An inquiring mind

I was born in 1967 and in my early youth I decided becoming an inventor was my bigger plan. A beta based Atheneumprofile (including art) was a logical step. Industrial Design at the Technical University in Delft was my next aim: a study with a numerus fixus. I got rejected. I ‘parked myself’ in plan B: the Design Academy in Eindhoven. A serious art-education with a present time famous fellow students like Piet Hein Eek and Richard Hutten.

For three years I wasn’t lucky in the lottery and I stayed at the Design Academy. I started realizing that the combination of a creative mind and an intelligent analytic brain isn’t a very common talent. More focus on art and creativity and less on technology and processes wasn’t so bad for me after all. After internships in The Hague, Amsterdam and Italy I graduated. I started designing at 2d3d and after five years I became partner/owner/director. In 2001 I founded a new studio: hAAi, het Allemaal Anders instituut (The all different institute). The last years I increasingly felt our successful projects for clients are quite repetitive. I started searching for new challenges and diverted my focus from designing for clients to autonomous art and writing.

I like to define creativity as the capability to analyse situations, distinguish the common solutions AND developing new solutions. Recognizing unexpected contexts. An inquiring attitude. It’s not exclusively for jobs or functions as artist, musicians, architects or designers. Open minds can be found anywhere.

More than 20 years I’m leading projects, people and organisations. Using my creativity and other talents. Managing is a different way of creating. It’s creating circumstances in which people and projects flourish.

Managing processes, projects and organisations has become my second nature. I really enjoy analysing and managing complex questions or situations. To transform complicated issues to manageable pieces which can be dealt with. Art, design, writing, management: one goal always remains. I like tangible results.

In 2022 I found a new challenge, I started working as a volunteer lifeguard at the beaches of Scheveningen. It seemed a logical step after decennia of playing waterpolo and more recently my surf adventures.

My specialism: concept development