How did my journey begin?

I was born on the Belgian coast near Bruges in June '69, the youngest of three children, and always seemed to approach things my own way. I wrote my name and other words not just backwards but as an exact mirror image of what the letters should be. I was left-handed but taught to write "right" so I'm now oddly ambidextrous.

From an early age, I immersed myself in drawing, and love of illustration remains a hallmark of my work. Growing up, my family spent many holidays in France, including skiing in the French Alps since I was 4. Though it has been since 2006 that I last skied, when I spoke at web conference Web Directions North in Vancouver, Canada. Before this date it was 13 year ago and I haven't skied since then. I've been riding my bike ever since, mostly 3 times a week. By doing so I discovered more and more the beauty of my own country and my love for cycling in general. Belgium is a small, beautiful country in the heart of Europe, and while I feel distinctly and proudly Belgian, I also love Swiss typography and graphic design, and have always been intrigued by the richness of work from countries around me. 

My Career

My career began in print, in 1992, the following year after I graduated, focusing on logos, stationery, and brochures — and using the name Duoh! In 1995 I added website design, multimedia development, and UX / app design.

In 2000, I officially founded Duoh! (as a legal entity) with Geert Leyseele. Partners in life and work, we live in Deinze, balancing each other. I love all things design, as well as soulful house music, biking through the countryside, and, of course, nourishing my friendships with the gifted and wonderful people around the world who I've met through the web over the past few years.

I choose my projects based on how well I connect with a company. I've worked on everything from the nice people at Pixel & Tonic, who are the builders of Craft CMS (this site's system), to wonderful creative projects for Facebook, Google, WordPress, MailChimp, Greenpeace, Adobe, the Library of Congress, Agfa, Ernst & Young,...  a wealth of small and large businesses. The projects are very broad and diverse, but always involve graphic design work of all kinds whether for print or digital such as web, UX / app design, print layout and brand identity design or pure illustration work. Way back in the 90ies I also designed the star icon that you see on the tails of the planes of LTE International Airways, and not so long ago a parking garage Parking Kursaal here in Ostend Belgium got a logo, color and iconography signage update from my hand.

My career has been rich with opportunities to envision, invent, and explore, as I've played with ideas and worked till the wee hours. In my portfolio on Duoh! you get a taste of my work. The projects from way back for the above mentioned big companies are not included, either due to an NDA I've signed (Google and Facebook) or just because they are too old (technological wise, or not online anymore etc.) to include.

The Web

I've started my early steps in web design and  HTML coding back in 1995. In 2004 I became known for my tutorials promoting CSS, as well as my Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop tutorials. I've spoken at a couple of web conferences over the past years: @media London, UK (2006),  Web Direction North, Vancouver (2006), SXSWi Austin - TX, U.S. (2007 - 2009), EECI Leiden, NL (2009), MultiMania, Kortrijk, BE (2010, 2012), New Adventures, Nottingham, UK (2011) and An Event Apart, Boston, U.S. (2011).

Interviews

Over the years I've given many (online and off-line) interviews, but a lot of them are not online anymore. Here are just a couple that are:

• Lovers Magazine (August 2022)
• The Great Discontent (May 2013)
• Vector Tuts (2009)
• Digital Web (2006)

About My Blog

This site is version 4 of my personal journey. It is more focussed on creativity and inspiration in general, and what I find on the web worth reading if you're a web designer or graphic designer. In the other sections I'm writing tutorials, and share some of my design process of the projects I've been working on. My Sidenotes are a collection of thoughts on subjects of my interests such as nature, renewables, energy transition, music, and cycling of course. In my monthly newsletter I share the good stuff I find on the web. Oh and if you subscribe, you get to receive this little gift as a thank you 😊