From Brabant to Amsterdam: My story

From Brabant to Amsterdam

I always knew I wanted to do something creative, although I had absolutely no idea what that would eventually look like. Growing up in a small village in North Brabant, my world wasn't exactly overflowing with creative career options. What started with choosing a design education eventually became the foundation for something much broader.

Growing up in Dinteloord

In 2013, I started my All-round Designer education at Zoomvliet College in Roosendaal.

Growing up in Dinteloord, a small village in North Brabant, choosing a creative education felt like a pretty big step. I knew I wanted to make things, come up with ideas and use my creativity, but I didn't have a specific job in mind yet.

Four directions and one choice

The first two years were all about discovering what I liked. I explored Art & Design, Graphic Design, Audiovisual and UX/UI Design.

Graphic Design and UX/UI appealed to me most, but choosing between them wasn't easy. I liked the visual side of graphic design, while UX/UI introduced me to something else I found interesting.

Not just making something look good, but thinking about how and why something works.

Eventually, I chose Graphic Design.

From Roosendaal to Amsterdam

In 2015, I moved to Nieuw-Vennep and continued my studies at Mediacollege Amsterdam.

Amsterdam was a completely different environment. During my studies, I interned at NEMO Science Museum and Mediadam B.V., two very different companies that gave me my first real experience of working in the creative industry.

At NEMO, I learned how to turn complex information into something understandable and visually appealing.

At Mediadam, I experienced a much faster creative environment where feedback, deadlines and getting things done were simply part of the job.

Both taught me something different about the way I like to work.

Creativity was only the beginning

At the time, becoming a graphic designer felt like the logical destination.

It turned out to be more of a starting point.

The years that followed took me into graphic design, UI and UX, websites, digital communication, marketing and increasingly into work that wasn't necessarily considered 'design' at all.

And I liked that.

I discovered that my curiosity doesn't stop when the design is finished. I want to know what happens before it, after it and around it.

How does something work? Why are we doing it this way? Could it be clearer or easier? And is there something I can contribute?

Still figuring things out, just differently

My path from Dinteloord to where I am today hasn't been particularly straight.

But I don't think I want it to be anymore.

Design gave me the foundation to think creatively, look at problems differently and turn ideas into something tangible. Over the years, I've simply added more and more skills around that foundation.

So instead of becoming the designer I thought I would be when I started in 2013, I became something that suits me much better.

A creative all rounder who likes to understand how things work, sees where there is more potential and isn't afraid to just pick something up and get started.