Designers in Detail

Designers in Detail is a limited event series where a small audience gets to participate in a discussion with our host and guest designer. Like a small fireside chat, this is an opportunity to talk with like-minded creatives, share and discuss your thoughts on design, and spend the evening with other designers who get it. To encourage participation from attendees, we have a very limited number of seats.

Topics

Moving to Europe from Canada: the realities of visa programs, and job hunting from an ocean away.

The differences in the European and North American design worlds: how working in these different geographies impacts your job, what the expectations are, and the different ways that people in each approach design.

Behind-the-scenes perspectives on running a design studio: the challenges and priorities a small business faces, and what that means for aspiring designers that want those boutique design jobs.

Portfolio Reviews

There are four portfolio reviews available at this event (before the discussion). You’ll receive a 25 minute portfolio review from either our guest Joel Derksen (Founder & Creative Director, Studio Otherness), or our host Margot Trudell (Founder & Director, Toronto Design Directory). People receiving reviews will arrive before the discussion and then attend the discussion after.

Guest

Joel Derksen set out as a self-taught designer and freelancer in midwestern Canada, before studying formally in Halifax and Toronto. He began his career working with top agencies and clients across the country, including boutique design firm Oxygen and partners such as Toronto Botanical Garden, VQA (Wine Grower’s Association Canada), and Acura.

Joel’s strategic and resourceful approach brought him to the attention of the legendary design firm IDEO, where he worked in the London and German offices helping clients such as Carlsberg and Salomon redefine themselves for their fast-moving markets.

After IDEO, Joel worked across Europe in firms such as HUGE and Landor, while nurturing his own clients from pre-conception through to launch.

He founded Otherness in Rotterdam in 2022 to offer his experience of practice and execution to start-ups, scale-ups, and established brands who aren’t like everyone else — those that can benefit from his systematic “no stones unturned” approach to problem solving, and his appreciation that complex situations bring forward unique perspectives.

His curiosity for design has driven him to travel globally, taking residences and summer classes in places such as Basel’s Höchschule für Gestalting, GMIT’s Design West, and University of Arts London. He has held solo & group shows in London, Rotterdam and Seoul focused on a mix of collage and site-specific works.

He is also co-founder of Nor, a digital, co-operative commons for Canadian design — a volunteer-driven project dedicated to discussing and critiquing the material culture of Canada.