Recently our Managing Director Jeroen Verbrugge had his yearly get-together with design students from the German Hochschule für Gestaltung(HfG). This year’s hot topic was the position of Design to be at it’s very best, creating maximum added-value for our clients, consumers, and society.    

Jeroen enjoyed being ‘Gast Professor’ at the HfG in Offenbach, Germany, from 2004 – 2007. He enthusiastically shared his knowledge with the design students and got inspired by their fresh perspective on design. He kept in touch with his German colleagues ever since.

Almost every year Professor Peter Eckart visits our office with a group of students discussing hot design topics. We recently shared our thoughts amongst others about design thinking, design mindset, co-creation, IoT smart products, sketching and visualization, sustainability, etc. in a dynamic afternoon session.

We prepared an interactive presentation to get it all started and had a lively discussion about Design Thinking and our design philosophy Connecting the Dots. In our creative process we’re always in search for the ‘sweet spot’, covering the domains of user, technology and business at the same time. Design is the linking pin, pursuing an insight and user-driven approach. At the same time, Design Thinking is becoming more and more important, not just for creating products, but also for solutions for social and organizational issues. So why not let Design have its own domain next to the other three, the students wondered? At FLEX we’re convinced that Design will have a major added-value by connecting. A separate domain would lead to isolation, ending up in less effective design solutions. Some students felt more comfortable with more authority for design. The outcome is still open for the next meeting.  We’re ready for it! Sharing insights is essential for continuous development in the field of design.