Social & Green Design Guide with: Dick van Hoff for Social label – DDW 2015
Video by Robert Andriessen
Text by Annemiek van Grondel
Produced in partnership with DOEN Foundation
>VEEG
Social Label works with designers and workshops from various social organisations and enterprises to create meaningful products and new opportunities for people who have trouble connecting with the labour market. “I have known Petra Janssen from Studio Boot, one of the initiators of Social Label, for a long time. When they asked me to help them put on a workshop at Cambio in Deventer, I did not hesitate for a second.” Dick van Hoff (1971, Amsterdam) is a well-known versatile designer with a strong sense for materials, industrial and artisanal techniques, and form. According to Van Hoff, who teaches at the Design Academy, “form follows clarity!” His work is in the Droog collection and at different museums.
“Roll up your sleeves and get on with it!” is a mentality that Van Hoff understands like no other. Cambio, now part of Circulus Afvalbeheer (garbage collection), was founded by a group of people who started cleaning their neighbourhood. Nowadays Cambio is a network of small companies that help people to enhance the liveability of their surroundings – a perfect example of public participation. For Cambio, Van Hoff invented >VEEG (Dutch for sweep or brush), a clear line of cleaning products, beginning with a set of brooms. “Recycling is an essential part of their work,” he explains. “I am fascinated by their drive. In addition to cleaning neighbourhoods, they recycle bicycles or give new uses to empty buildings – with endless dedication. I decided to design a broomstick with a handle made out of discarded parts of a bicycle frame.” Van Hoff met Thierry, a Cambio employee, who is a “very devoted, good guy”. Thierry attended a Van Hoff welding crash course and together they created a set of strong, sandblasted brooms with a beautiful red powder coating. The brooms will be available on the market for 60 euros. During Design Week the first prototypes will be on display: brooms for life, made with love and dedication for a good cause.
www.vanhoffontwerpen.nl / www.sociallabel.nl
VEEG is part of the presentation of Social label during the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven:
In the workshop of Fabriek Piet Hein Eek, Halvemaanstraat 30, 5651 BP Eindhoven