Hello World

Hey there! Let me introduce myself: I’m Niels, your local enthusiast about all things music and design. When I was a kid, I was always busy making stuff and experimenting (you know, like every other kid does 😅). But for me, it stuck, and I ended up turning it into my thing. After elementary and high school, I chose the creative route.

Fast forward through 4 years of studying interactive design in Enschede and graduating as an interaction designer in Amsterdam in 2017, I just kinda kept going... with zero plan. Now I’m 31, and I’ve realized I’ve been putting myself in way too many creative boxes. Time to break out! ✌️

Why this website exists:

In 2023, I went on an adventure to Toronto with some NoCodeCommunity peeps for the Awwwards Conference. We met the Webflow team, had some great dinners, listened to cool talks, took lots of notes (classic), did some touristy stuff (pics or it didn’t happen), and after the last networking event, I had this lightbulb moment: This is what I want to do:

• Meet people who get just as hyped talking about music and design as I do
• Recharge my creative batteries by hitting up more of these events
• Share way more of what I’m working on and appreciate the process instead of obsessing over the result

That night, after the final networking thing, I was chilling on a cozy street in old Toronto with Ilja van Eck, sitting in a comfy garden chair. We started talking about wanting to experiment more, letting go of my "signature style," and getting inspired by things outside of web design—like architecture, art, nature, and all that cool stuff. I decided right then and there that I was going to just do it. This was April 2023. Cue motivational music.

That was step one in figuring out what I really want. I ended up having a session with Koen from Droombaas, and we made this awesome overview of things I’m interested in. This was at the end of May 2023. It felt great to have this roadmap in hand, like I finally knew where I wanted to go.

Then, poof—months flew by, and by the end of 2023, I realized that the energy and motivation I felt in Toronto and after my session with Koen hadn’t really turned into much action. Oops.

So, I decided to create this little digital corner of the internet to share my thoughts, interests, processes, and experiments. I’m going full transparency mode here to get over my perfectionism and fear of rejection. By sharing my creative journey, I can make the rules, and hopefully inspire others to do the same.