Before I switched to design, I was a programmer and project manager in creative agencies. That meant I always had something to do with design and designers. At that point, I still thought that designers were only there to make things look nice! Through my partner, I learned what designers really do and realized that it's not so different from programming. It's about why you do something and who uses the things you develop.

And at some point, I switched completely to design and incorporated various disciplines such as programming and planning.

Now, as the founder of my own design/creative studio, I have many roles at once. But my business card says “art director.”

I would say that, as a designer, I am responsible for the entire creative process of a product. This ranges from ecological and economic responsibility, to involving the client and their target group, to designing experiences, whether analog or digital.

There are still many prejudices against design. I think that because the end product is always something visual, it is either quickly dismissed as an “art form” or people say, “I can do that too, why should it be expensive?”

Added to this are concerns from developers and project managers, such as I had, that designers only design products to look good!

And in today's society, these prejudices have led designers to talk themselves down and drive down their own prices... thereby undermining their own value.

It always depends on the project. In the end, the tool doesn't really matter. The important thing in design is planning and strategy. In the past, there were also fantastic designs, and they didn't have computers.

I have to say that I hate Adobe and its philosophy, which is why I have now deleted all Adobe programs and canceled 90% of my account. I'm waiting for the last 10% to finally expire.

You should always look and experiment. In the end, implementation is the easiest part. Then it doesn't matter whether it's Adobe, Affinity, Canva, or whatever.

We also have letterpress letters lying around in the studio, and I'm looking forward to finally using them.

Just do it! There will always be people who don't like what you do! But then they're not the people you wanted to appeal to anyway!

Even if sometimes you yourself don't like what you do! Being self-critical is always good up to a certain point.

Not really! I tried out a lot of things until I knew what I wanted to do... from UX strategies to digital product design, industrial design, and even some architecture, to branding and fashion design. Just try everything and create your own role!

I think it's fatal when, for example, graphic designers look to graphic design for inspiration! This can lead to them adapting their concept to the design, which is not the point of design! So I look for inspiration in other things and in the people I work with!

Very often, these are things from the client's everyday life, such as architecture or art. Ultimately, it's about understanding the client, and they always bring inspiration with them!