Boiled and me.
From design & illustration to digital transformation.
Quite a few times in my career, I have stood at a crossroads where I had the choice of delving deeper into skill sets (like 3D modeling, Animation, Digital Painting, etc.) or learning more about other, less “designer” type things like marketing, communication, people, business models and just how businesses generally work. My choice has steadily been non-designer skills, simply because I believe that it makes me a better, broader-oriented designer, who is able to align business goals with the needs of customers and users.
Boiled will remain here as my little business entity, I’ll operate from this domain maartenvdb.com
When I started Boiled back in 2003, my focus was to become a successful freelance illustrator/designer. I had no intention of growing it as a company. The name, however, would allow me to do so in the future if I ever changed my mind. And there have been moments where that could have certainly happened. In the past, it was where my online portfolio resided. My career has taken me in another direction, so for now, Boiled is the legal entity through which I conduct my business ‘stuff’.
So back in 2003, I started out as a junior (visual) designer, there were no titles like UX designer or like social media strategist, heck, there was no social media! I have a degree in Multi-Media design... which I am pretty sure is no longer a thing. As the industry evolved and matured, I evolved with it.
“Your employee experience translates directly to your customer experience.”
— Maarten