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Alfred van Elk has extensive experience as a designer and develops high-quality products that are long-lasting.
He puts the product first and focuses on the needs of the client, the market and the user.
His attitude is one of providing a service, for start-ups, SMEs and multinationals and he is committed to a sustainable society.
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Alfred van Elk is enthusiastic, and energetic and at his best when challenged by his client. That is where the process truly starts.
In a personal collaboration with the client, he works from a well thought-out approach and immerses himself in the brand, the market and the user.
He designs products that optimally match the respective values and needs.
From a circular perspective, he wants to design responsible products that retain their value for as long as possible and contribute to a sustainable society. He does what is expected of him and surprises by taking that extra step. Alfred van Elk industrial design has extensive experience with a multitude of clients and brands.
Alfred van Elk industrial design is member of the Association of Dutch Designers BNO, the professional association for designers and design agencies in the Netherlands. The BNO website features an interview with Alfred van Elk about his work as a product designer.
‘At the end of the day I don’t design for myself.’
Alfred van Elk set up his design studio many years ago. Before he went solo, he worked as an industrial designer for a range of larger and smaller design studios. These varied years of experience allow him to serve his current clients well. ‘At the end of the day I don’t design for myself.’
Alfred van Elk:
‘Upon graduating, I immediately wanted to set up my own company. Mainly based on enthusiasm and naivety: small portfolio, little knowledge of product development and without too much experience. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to work as a freelancer in the studio of designer Frans de La Haye for a number of years. Subsequently the head of Philips’s design studio invited me for a conversation: there you enter a fantastic working environment with over 100 international designers. I therefore abandoned the idea to set out on my own, and worked for over four years as an in-house designer on lighting projects. Philips Design was a magnificent training ground: different views within the same company. The entire trajectory: from brand- and user experience to concept design, product development and production.
Next I joined the design department at TNO, where I found myself one of the few designers among a whole army of technicians. What working there taught me was how to collaborate with specialists, such as engineers, physicists, electrical engineers and manufacturers, each with their own agendas. After that I worked at design agency Well Design before I started working for myself and founded studioMOM identity & design with two partners.
Taking all those experiences into account I felt it was time to set out on my own. I have been working under my own name since 2007, which simply feels right. It offers freedom, but also means that I work hard. There is a lot of baggage to juggle: knowledge and an overview of all aspects of the field. And it has made me realise that I have a good overview of what happens outside of it. Also I can make flexible use of my network, and cooperate in teams with other specialists. This puts me in a position of being able to serve my clients well.
Alongside being a practitioner, I have been teaching industrial design at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague for 20 years. In my work in education I see parallels with my work for clients. Your task as a lecturer is to help students discover what they are good at or could become good at. Therefore I listen very carefully to what they say. The same goes for my relationship with clients. There I am very good at asking questions too, and distil something out of that. Throughout I keep an eye of the bigger picture: does what is being said align with that? There is always a connection on a deeper level. I have to pay attention and ask incisive questions to understand what the client needs. At the end of the day I don’t design for myself.’
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Alfred van Elk graduated with honours from the Industrial Design training at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. Prior to this he obtained his master’s degree in Interior Architecture, after studying Graphic and Typographic Design for 2 years.
He worked as a product designer with Frans de la Haye, Philips Design, TNO research & innovation and Well Design, and was co-founder and partner of studioMOM identity & design. Since 2007 he has his own design studio: Alfred van Elk industrial design. His designs have received multiple awards.
Clients include Heineken, Philips, B/S/H, Inventum Small Household, Auping, RoyalVKB, Inventum Technologies, Falco, Kembo, Leiden University, Factory Zero, Feadship, Bosch & Siemens, Skalar, Bandall, ABB, Fri-Jado, Idex, Fast & Fluid Management, Bruynzeel, Ubbink, Kruitbosch, Cooloyster, Brink, Mobeye, Symposion Gorinchem, Geesa, Tiger, Wereldwinkel and Widget.
In addition to his work as a designer, for 20 years Alfred van Elk has been a lecturer on the Post Graduate Industrial Design and Master Industrial Design at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, The Netherlands.
You can read an interview with Alfred van Elk on the BNO website.
Alfred van Elk has received much international acknowledgement, including various Good Industrial Design Awards (GIO Award), Dutch Design Awards, iF Product Design Awards, International Design Awards and I.D. Annual Design Awards.
GIO Award:
– Inventum Technologies Modul-AIR heat pump and GreenComfort module
– Inventum Technologies Modul-AIR and GreenComfort / Special Award Respect
– Fast & Fluid HA180 paint dispenser
– Heineken CoolFlow Technology beer tap
– Inventum Café Invento coffee pad machine
– Auping AVS bed
– Kembo folding table
– Aspa office furniture
– Score office trolley
– Score feet rest
– Score bath seat
– Score lecture
– Solvay medicine packaging
– Canon / Océ paper folding machine
– Ahold / Albert Heijn self scan systeem
– Wagons Lits trolley
DDA Selection:
– Pharaoh outdoor furniture
DDA Nomination:
– Heineken beer tap system for Heineken, Amstel and Brand
iF Award:
– Vitens (WMN) Mobile Booster, mobile water pump station
– Philips pocket lamp
iF Best of Category:
– Score bath seat
– Philips solar garden light
iF Top 10 of the Year:
– Canon / Océ paper folding machine
I.D. Honorable Mention Award:
– Kembo examination table
– Westomatic hot drink dispenser
I.D. Design Distinction Award:
– Score bath seat
I.D. Best of Category Award:
– Vitens (WMN) Mobile Booster, mobile water pump station
Gold Winner International Design Awards / USA
– Heineken CoolFlow Technology beer tap
Retail Innovation Award / UK
– Ahold / Albert Heijn self scan system
Concour de la Lampe d’Or / Salon International du Luminaire de Paris / FRANCE
– Philips solar garden lighting (Mention Spéciale)
Netdiver / USA
– Best of the Year studiomom
– Design Forte Award studiomom
Norwegian Design Award / NORWAY
– Philips Manhattan interior lighting series
Are you looking for a designer or a flexible development team and do you feel an affinity with my vision?
Then I’d love to meet you to discuss your questions or needs.
Call me, or send a message, and I will be in touch shortly.