Well, I had this company called Circus with a friend of mine. We did some web stuff and quite a bit of motion graphics. At some point, it made more sense for us to go our own way. I went to OFFF in Barcelona ages ago—one of the first ones, and I was blown away by what I saw there. All these different people: artists, developers, graphic designers, you name it. All working together, no ego bullshit, just people that went deep into their discipline and were super curious to start mixing their stuff with others. Amazing results, all new stuff, everything was new. It was so exciting that it made me want to be a part of this world. Digital and the web was all new and the possibilities seemed infinite and very positive at the time. It was all about creation.

All my friends went to law school and I really did not know much about design education.

My mother was always creating things. So it was not so much design but more creation that I was interested in.

Not sure. What studying law teaches you is to think in a certain way. It's a science technically, so you are taught to learn and look objectively. What is the role of law in society? How does law change society and vice versa? Why do we even live by this law? Who came up with it? But most of all, I think working in the creative field and not coming from there allows you to have a different perspective on things.

I used to organize parties, not huge ones but for around 500-700 people. I loved doing that. People that go to a party are usually up for everything. They can let go and surrender: to the night, to the atmosphere, the music, the weirdness, but also to others. With those parties, I really tried to tap into that. Create strange moods, unexpected music, make people forget about themselves and allow them to feel one with the crowd so they could let go. Sometimes this backfired, but sometimes you could see people flow. Dancing all out. Wonderful.

I mean this is really what I want to do with Random too. Make work that makes people forget about themselves and their context by showing them a different perspective, or invite them to come and reflect, play, and create. Let's make something together. Something weird. To do this in the commercial realm is hard, and with parties that is a lot easier. But hey, we will keep trying.

Yes. It's getting better, but we are not a place that sells off the shelf things. We like to make new things and challenge ourselves, and our clients want the same. With so much out there you have to make something that has not been done before to stand out.

After the studio in the east, I bought a studio where I also lived—next to the Amstel river. We worked from there for around 6 years but it became too small. Also, I became a father and needed a bigger place to live. So, I decided to live in my old studio and find a new spot for Random. The current studio was in a pretty bad shape when I found it, but it had character. I felt that we could do something good there.

The reason I asked X+L is they are super good designers; although, they will never say that about themselves. I like Random to be a studio that is always looking to make new connections with people that specialize. People that live for their work in a passionate way. I like Random not to have one signature. I like it to change all the time.

We have very strong creative people in-house, but we always look for the best solution for every problem. If we have the right person in-house we will use that person, but if not we will look elsewhere. This keeps everyone and the studio fresh. XandL were the best people to do this job and the result says it all. I am at least still very happy with the studio. We did not want a place with a huge statement; it should not feel "cool". It should feel like a pleasant place. A place that feels good to be in. A place that invites to create and feels open in every way.

We moved to an old school building quickly, which was a place filled with other creatives. A beautiful old building in the east of Amsterdam. Circus worked from a different office space which we rented from our biggest client. But that relationship became suffocating, so we wanted to move out. At that time, I also moved away from Circus and then found a spot in the east.

Yeah, actually a few people do. We love the plants. It makes the place feel alive. In summer the plants move with the light and grow, so the place changes because nature does. I like that.

Normally we don't work with ad agencies, as we have our own direct clients, but in this case, it was Tribal DDB Amsterdam that came up with the idea of a marble installation to illustrate the case of KLM. With that concept in mind, we tried a million prototypes and came to this final result. Fiction Factory, a company we work with a lot, also played a huge part in this project.

We use Slack, Google, and we used to use Basecamp. We stay flexible. We need to.

Well, we try to keep an interesting culture where we inspire ourselves by speakers from the outside or going to festivals or performances.

We hold 4 of these open nights every year. The last one was about innovation. Innovation is a word that is used so much that it has lost its value. So, we asked a philosopher to talk about what innovation is, and his conclusion was that innovation is love. Because love allows you to feel free, to live without judgment. And if you live without judgment you can see the world without any framing and you can be surprised by everything. Only people that see the world like that can make new things.

First work a few years in different places. Hire the best people around you. Take a coach. I have a business and a personal coach for reflection.

We are currently focussing on retail, and special interactive spaces and installations. We also have a lab where we continue to explore and play.