5 thoughts on design
Can we design for the world we want, instead of the one we already have?
Can we design for the world we want, instead of the one we already have?
It's time to show who you are, rather than adapting to fit a design world that is still mostly homogeneous.
It's time to show who you are, rather than adapting to fit a design world that is still mostly homogeneous.
I feel hope seeing more POC students enter design. But I wonder: will the field actually let them stay?
I feel hope seeing more POC students enter design. But I wonder: will the field actually let them stay?
When your colleagues come from different backgrounds, it allows you stop performing and start working.
When your colleagues come from different backgrounds, it allows you stop performing and start working.
Don't reshape someone else's experience to fit your own understanding — that erases what they actually lived.
Don't reshape someone else's experience to fit your own understanding — that erases what they actually lived.
Want to know more? Read the full article below
During dragon's den @CMD Rotterdam
The big chair intervention
During dragon's den @CMD Rotterdam
The big chair intervention
During dragon's den @CMD Rotterdam
The big chair intervention
Intervention = Impact
After graduating during the lockdowns of 2020, An Na moved through two social design studios where the work meant going into neighbourhoods, sitting with people, and staying long enough to understand what was actually going on. One project An Na spoke passionately about was De Nachtclub, two chairs facing each other, bringing together residents, local police, young people and civil servants for honest conversations, not during the day but through the night, in a neighbourhood where people felt unsafe after dark. "A report with results and recommendations is really passive, an intervention can have real impact."
After graduating during the lockdowns of 2020, An Na moved through two social design studios where the work meant going into neighbourhoods, sitting with people, and staying long enough to understand what was actually going on. One project An Na spoke passionately about was De Nachtclub, two chairs facing each other, bringing together residents, local police, young people and civil servants for honest conversations, not during the day but through the night, in a neighbourhood where people felt unsafe after dark. "A report with results and recommendations is really passive, an intervention can have real impact."
Where the real opportunities are
That way of working followed her into a traineeship at the Rotterdam Municipality, where she now works as a project lead on zero emission city logistics. Her work moves between stakeholders, plans and meetings, but she still makes time to go into the field. Recently she spent a day with waste collectors to understand their experience firsthand, because that is where the real opportunities are, for them and for the city.
That way of working followed her into a traineeship at the Rotterdam Municipality, where she now works as a project lead on zero emission city logistics. Her work moves between stakeholders, plans and meetings, but she still makes time to go into the field. Recently she spent a day with waste collectors to understand their experience firsthand, because that is where the real opportunities are, for them and for the city.
Traineeship Municipality Rotterdam (2024)
Co-created billboard in Hilversum
Traineeship Municipality Rotterdam (2024)
Co-created billboard in Hilversum
Traineeship Municipality Rotterdam (2024)
Co-created billboard in Hilversum
No need to explain yourself
What makes her current environment different from previous ones isn't just the work, it's the people. Her team is one of the most multicultural she has been part of, and she feels it in different perspectives, different humour and a shared understanding of what it means to not have to explain yourself. In earlier environments she noticed preconceptions, people being surprised by sides of her that did not match what they expected, the soft-spoken, reserved version of her they had assumed. "At some point your personality just comes out. Now I can just shout at the foosball table." You stop managing yourself and start actually working.
What makes her current environment different from previous ones isn't just the work, it's the people. Her team is one of the most multicultural she has been part of, and she feels it in different perspectives, different humour and a shared understanding of what it means to not have to explain yourself. In earlier environments she noticed preconceptions, people being surprised by sides of her that did not match what they expected, the soft-spoken, reserved version of her they had assumed. "At some point your personality just comes out. Now I can just shout at the foosball table." You stop managing yourself and start actually working.
The pressure you don't always notice
She sees a more diverse group of students entering design and that gives her hope. But hope comes with concern. During her own traineeship she received coaching specifically aimed at helping her grow into herself rather than adjust to the environment around her. Without that, she knows, the pressure to fit in can be subtle enough that you don't even notice it happening.
She sees a more diverse group of students entering design and that gives her hope. But hope comes with concern. During her own traineeship she received coaching specifically aimed at helping her grow into herself rather than adjust to the environment around her. Without that, she knows, the pressure to fit in can be subtle enough that you don't even notice it happening.
Being unapologetically yourself
New designers entering a field that is still mostly homogeneous deserve that same support from the start. For her, the goal was never just more diversity in numbers. It is about being visibly, unapologetically yourself; "…ik hoef mezelf niet te verkazen". There is pride in being different. It is time to show it.
New designers entering a field that is still mostly homogeneous deserve that same support from the start. For her, the goal was never just more diversity in numbers. It is about being visibly, unapologetically yourself; "…ik hoef mezelf niet te verkazen". There is pride in being different. It is time to show it.
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DESIGNERS IN FULL COLOR all rights reserved 2026
DESIGNERS IN FULL COLOR all rights reserved 2026
DESIGNERS IN FULL COLOR all rights reserved 2026