Who is echter ontwerp?

Who is echter ontwerp? That is me: Willemieke van den Brink
In July of 2013 I graduated ArtEZ Institute of the Arts as graphic designer.
During my finals I did a research project on identity and authenticity of a human. It was named To the Core. It was a splendid project whereby I won the academy award. At the time, I didn’t know that this work contains and reveals qualities of me which forms the fundament of a social designer.

Straight after my exams I started my own studio, Willemieke van den Brink, graphic design.
Besides the regular design assignments I noticed that doing artistic research, social projects and working with and for people and society gave me a lot of energy in return.
Slowly I got involved in the world of social design, still working under my own name.
In 2015 I decided to focus completely on ‘Social design’
Social design is a word that is used in very different ways and carries different translations.
For me, social design is relating myself and my work to life, human and society.

“This can be a research on solutions for informal care by family; or a project on the mentally ill still living a purposeful life but cannot talk about their illness because of the taboos. It can be a project on vulnerability or about connecting different people.
The common thread for me, is trying to eliminate misunderstandings; finding solutions to insoluble problems; and doing this with every sense in my body. To cooperate with all sorts of different disciplines, keep adventuring, researching and discovering.

Would you like you to know more? Or do you want to meet up? Feel free to contact me!