We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Henk-Jan Room ("HR").
As a Concept designer I want to inspire and enable human beings to connect! Encouraging real life interactions that lead to meaningful connections by making use of technology, mixing the digital world into the physical (instead of the other way around). As a designer I'm constantly questioning what makes us human. Thinking about our role as human beings related to our surroundings. To get inspired I practice perceiving what’s around me without judgement. I call it Amazement!
Henk-Jan Room Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Henk-Jan Room.
Designer Interview of Henk-Jan Room:
DI: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
HR : When I was young I wanted to become an inventor. I did study Industrial Product Design. Thereafter I started my own business. First I only worked for client commissions. Lately I mostly devise my own projects and bring them into the market
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
HR : Room for Concepts uses clarity of perception to better understand the world, applying fresh insight to create inspired designs that enrich life and solving contemporary problems. Room for Concepts draws on a range of expertise in ideation, design, technical function and producibility. I’m a Design Entrepreneur and founder of Room for Concepts. From my studio in The Hague, I devise my own projects as well as working on client commissions. My background in industrial product design, combined with a solid network of designers, manufacturers and software programmers, drives new concepts from inspired theory to seamless execution.
DI: What is "design" for you?
HR : Functional and serving.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
HR : Creative solutions for social challenges designed out of a psychological point of view.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
HR : A beer pouch suitable for festivals
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
HR : In a relax state of mind, enjoying company of creative and humoristic friends around me.
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
HR : The psychological impact of a design. Thinking about the problem behind the problem.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
HR : Excitement
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
HR : Satisfied and fullfilled
DI: What makes a design successful?
HR : Functionality and simplicity. Serving the true need behind (the right) problem
DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
HR : Is the right problem addressed.
DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
HR : It’s the role of a designer to explore the future and form a vision about that in order to serve and shaping the future, creating a right balance between people, planet and profit.
DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
HR : Tailor made design. Discovering and developing new materials. Looking for the core qualities of materials and making new and smart combinations. A stronger focus on a healthy balance of effectiveness and efficiency instead of just efficiency. Now these days there is a strong focus on efficiency in order to work towards mass production, whereby ‘form follows function’. If the material doesn’t behave the way we want we shredder it and break it down till we can manipulate it the way we want. In my opinion it’s more powerful to create the perfect balance between form and function that fits the selected material. We have to work in cooperation with nature. What is more, we have to learn from it in order to survive.
DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
HR : Nature is my ultimate inspiration: it is the best design ever because everything is in perfect harmony and connected to serve each other.
DI: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
HR : a psychological approach by exploring the problem behind the problem. And the context that frames the problem. Looking for ways to connect people in the real world.
DI: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
HR : The Hague, Netherlands. I like the crowded city and the hustle around me to get inspired.
DI: How do you work with companies?
HR : I create and share my concepts. That way I attract the right companies who are interested and want to collaborate to implement it into the market.
DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?
HR : It starts with a vision. An idea about the future. As a designer I'm constantly questioning what makes us human. Thinking about our role as human beings related to our surroundings. Then I look for contemporary problems and try to understand the empowering context that frames it. From that point of view I come up with new concepts to solve problems and add value. To get inspired I practice perceiving what’s around me without judgement. I call it Amazement!
DI: Can you describe a day in your life?
HR : a quite and easy start of the day. No internet till noon. Always focus on new opportunities next to daily activities. Eating healthy and doing running. Reading books before I go to bed.
DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
HR : Looking for collaborations and share ideas in order to let them grow. Collecting a solid network around you consisting of nice and smart people to cover the whole design process in order to making ideas happen. Always focus on the right balance in life. Everything is connected in one. Life is holistic. Making lot of fun. Fun helps me to come up with new ideas and blending work and private life together.
DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
HR : Being busy creating things is a universal desire of a human heart. As a designer you also have to play the role as a projectmanager what could be a hard and stressfull job to keep it all together.
DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?
HR : share and working together. Always looking for a deeper level in life and relationships.
DI: What skills are most important for a designer?
HR : profound understanding of a problem and the concerning target audience. Social skills to connect and compose the right team to make ideas happen.
DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
HR : Reading lot of books , making connections and talking with people with a different perspective in life. Sketching and making quick drawings. Photoshop and Solidworks to elaborate concepts.
DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
HR : Having a clear picture of my mission statement and the (right) tasks to reach my goals. Every week I take a look to all my responsibilities I have in life (towards work, family, friends, the world around me, etc.). Making a plan for the upcoming week to maintain the right balance. Using productivity Apps to keep a clear overview. Do it the ‘Getting Things Done’ style.
DI: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
HR : How do you come up with new ideas?
DI: Who are some of your clients?
HR : Business, investors and municipalities.
DI: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
HR : Solving social challenges on a pshychological level through physical concepts.
DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
HR : Looking for new ways to use technology in order to serve humanity.
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
HR : I have a strong and solid network around me of nice and smart people, with expertice that covers the whole design process. This way I’m flexible and can go fast and elaborate concepts from theory to seamless execution.
DI: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
HR : An Interactive Bench that connects people in the real world throught light interaction.
DI: How can people contact you?
HR : Website: http://roomforconcepts.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henkjanroom/ mail@roomforconcepts.com