MY STORY

My career as a product designer started halfway through my studies in 1983, with my first freelance design assignment being for a medical product. In the decades that followed I was able to work with my studio for various companies and markets in Europe, the USA and Asia for customers ranging from start-ups to multinationals, from toys to medical instruments and from disposables to capital goods. These assignments often extended from early ideation phases to setting up the first production of products aimed at a wide variety of target groups. This often required inventive solutions, resulting in a series of patents. I experienced first hand what it is like to work with different cultures and discovered how the identity of each company - including the mission, norms and values - has a fundamental impact on the market approach and the design process time and time again.

“Design is more than giving shape to objects.
Design is about creating a soul.”

At the same time, a painful realisation grows in me that this beautiful work also has a dark side in the background. When I visited factories in low-wage countries for my clients, the pollution was confronting, visible, I could smell it, and it was painfully tangible. That's partly why I got stuck when a client with a cheap brand for kitchen appliances thought that a nice looking product was enough and paid no attention to its utility, reliability and lifespan. Moreover, he worked with the cheapest factories in China, where my carefully written work instructions were ignored. Additionally, he thought that the budget for my visit to the factory was a waste of money. Sometimes I could mask my hiatus by putting in extra unpaid time on something else, but this was the first client I decided to say goodbye to. Our values were too fundamentally different. It was with a heavy heart, because these types of assignments are rare to get and kitchen appliances are nice, but I had to be able to support the results.

Fortunately, I also got to work on great projects for high-quality medical companies which are characterised by their strict requirements regarding legislation and safety. Since the medical world offered a great growth opportunity, our studio - of eight creative colleagues - decided to develop our working method, record the procedures in detail and bundle them into a manual. In 1995, our studio became the first design agency in the world to receive the ISO 9001 quality certificate. It proved that we had our creative processes well under control and provided new exciting customers. Not only the targeted medical companies, but also MaxiCosi. When we were assigned to design new child car seats for them, we soon realised that these projects were so complex that I wanted to broaden my view even further. Medical instruments are approached quite rationally by their highly educated users, but the consumer market and the automotive industry consist of a much more colourful group, where the emotional experience requires much more attention. The number of stakeholders that came into the picture grew steadily.

The financial crisis hit Europe in 2008 and work from our clients dried up. My partner Marianne and I were faced with a heavy decision: sink or swim. We decided, we will not sink. We started our own company and brand: Secrid. This became a way to test my holistic approach that has led to the integration of all activities within the design process. Through my 15 years of being the co-Founder of Secrid, I have been able to promote design as a force for good, which I think is highly necessary in today’s day and age. As the company matures, I am able to focus on my goal from all those years ago; creating the ultimate design principles that can improve not only design, but also the world. My goal is to make this my legacy and share and this with other creators that can hopefully inspire the masses.

I hope this can inspire you.

René

MY TIMELINE

1986 - HABITAT CONTEST

In 1986, they win a design competition and are invited to visit the design studios of Sir Terence Conran, the founder of the Habitat store in London. This trip turns into an unforgettable weekend during which and it becomes clear to them what they want to achieve 'someday' in their lives: their own creative studio and their own consumer brand.
1990 - DESIGN STUDIO

In addition to his work at the NHTM, René does works part-time freelance. When his first employee joins, his freelance practice changes into a design studio. This firm is named DSI (Design & Styling for Industry) on 1 January 1990. Clients included well-known manufacturer of child seats Maxi Cosi. Other customers are KPN, Satcom, Sitecom and Quooker.
1995 - SPIRID Design Process Certified

Since the medical world offered a great growth opportunity, our studio decides to develop our working method, record it in detail in procedures and bundle it in a manual. In 1995, our studio became the first design agency in the world to receive the ISO 9001 quality certificate. It proved that we have our creative processes well under control and provided new exciting customers.
1995 - First DSI Matrix

Description goes here
1999 - INTRODUCTION TO CHAKRAS

In 1999, my daughter Michelle had reached the age of 5 and started to make lots of drawings. This was her way to express what she felt and saw when she observed people. I became curious and decided to read this book about people’s energy. Chakra psychology appeared to be a millennia old theory from India, describing the connections between body and mind. Some people have the ability to actually see this with bare eyes. Often only at a young age.
2001 - SPIRID

The agency rebrands itself as SPIRID in 2001, because René and Marianne want to indicate more clearly that they work from a spiritual viewpoint in the field of Industrial Design.
2003 - SECRID

Eight years after its introduction, the design of the Bodycard became old-fashioned. They design a new model, in line with the style of the Nokia phones, with rounded shapes. The cardholder is also given a new name: Secrid, a variation on the new name of the design agency.
2009 - SECRID CARDPROTECTOR

Around Christmas 2008, René together with Marianne & Paul decide to stop all the activities of the design studio and focus on their own product. Bankruptcy of the design studio is narrowly prevented and turns into a dormant BV. Because they already had more than ten years of experience with the Bodycard and realising that during this economic crisis nobody really develops new products, they decided to focus on the development of 'the best card holder in the world'.
Still going