5 thoughts on design
You can take a job just to get by, that's fine. Just don't let your mind settle for less than what you actually want.
You can take a job just to get by, that's fine. Just don't let your mind settle for less than what you actually want.
I don't want a cultural fit, I want a culture where different people actually fit.
I don't want a cultural fit, I want a culture where different people actually fit.
Connection or projects I force, rarely work out so I stopped doing that. The ones that I let go actually end up being meaningful.
Connection or projects I force, rarely work out so I stopped doing that. The ones that I let go actually end up being meaningful.
The best ideas come from people who think differently, not from people who think alike.
The best ideas come from people who think differently, not from people who think alike.
Be kind to yourself, trust your feeling, and stop asking whether it worked or whether you ruined it.
Be kind to yourself, trust your feeling, and stop asking whether it worked or whether you ruined it.
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Creative Confidence - book
A black cat with several goldfishes
Creative Confidence - book
A black cat with several goldfishes
Creative Confidence - book
A black cat with several goldfishes
Making connection visible
Nino currently works as an independent interactive artist and researcher at Kenniscentrum Creating 010, part of Hogeschool Rotterdam. Her practice keeps circling one question: what if human connection could actually be seen? That question led to Heartsync, an interactive installation where participants sit in a circle, each wearing a heart rate sensor, guided by sound to breathe more slowly and deeply. As their heart rates begin to synchronize, that shift is visualized live, light patterns that start out separate slowly forming into shared geometric shapes as the group's connection deepens. The installation has since been shown internationally.
Nino currently works as an independent interactive artist and researcher at Kenniscentrum Creating 010, part of Hogeschool Rotterdam. Her practice keeps circling one question: what if human connection could actually be seen? That question led to Heartsync, an interactive installation where participants sit in a circle, each wearing a heart rate sensor, guided by sound to breathe more slowly and deeply. As their heart rates begin to synchronize, that shift is visualized live, light patterns that start out separate slowly forming into shared geometric shapes as the group's connection deepens. The installation has since been shown internationally.
Carrying two things at once
Nino's parents, both half Russian and half Georgian, fled Georgia, and her family spent years navigating uncertainty around asylum in the Netherlands, including a period in detention when she was a child. It was during that time that she and her sisters were introduced to meditation and breathwork through the Art of Living Foundation, something Nino credits with resolving a lot of the anxiety and stress she carried for years, and still practices today. She grew up proud of where she came from and being multicultural, but says that pride lived alongside real shame, shaped by how the outside world treated her difference. It's a duality she doesn't try to resolve into something tidy, and it's part of why connection, and being seen as a person rather than a label, matters so much to her now.
Nino's parents, both half Russian and half Georgian, fled Georgia, and her family spent years navigating uncertainty around asylum in the Netherlands, including a period in detention when she was a child. It was during that time that she and her sisters were introduced to meditation and breathwork through the Art of Living Foundation, something Nino credits with resolving a lot of the anxiety and stress she carried for years, and still practices today. She grew up proud of where she came from and being multicultural, but says that pride lived alongside real shame, shaped by how the outside world treated her difference. It's a duality she doesn't try to resolve into something tidy, and it's part of why connection, and being seen as a person rather than a label, matters so much to her now.
One of the phone mock-ups made for an international client during DDW 2025
Co-created billboard in Hilversum
One of the phone mock-ups made for an international client during DDW 2025
Co-created billboard in Hilversum
One of the phone mock-ups made for an international client during DDW 2025
Co-created billboard in Hilversum
Designing for difference
That same instinct shapes how she thinks about workplace culture. Nino has little patience for the Dutch idea of "nuchterheid," staying level-headed and matter-of-fact. "I have nothing to do with being nuchter," she says. "I get hyped about things. I'm sensitive. I'm not nuchter at all." She pushes back just as directly on "cultural fit" as it's usually applied, arguing that homogeneous, nine-to-five environments leave little room for people who think or feel differently.
That same instinct shapes how she thinks about workplace culture. Nino has little patience for the Dutch idea of "nuchterheid," staying level-headed and matter-of-fact. "I have nothing to do with being nuchter," she says. "I get hyped about things. I'm sensitive. I'm not nuchter at all." She pushes back just as directly on "cultural fit" as it's usually applied, arguing that homogeneous, nine-to-five environments leave little room for people who think or feel differently.
Trusting the process
Nino is candid that it took her time to find people and work that fit. At a silence retreat, she once asked a meditation teacher why she still didn't feel like she'd arrived, despite doing everything right. His answer was one word: patience. It's advice she now gives students too, especially before street interviews: read a person's openness before you approach them, and trust that instinct over doubt. She's noticed the same holds for collaboration in general, the moments she's tried to force a connection or project into place rarely worked, the ones she let happen usually did.
Nino is candid that it took her time to find people and work that fit. At a silence retreat, she once asked a meditation teacher why she still didn't feel like she'd arrived, despite doing everything right. His answer was one word: patience. It's advice she now gives students too, especially before street interviews: read a person's openness before you approach them, and trust that instinct over doubt. She's noticed the same holds for collaboration in general, the moments she's tried to force a connection or project into place rarely worked, the ones she let happen usually did.
What's next?
That same pull toward connection is taking shape in her newest project: a wellness community in Rotterdam, built together with two musician friends. Still finding its location, it's meant to give young people a place to simply be together, without needing anything else to make it worthwhile.
That same pull toward connection is taking shape in her newest project: a wellness community in Rotterdam, built together with two musician friends. Still finding its location, it's meant to give young people a place to simply be together, without needing anything else to make it worthwhile.
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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