Member in the Spotlight: Luuk Disveld

This week we’re shining the spotlight on Luuk Disveld, Design Director of Generous Studio – a studio that works across the fields of design, development and motion for brands including Albert Heijn, KPN, Unilever and Foam as well as other design and advertising agencies. We sit down with Luuk and find out what technology he couldn’t do without, which architect he’s a huge fan of what he’d be doing if he wasn’t in the creative industry.

As the Club for Creativity, we'd like to ask you to get creative and draw a self portrait.

PERSONAL

What technology could you not do without?

At this time of the year especially, I’m a huge fan of Uber Eats. After a day of work I don’t have the patience to think about what to have for dinner. I just like to order my dinner, get some rest and take an evening walk before I go to bed. This is what inspired us to create an add-on for WhatsApp so restaurants can start selling their products via WhatsApp. It’s called Reorder – we’re testing with one restaurant at the moment.

What music could we find on your favourite playlist?

‘Spotify wrapped’ tried to define me in 2020 but with more than 750 different kinds of genres, I think I beat their algorithm. Currently I’m listening to the Christmas album of Frank Sinatra in the mornings and Muse, Limp Bizkit and Slipknot in the afternoon.

What is the most unforgettable place you have travelled to?

The most unforgettable place is definitely India. Jolene and Tjaco, from They VV, helped us plan this adventure and it was absolutely one I will never forget. It’s such an impressive country with many ups and downs. When we were afraid of getting food poisoning, we actually experienced altitude sickness while climbing a mountain in the Himalaya.

Who is your current art/design crush?

I’m a huge architecture and interior design fan. Anne Holtrop is one of the designers that inspires me. Also Benoit Lalloz – I've been trying to get my hands on one of his lamps for a while now. I’ll have to be patient though since he recently started working on a collection for himself.

I’m really inspired by architecture that searches for the right balance between user friendliness and beauty. Something that we too are always looking for in our work as a digital design studio.

If you didn't live in the Netherlands, where would you live?

In 2019 we started our development office in Lisbon. I was there for two months to help my partner Guido starting up there. My girlfriend and I fell in love with Lisbon. It’s really easy to get in contact with people and the city feels young and energetic. We fantasise about spending more time there in the future.

Who is the one artist whose work you'd collect if you could?

That would be Christian Rex van Minnen. I already have a litho from him. But if I could I’d like to purchase an oil painting of this artist. I hope my girlfriend allows me to. His work is so bizarre.

PROFESSIONAL

Which phase of the creative process excites you the most and why?

100% the start. Exploring the client and taking all the freedom without too much thinking within boundaries brings a lot of energy on our side but also to the client.

What makes a great or hero client?

I get a lot of energy and inspiration when the client is really passionate about their company or brand. What I really like about our job as designers and developers is that we speak to many people in different positions and different industries. It gives lots of fresh insights and makes us learn something new every day. If the client is transparent and really cares about their brand or product, that gives us the power to take that extra step. One of those clients that we are very keen on is Motherson. We have built a strong relationship with them over the years to the level that we feel as if we are part of their team. We created several digital products for Motherson like a custom HR Management tool and a 3D digital showroom for showcasing their newest products in the automotive industry.

If you weren't working in the creative industry, what else would you be doing?

The one thing I hate the most about my job is email. It can kill my concentration and I still haven’t found a good solution for it. Another thing I don’t like that much is sitting in front of the computer for that many hours – I like to do physical work. For our project in Dubai, I worked with a craftsman for 5 weeks every single day in his workshop. I thought I was quite a fit guy but after 2 weeks, I started feeling complications due to the heavy weights we had to carry – and I was only helping in the mornings. So if I can choose another industry to work in, it would be something where I don’t need email that much and I can do physical work – maybe a pro soccer player.

If you could pick one recent campaign/project that makes you think, ‘I wish I’d done that’, what would it be and why?

I’m always inspired by the brand Gentle Monster from South Korea. The way they position their brand in digital campaigns and their interiors is from another level. It’s entertainment and beauty. Things we believe in as well.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

I’m surrounded by positive minded people – thanks to this I receive good advice every day.

Out of the campaigns/projects you’ve worked on, which makes you the most proud?

That would be the EPD tool we’re building for Nibe. We started working on this back in 2015 with a really limited budget but with a bunch of very smart colleagues and clients. We delivered a MVP one year later. After its launch, it started growing in users and two years ago it was sold to a company from Germany. That gave us the possibility to make big steps last year with a complete UX redesign and more functionalities. This tool provides manufacturers the possibility to create a life cycle analysis calculation in order to get a complete picture of their product’s sustainability. Something that had to be done manually in the past which was very expensive and time consuming. With this tool it can be done with 10-15% of the costs and time.

Through our Members in the Spotlight feature, we aim to get to know both professionally and personally the unique qualities of our ADCN Members. If you would like to join ADCN, the Club for Creativity, you can find out more here.