HI AGAIN,

I started at the Grafisch Lyceum Utrecht in 2011 with the Graphic Design course. There I became acquainted with how words and images contribute to a brand identity. The focus was on designing physical expressions of a brand. During my internship, my interest shifted to designing digital expressions, websites and apps. That seemed great to me! That is why I chose to continue studying at Hogeschool Utrecht, where I completed the Communication and Media Design course. During this study, I chose to specialize in User Experience Design (UX). This specialization was focused on designing user interfaces, which is what I wanted to do. After completing my studies, I went looking for a place where I could apply and further develop these skills.

5th Corner Creative Club gave me the opportunity to apply my multidisciplinarity. This involved a role in the execution, making progress, physical and digital brand touchpoints. I have gained a lot of experience in, among other things, designing corporate identities, campaigns, websites, and apps. I had a clear role within a team of different creatives. My employer hired the people on a multidisciplinarity basis. One aspect highlights the other and if you have knowledge of both, then you are valuable.

Through 5th Corner, the opportunity arose to do an assignment for three days a week at Centraal Beheer in-house, to be part of a scrum team as a UX designer. The team focused on financial services and optimizing the customer journey of various products, from insurance to mortgages. I stayed here for a total of 3 years. I considered the diversity between the activities on the agency and corporate side to be very valuable and instructive. From my first team, I ended up in a more generic team. A team that served all teams and thus formed the basis of a consistent and optimal user experience. Here I contributed to setting up a Design System.

Making 'things' is what still excites me. I consciously mention ‘things’, because I don't want to be caught by one thing. And by ‘things’, I mean every resource, every touchpoint on the target customer journey. It is essentially visible to the consumer. Over time, thanks to my work at 5th Corner and Centraal Beheer, I have become aware of building brands in the broadest sense of the word. Not just creating the (user-friendly) thing.

I like to see myself involved in the processes of building, loading, and maintaining brands. In addition, I have recently taken steps to be more at the basis of a brand strategy and subsequent mental and visual brand identity. I am eager to develop myself further in this area in, but above all I want to keep my feet in the clay by continuing to make digital and physical brand expressions.

Do you want to know more? Get in touch!