Who Am I?

I am Tresen Ernemann, and I strive to design for people and their experience, focusing on expression, meaning and technical expertise.

This is my reflective portfolio documenting my bachelor’s in Industrial Design at the Technical University of Eindhoven.

What inspires me to design?

I describe myself as a “Childish Design Professional” because I prefer to think and be inspired like a child, yet I wield the reflective, collaborative and technical tools to create like a professional. Allowing oneself to not know all the answers before making and their mind to wander and dream is the secret ingredient to designing something you love.

Growing up, a lot of how I created and learned about the world was through life simulation games like Minecraft and The Sims 4. In this “liberated” sandbox environment, I developed a strong investment in world-building techniques and environmental expression skills that I carry forth into my design vision. I’ve painted, sculpted, performed and written music, performed theatre and crafted clothing in the service of connecting with different forms of expression and interacting with the senses.

My designs always seek to resonate emotionally with their users. I believe it is an important consideration for designers to adapt to and appeal to the human experience, evoking connection and sharing creativity. When I design, I consider how I intend someone to feel, striving to complement the natural flow of human behaviour in the context of my design, using participatory research skills and transformative design processes to achieve this goal.

When refining my work and considering the purpose of design, I often think back to my father, who worked as a successful architect for several decades. He regularly reminded me of several things growing up:

“Keep it Simple, Stupid,”

“If you’re going to do something, do it right,”

“Don’t fix something that doesn’t need fixing.”

I looked up to my father’s designs for how each detail was carefully considered, and all decisions were thoughtful. This is why I commit myself to detail and intention with all my designs, believing that designers should produce well-rounded art.

I feel these two motivations in my design complement each other well, each one driving a different kind of inspiration and purpose for my design, while imposing considerations and requirements on the other to seek balance.

1. Marionet Character for Performance

This character design commemorates my past in art and performance, showcasing the creativity and aesthetic vision that drives my want to design.

2. My dad’s buildings in Architectural Digest and Hansen’s construction in the West End of Aspen

What is my design Vision?

Design should have a soul. In a world dominated by excess, Temu/Shein and generative AI, many lose sight of the passion and emotion that precedes great designs and lean towards engineer thinking, spending time trying to satisfy requirements and shove their work into a pre-set mold. I believe in using design to bring others closer to the world around them: culture, nature, identity. My approach is about being childish, collaborative and playful while crafting fine aesthetics through artisanship. Delice de Magie, my 2025 squad project resulted in the design of a toolkit for “Feelings Based Design,” a concept I hold dear to my heart as I learn to lead with emotion and find spirituality and significance within my work. My vision was once: Simplicity, Intentionality and Purpose. However, a I have learned to open my heart to absurdity (thank you Doenja and Gabriele) and the traveller’s mindset (thank you Bruna and Kristina) which has allowed me love my work and share it with others through storytelling and worldbuilding much more deeply in my second year than my first. My new design vision is to dream with others.

Many of my personal projects are led by inspiration from community-based designers such as Michael Reeves, Fecal Matter, Bernadette Banner and countless other small designers who cater to specific communities of individuals and their resultant cultures and values. I seek to develop a close relationship with the people I design for and scale my design projects in a way that allows me to research the context and environment well. After having developed my theoretical knowledge and research skills within design, I come away with a greater sense of selflessness and devotion to empower the people I design for through co-creation. With age has also come an appreciation for long-lasting, quality products, and designs that are considerate of their impact on existing systems and structures. I seek to be sustainable through evaluating my work and designing where there is need and producing high-quality and circular prototypes.

3. Skin Heels by Fecal Matter (Vogue)

Fecal Matter designs to provoke and challenge social norms, appealing to communities of anarchists and the socially outcasted

4. Gore-Tex Ski Clothes (The Rolling Stone)

As a skier, well-made weather-resistant clothes from Arc’teryx are crucial to the enjoyability of the sport. I seek this level of quality in designs

What is my Professional Identity?

In the professional setting, I feel there are three main considerations: design methods, working skills and collaboration.

In an academic sphere, I have always gravitated towards math and physics, seeking out engineering skills to broaden my understanding of the world and ability to create. I dedicated myself to developing methods of designing in service of delivering consistent, qualitative work and building my flexibility as a designer. In my second year, I relaxed away from strict long-term plans for work, opting to conduct small iterative steps such as workshops and co-creation sessions to determine the next appropriate step, making me receptive to new information and others’ input. (See project: Delice de Magie)

Furthermore, understanding the tools one works with and possessing the technical knowledge to create the designs one conceptualizes is crucial to detailed and thoughtful design work. I reiterate an urge to become an artisan and practice fine craftsmanship, developing skills such as woodwork and leatherworking. Simultaneously, I explore technical programming and electronics while expanding my repertoire of research and analytical skills to make me a more competent team member. (See: Expertise Areas)

I typically take on a leadership role in groups, which is something I enjoy and feel confident doing. However, in having such a loud voice, I challenge myself to take a back seat and follow others’ lead in learning and decision making. The division of clear roles and responsibilities among a group allows others to take personal lead and guide group activities, dispersing power. In all group work I have developed the following guiding principles:

communication
complement to individuality
discipline
love and empathy

5. Leatherwork for a Personal Project

I learned leatherwork from scratch as a project goal, which included countless experimental projects and personal dedication to understand the tool.

6. Leading a mini presentation for Delice de Magie

Work was shared well across this group and we used a very iterative methodology leading to many different prototypes and lessons.

A Few Exciting Projects that Inspire Me…

Combining digital tools with nature to create art using mathematics & data

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A post shared by Yoshi Sodeoka (@yoshisodeoka)

Creative aesthetic reinterpretation of an everyday object to create personality and spark joy

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A post shared by FANNY OLLAS (@fannyollas)

Speculative, silly project made to be experienced and connect people

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A post shared by Sunday Nobody (@sunday.nobody.art)

Personal Development Plan

Past goals

In my second year, I set a series of goals to further my Pi & V which I reflect on in my projects and a written document.

In short, I recognized my lack of development in Business and Entrepreneurship, which I explored in two courses that gave me valuable insights into how to assess the commercial and social world to inform design choices as well as conduct specific business analysis. Although, I do take away that I have little interest in focus on this area of expertise and, while I respect it’s value, I prefer to use these tools to increase my sociocultural awareness and sustainable practices.

Given my heavy focus on user experience and connection with community, I partook in various theory-heavy and design research courses which helped me develop a stronger position toward ethical design choices, understand how to evaluate my own designs within those contexts and conduct strong research through built relationships and creative activities. I continue to be interested in these subjects and see myself focusing my FBP around co-creation and workshopping.

Feeling disconnected from my designer identity, I set out to develop a personal brand and specialty during my squad project. While I have advanced, finding a home in childish and playful approaches using craftsmanship to focus on aesthetics, I believe I am still lacking in a specialty. With my upcoming internship plans, I hope to secure a place with a company in fashion or homeware design to test if these interests are ones I wish to formally pursue.

Furthermore, I addressed my rigidity and lack of passion by practicing design through making in the first semester, which has led to my flexible workshop-based design methodology. Similarly, given a difficult groupwork experience with the Date Snake & el Briano, I evaluated the amount of work I take on within a group and committed with my Delice de Magie team to meet with a consistent structure and split administrative and creative responsibilities evenly. The design toolkit we created included a set of hats inspired by the teamwork done in this group that I will likely refer back to in future teamwork when encountering issues of balance.

Future Goals

As I pride myself on gaining expertise with designer tools, I believe increasing my competency with commonplace professional digital tools to make myself more appealing as a potential intern and familiarize myself with opportunities. Before the next semester, I would like to complete at least 4 projects with one or a mix of the following tools: Fusion360, Adobe Suite, Touch Designer and Clo3D. This is an achievable task as I have already dedicated this summer to building marketable skills and I believe it will help me further my goal of understanding my design specialty as I learn which fields I prefer to work in. Furthermore, I see this affecting my experience with an internship and thus, FBP considerations.

I need to secure an internship and have already done extensive research as well as set up necessary social media. However, I have set the goal to create a professional CV, Instagram and Portfolio within the week. My plan to select and apply for 5 internship positions before June 1st. Given the choice paralysis I have for large decisions in my career, this is an important goal for me to set so I can move forward with narrowing my focus as a designer. This plan will allow me to decide on a back-up squad project and courses if I fail to find an internship.

I make several claims about the importance of sustainability and mainly focus on minimal waste through quality making. However, as I managed in Delice de Magie to make my final prototype out of entirely recycled/thrifted materials, I have set the goal to fully recycle project materials in my final bachelor year either before or after they are used to familiarize myself better with the practice of circularity and develop ethical design practices.

Personal Development Plan October 2023

Personal Development Plan February 2024

Personal Development Plan September 2024