Freya van de gaer
"Even as a child, poorly conceived products irritated me", claims Freya, whose penchant for good design earned her a Master's in Integral Product Development at the Hogeschool Antwerpen. Outside the work place, Freya gains creative inspiration from the world of animation, Mattotti's comic strips, Carol Shields novels, drawing, photography and movies.
Your first contact with Namahn was through a presentation its consultants gave at your school.
Yes, to help us develop insight into users and usage, my college invited Namahn to give a presentation on the process of designing "intelligent luggage", that is, luggage with digital functions. The idea was to give us a sense of the various disciplines involved in designing digital products. Namahn showed us how to use a set of methods related to contextual inquiry to conduct research, in this case, on the daily use of purses and school bags.
What approach did your studies encourage you to take in designing products?
I developed products from an economic, marketing, humanistic and technological perspective. However, my real appreciation is for the human side, the creative side of product development. This was reflected in my thesis, which was a playground for grown ups and children! I had to do a lot of user research to figure out how people interact with products and develop specifications for the final design.
What design project, in which you were part of a team, are you most proud of?
I collaborated on the design of a computer-driven energy management system that enabled family members to see how much energy they were consuming in the household and thus to reduce consumption. You could adapt the software that drove the program to the type of energy system your household had. The project excited me because it engaged children and adults alike. In addition to raising awareness, it produced distinct economic and environmental benefits.
Describe your work experience prior to Namahn.
Well, apart from student jobs as a postman at De Post, I had internships as a product developer and, most recently, I was part of an R&D team that designed inspection systems. As a mechanical designer in the team, I converted two-dimensional drawings into three-dimensional models and set up complex assemblies in CAD. But I never forgot the Namahn presentation, their approach to product design and I just saw myself working in this environment.
You've said that escaping into fantasy helps trigger new design ideas. What's your current favourite novel and what country would you most like to visit?
I love the Carol Shields novel Larry's Party. It's about this guy who begins life as a floral designer and eventually becomes this famous architect of garden mazes. As for travel, I have this quirky desire to visit Kazakhstan! You know, it's one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world and so it's where all the hulks of space capsules have fallen over the years. I think it would be an eerie thing to see!
