Coming from a technical background, I chose the Co-Design Studio minor to work alongside creatives, immerse myself in the design process, and contribute to real projects for real clients.

From day one, I was introduced to methods, tools, and ways of thinking that were new to me. Although I’ve created plenty of websites and grew up surrounded by creativity, my mother being a graphic illustrator and my father a photographer, (also see the picture of me winning the BoekieBoekie children’s art prize when I was seven), I never had formal education or guidance on how creatives work. Terms like the Double Diamond, diverging, converging, and Crazy 8 all being new words in my vocabulary.

This gap sometimes created friction. I like being efficient and find it difficult when processes take longer than I think they need to. But creating strong ideas that actually work often requires thinking, rethinking, and then thinking some more. Looking back, I can really see how much I’ve grown in trusting the process and going through all the necessary steps before reaching a solution.