Design isn’t just my job, it’s what I genuinely enjoy doing.
I’m always happy to work with project managers who care deeply about their work and just need a hand telling the story. But even without corporate communication guidelines, logframes, or development jargon, I still find myself designing (would you believe it!). Some ideas start as small personal experiments and take on a life of their own. Here are a few of my favourite pet projects.
Postcards for Tanzania
I was lucky enough to live in Tanzania for several years. Like many people, I enjoy picking up a postcard when traveling. Not to send back home, but to use as a bookmark or stick on the fridge as souvenir. Surprisingly, despite the country’s beauty, there were hardly any postcards worth displaying. So I made a few myself.
What started as a personal project quickly found an audience. Local shops began placing orders, and years after leaving Tanzania, my postcards are still being sold across the country. Along the way, the collection grew to 23 designs, multiple poster adaptation and even a set of Tanzanian-themed Christmas cards.
A Novel Idea
One of the first places to stock my postcards was my favourite shop in Tanzania: A Novel Idea, the country’s go-to bookshop. Seeing my work there is an honour and I happily help them with any other design needs: wrapping paper, Christmas cards, tote bags, bookmarks, and gift cards.
Learning Dutch abroad
Living abroad with children has been a great privilige, but one of the downsides is the limited exposure to their home language. As a native Dutch speaker, I have therefore been strongly engaged in the volunteer Dutch Language School abroad. Besides being an active board member, I was also eager to use my design skills to help the school promote themselves.
Dar es Salaam’s boardwalk
Tanzania’s biggest city can look gritty at first glance, but its buildings tell its story of African, Omani, and colonial history. Nowhere is this more visible than along the city’s seafront. Wandering those streets inspired me to start drawing the buildings, lining them up and allowing you to see the city’s historic skyline in a new unified perspective. It started as a personal project, but got picked up by Air Tanzania’s in-flight magazine, which proudly displayed it.
