OBSERVE
As you will see throughout this website a lot of my projects are based on small real life observations, varying from deaf ballet dancers seen during a commercial to absent behavior of friends caused by a mobile phone. I like to get inspired throughout a project by these simple things in life, because they have become so normal in the everyday life of a user that they are often overseen. By using everyday things within a design project, you can show users how simple and straightforwared design can be, which is something that I appreciate most.
Related projects: Shall we play?, Cardboard Umbrella, NokNok
IMAGINE & BELIEVE
My believe is that the best projects are projects that start with a lot of imagination. Starting projects with the thought of a world in which everything is possible, opens up your mind for a lot of new ideas and helps to provoke others in being critical.
Related projects: Cardboard Umbrella, Auditory Localization, NokNok, Omeo
EXPLORE & EXPERIENCE:
Emotion
Most of my designs are in a way embodied. They become part of the users body and are therefore mainly focused towards the experience of the user with the product. A good example of this is the headphone project I did in my m1.2. Within this project I created a 3D sound telephone headset in which the actions of the user were coupled to the sound. Within this interaction the headphone didn’t play a central role, it was more about the experience that was given by the headphone to the user.
Aesthetics
Most of my designs are pure, simple, minimal and intuitive partly caused by the fact that the appearance of the designs is stripped to the functionality they have. An example of this is the design of NokNok. NokNok allows people to ‘knock’ to each other which is the reason that the phone has a ‘nipple’. I like the straigthforwardness in this way of designing, it shows just what it is and exactly for that reason you can create ‘characters’ of you designs.
Related projects: Shall we play?, NokNok, Omeo
SHAPE
‘We shape our tool and thereafter our tools shape us’ written by Marshall McLuhan is one of the key points in my designs. During my studies I got more and more aware of the influence a designer has on the daily life of a user. Taking the iPhone as an example, you can easily see how an invention like this can change the daily life of many users. What I like to do with my designs is to influence the daily life or better the (daily) behavior of a user in the simplest way possible. A good example of this is NOES, in which I created a breathing pillow that had to stimulate a breathing pattern and it therefore needed to be positioned on your belly. This direct coupling between your breathing and the breathing of the pillow made it easy for users to apply to the rhythm of the pillow. by creating a direct coupling between the actions and sensations of the user within the interaction with the product.
Related projects: Shall we play?, Noes, Auditory Localization, NokNok