Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
We started Drie. in September ‘15 instead of a traditional internship. We did not want to work for an existing company because all of us aspire to be independent designers. So we decided “Ok, let’s go for it!”.
We’d like to define our work as something more than ‘just’ customary design. When people come to us and they say „I want this” or „I want that” we’ll answer „No, we are going to look at ‘the why’ first and then we will see what is best for you”. We prefer working on a solution rather than on a ready made assignment. We need this freedom to make the most out of our creative ideas.
What would you consider your distinctive achievement?
First of all, we are proud that we started working together as independent designers instead of working as an intern at an existing design company. Unfortunately, it is a very unusual thing to do. We are proud of our ability to collaborate with others and to not keep ourselves to our profession only. ‘Calibrate’, for example, is a project in which we crossed borders between fashion and graphic design. We’re stubborn and we do what we think is best. Together we come to final products we could not have done separately.
What are you looking forward to?
We plan on continuing as Drie. after we graduate from the art academy. We are looking forward to meeting new people and working on bigger projects. We hope more people outside of our personal network will recognise our work and are willing to collaborate with us. We are sure it is going to be an exciting time, but graduation comes first at this moment.
Which advice would you give to other professionals?
Go for it. Be courageous and brave enough to try. If it doesn’t work, well, you will notice. But maybe it will. Young designers are often afraid to just dive in and try it. We hope we can show people that there is more to it and that it is worth the risk. Many people think of starting their own business as something for later, after gaining experience while working for other companies and earning enough money for backup. We believe it is possible to learn a lot by just doing it. There are enough people who will be more than happy to give you advice and to show you how it is done. Of course you will make mistakes, but eventually you will learn form it and use your gained knowledge to turn things around and improve your work.
What are the challenges that we need to overcome to make cultural entrepreneurship more accessible?
That is a difficult question. There are a couple of things essential to start: an affordable workspace, building a network and some support, also financial. Finding the right people to work with will take you far. If you like what you are doing and if you are willing to show your work to and connect with others around you, then it is actually not so difficult to start being a cultural entrepreneur.
