“Sometimes you have to cheat a little” Marten Kuipers tells about CMD LWD

“Maybe my approach wasn't exactly how CMD is intended. But this is what I learned a huge amount from during my studies: visiting networking events at companies and getting to know people. Sometimes you have to cheat a little.” This 'cheater' is Marten Kuipers. Art Director at DEPT®, a leading international design agency and CMD LWD alumnus.

Impressive alumni

“As a student, stories from alumni made the most impression on me. That really opened my eyes. Is that possible?! How did this person do this? It was nice to get these insights. That worked inspiring, tasted like more.”

For eight weeks Marten went with a fellow student to just about every talk or meetup in Amsterdam. Almost every day, from Groningen. In weekends and evenings. Why? “Because we both just really liked it. It's not like we wanted to avoid school, but there is so much more to do than just school. It is good to also look outside the walls of NHL Stenden. Everything we learned from that, we applied again in our projects. A very nice interaction.”

“I regularly worked late to finish something. Then I got reactions that I still don't understand to this day. For example: “Don't be so serious, it's just a school project.” My thought was precisely that this could be my best project ever! Actually, the four years at CMD were mainly time to work on my portfolio and build a network. I sometimes stretched the rules a bit for that. Within the minor Entrepreneurship, for example. I wanted to start my own agency with a fellow student there. But it was a requirement that it had to be a unique market. Many of the other students in the minor were busy with a startup or a product to sell. Then we just said that we were going to focus on startups. Five minutes later we had an approved plan and we could let go of that again.”

European credits Portfolio.

The currency of the HBO is the EC. European Credit. Study point. Sixty pieces you need for a propaedeutic phase, 240 earn you a diploma. “For many fellow students everything revolved around the ECs. I never saw it that way. I was busy with what the projects I worked on could mean for me later. For finding an internship, for finding a job. Much more important and with those study credits it also worked out fine for me.”

One of the assignments Marten worked on was the design of a new anniversary book for the HTS in Leeuwarden. No one else in the minor wanted to do this assignment.

“This is the project in which my passion and ambition for the profession fully ignited. Precisely because no one wanted to do this assignment, we found it a challenge. If we can make something cool out of an unattractive assignment, then that is much more impressive than with an assignment that is already attractive in itself.

We eventually did so much more than just designing a book. We set up the branding of a whole event, with talks. Had a website built by students in another minor, yet another minor we asked for 3D elements for an AR experience with the book. We scanned old buildings so that they can be in the experience as a 3D model. It is almost too much to mention. We dove into the archives, were stubborn and developed our own corporate identity. We spoke to alumni of the HTS, people in the sector, (former) teachers. We managed to pick content from all kinds of nooks and crannies to fill the book with. We worked very hard, every weekend and every evening.”

In addition to an amazing end result, it yielded much more. “We started to make a name for ourselves. This was our stepping stone to an internship. And suddenly we were allowed to do all kinds of things, such as participating in the honors program.”

“After the success with our project, the ball started rolling. Actually, I had no intention at all to go to the Randstad at that time. Wander Elout, one of my teachers, said then that I would be crazy if I stayed in Groningen. Because if I didn't move now, I would never do it again. I took that advice and now I am here in Amsterdam.”

And now?

As a senior designer and art director at DEPT®, Marten works together with a team for various clients. “Recently we did an assignment for The Mauritshuis. It is still quite an art to put down a good experience in the museum world.”

“What we found important is the accessibility and the experience of the website and the app that we developed. We pulled out all the stops, also in the field of audio for example. The goal: sell more tickets, longer sessions on the website and a positive contribution to the museum experience.”

“The most important advice I can give students is to delve into the business world. Go find out which design agencies there are, don't do that only when you go on an internship. And start building your network. I regularly get messages from students asking me to look at their work. It has so many advantages when you do that! You get a much better picture of what the field expects from you and what skills you need to work on and you put yourself in the picture. We receive hundreds of responses to our internship vacancies. If I see a familiar name among them because someone has already contacted me, such an application attracts my attention earlier.”

“If you didn't get everything out of CMD LWD, then that's on you. You get all the tools and possibilities to make something beautiful out of it.”

Marten Kuipers graduated from CMD LWD in 2016. Now he works as a senior designer & art director at DEPT®. With his work at DEPT® he won several awards, including for his work for Bijenkorf, which DEPT® worked on together with Dogstudio. It is difficult to make a selection from his work, because we get so enthusiastic about everything. Because you probably also like to look at beautiful pictures, we close with a mock-up of the Bijenkorf experience. You're welcome.