Mike Dekker

Where did you study and how did you get into web and digital design?

My parents always encouraged creativity to my sister & me, I’ve always been fascinated with drawing and building things as a kid. After 4 boring years of messing up high school notebooks with 90’s graffiti doodles & having a sister who’s 4 years older than me that studied Graphic & Illustration, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in Graphic Design & Illustration. My sister graduated as a Graphic designer the same year that I was applying to get in the same course that she just finished. Just before I applied to get into the course at The Grafisch Lyceum Rotterdam (a Dutch creative college for media, design & technology) I bumped into a lecturer that was promoting a new design course in Multimedia Design. Back then apart from doing heaps of graffiti, I loved terrorising my parents phone bill by playing online games. The mix of Technology & Design sounded rad & there was a massive internet revolution on the horizon. Also in a small country like the Netherlands with hundreds of amazing graphic designers graduating every year I thought it was a great chance to be part of something new and I decided that I wanted to become a Multimedia designer.

When I graduated in 2003 I decided to expand my skill set by doing a 2 year course in Fine Arts. During these 2 years I did heaps of painting & 3D work. I had my first exhibition & sold all the works within the first week! I was super stoked that people where willing to buy my work. Apart from doing heaps of art I started taking on web design & graphic freelance jobs. I made flyers for all the local clubs & designed websites for all sorts of small business. It was a great way to gain experience & it allowed me to stop doing shitty student jobs.

When I was about to finish the Fine Art course we had a chat with a lecturer to prepare us what would await us after Art School as professional artists and he basically told us that about 90% of all students graduating will live of government funding or be unemployed the next 3 years or maybe forever. I figured out that I could keep doing art aside from having a job as a Digital Designer without feeling the pressure to have to make art to live the life that I love. The digital industry was growing massively and there where not alot of experienced people around yet. I decided to expand my skill set even further & did another 4 year Communication & Multimedia Design course at uni. During these years I also did a 1 year internship at an amazing digital studio in Amsterdam where I landed my first job as a Junior Digital Designer.

Who are you biggest inspirations in the digital design spectrum?

There are heaps of awesome freelancers &  digital studios out there. If I had to pick three:
hellohikimori.com
www.northkingdom.com
www.f-i.com

From Herschel's Well Travelled Series

What previous jobs have you had and what were the lessons you learnt along the way?

I was lucky to get my first work experience at a graphic design studio that was in the middle of a transformation to become a digital studio. In the last semester at uni, I won the MTV Digital Scout Award which is a competition to find new digital talent. I won 10,000 Euros to invest in equipment to get started as a digital startup. I was lucky that at the same time I also landed a job at an awesome digital studio in Amsterdam. I worked 4 days a week for them as a Junior Digital Designer and spent all my fridays & nights working as a freelancer for companies like MTV, NIKE & Nickelodeon. I was lucky that my employer at the time gave me the freedom at the time to take on freelance work and that by winning the MTV talent comp I got heaps of exposure & contact which got me all the freelance work at those rad companies.

After 2.5 years it was time to move on and I landed a new job as an Senior Digital Designer at a Digital Advertising Agency in my hometown Rotterdam. I worked on big digital campaigns varying from interactive museum installations to promotional websites and Apps. We were next door to Studio Dumbar and I got to collaborate on their digital briefs. At the end of 2011 I decided that it was time for something completely new and moved to Australia where I landed a job at a Digital Agency as a Senior Digital Art Director. This was a great opportunity for me to start working for clients outside of Holland & to expand my creative network on the other side of the globe.

What other interests do you have outside of digital?

I still have a strong love for analogue projects and try to paint or collaborate as much as possible. Before leaving Perth I took part in THREESOME Perth, run by TDK and did a 5m high mural at Corner Gallery, next door to where Lister has his current show. While I was in Perth I had the chance to explore my style and produce works for the Beaufort Street Festival, Art Games and Occupy amongst others. I love being outside so camping, surfing, rock climbing and hiking are up there.