notable progress in my practical skills as a designer, there is still a lot to be learned and improved. Firstly, I wish to improve my production techniques (better material use, more efficient and compact electronics, more rigid exteriors, and more refined aesthetics) to bring my ideas to a (near-) market-ready level of quality. Secondly, I have a lot to learn about manufacturing and the overall organization of producing and selling products.