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July 1, 2021
‘Give young people the opportunity to shape society’
Jan Erik was originally a graphic designer. He studied graphic design at ArtEZ in Arnhem and after graduating set up his own agency. After fifteen years, he'd had enough of that and went in a very different direction: he bought a fashion chain made up of twelve stores with the intention of innovating. But the sector is very conservative and before long he was mainly concerned to keep his head above water. "So I sold the chain again; I was moving further and further away from what I want to do and have it in me to do: to build something good together."
Meaningful solutions
After selling the fashion chain, the question arose ‘what now?’ Jan Erik started lecturing at Cibap, a vocational design school. “The young people there are trained to use design primarily for marketing and communication purposes. But I don't see a future in that. I thought: can’t we use design to provide meaningful solutions for people and society?” Idealism is a connecting thread in Jan Erik’s activities. “But you do need to be able to earn a living from it. So I decided to go into lecturing. On the Fine Art and Design in Education course, I was able to explore how I could make the transition from graphic design to social design: designing for the benefit of a socially-minded and inclusive society."
Golden hands
Jan Erik believes there should definitely be a Social Design course at intermediate vocational (MBO) level, so that students can make a difference to society through design. “There's plenty of interesting stuff happening around social design at higher vocational (HBO) level, but our MBO ‘golden hands’ are also capable of creative thinking. If they are not to miss the boat, they need to be able to get involved now." So his educational design assignment, ‘Atelier Urgent’, investigated whether it was possible to design a course in which MBO students could contribute to a better world. “I thought about the different parties involved: do students want that? What about the course? What about business?"
Helping hands
Jan Erik started with a learning pathway: a good stepping stone towards a real course. He tested it out at Cibap. “I was able to work with students from Phase 4. I did eight two-and-a-half hour workshops with them. I let them choose their own social/societal issues to work on, and that ultimately resulted in some remarkable projects. For example, a study into the mental and physical impact of the coronavirus pandemic on young people. This yielded an app that acts as a ‘pandemic pal’.” Which Jan Erik was able to present to businesses: "The message was: you are hiring HBO graduates to do this, but MBO graduates are just as capable.” He takes issue with people’s tendency to look down on MBO graduates. “I prefer to put my efforts into helping those who need a helping hand, in this case MBO graduates."
Flyposting
Jan Erik combined the Fine Art and Design in Education course with his work at Cibap. By his own account, he has worked ridiculously hard in recent years. "Weekends, holidays, evenings. But I had a goal, and that inspires you. You just go for it." He was delighted to find he could combine education, social design and visual art, connect them. “It came together in a flyposting campaign communicating idealistic messages in the form of quotes." I’d been given the tip not to do it at night but in the daytime, and if the police did turn up to simply have a discussion with them about it. When it came down to it, I felt so anxious about it that it kept me awake at night: I work at a good school, what if I end up in the cells? Eventually I did it anyway, but at locations where it is legal to put up posters. I did stick my posters over election posters, mind. That felt much better."
Jan Erik: “This GroenLinks wild poster (on the left in the photo, ed.) was happy to free up a good spot for my posters.”
“Now I'm a real lecturer”
Now, after two years of Fine Art and Design in Education, Jan Erik feels he has got everything he wanted out of the course. “I have explored how I can use my creativity and my entrepreneurship to make people think differently about an inclusive society, or to enthuse them and make them want to be part of it." The course was very beneficial for Jan Erik in professional terms. “I got a lot out of the education classes. For instance, something as simple as writing a lesson plan. I'd never done that before. But also, at a much bigger scale, the curriculum I designed. I'd never have been able to do that without the Fine Art and Design in Education course." The course has also meant a lot to him on a personal level. “Thanks to my experience as a graphic designer – in which I had expertise, and as the owner of a clothing chain – in which I didn't have any, I came to the conclusion that whatever I do, I always want to have expertise. Which is why, having done the Fine Art and Design in Education course, I now feel able to say that I really am a lecturer. There’s more I want to learn, but I've got the basics."
