What is the Humble Crow?
the Humble Crow is a name for a portfolio of my creative projects and endeavors in the space of apparel, graphics, photography and music.
Tjirk Deurloo; Sr Design Manager, Apparel Designer, Graphic Designer, Musician)
Les Crayon Digital (Instagram – AI Generated imagery)
Q&A
Where are you from?
I was born in Tholen, a really small town in The Netherlands. I moved a few times when I went to High School (Bergen op Zoom) and University (Rotterdam) and ended up in Haarlem, where I lived for five years before moving to Vancouver, Canada in 2016 where I currently still live.
What sparked you to go into design?
As a young kid I loved two things, cycling and drawing. My mom and aunt always encouraged me to draw, paint and do anything creative really. I took drawing classes when I went to high school. In High School, one teacher in particular always cheered me on, she really was the kindest person in the world. She gave me good grades too, haha
After I noticed at school I wasn’t a master in Math and Physics, the decision between becoming an astronomer and graphic designer was easily made and I went to Willem De Kooning University of Fine Arts in Rotterdam. After one year of studying Advertising, I transitioned into Graphic Design, graduated and got my bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
What do you find today that inspired you the most?
When I was young I always felt like I wanted to do what others did. I couldn’t find my own style or voice (or didn’t think it was good enough), I then started taking inspiration from my favorites, like David Carson and Ed Templeton and along the way figured out what I liked and didn’t like style wise. Later in my career I got more so drawn to certain art/design movements, like Bauhaus and The Swiss School. I’ve love the simplicity and minimalism, back to the essence instead of adding lots of bells and whistles.
I am a big advocate of reductive design and the Art of Less. It’s a big challenge these days to design something that is just enough, but without it getting boring or stale. One of my design heroes and inspiration is Dieter Rams and his ten principles of good design. My favorite artists; Rene Magritte and Edward Hopper.
What has been the most unexpected turn in your creative journey?
That is hard to answer, however the switch from working for a graphic design company into working in apparel is probably the most obvious one.
To be honest, the biggest shift I’m still working towards, is to just be creative again without needing a concept or story. Not feeling the burden that everything needs to have meaning in art or design. To be able to just let things flow and just let things unfold.
It’s work in progress.
What would you say to a young creative/ the next generation designers?
(…thinking)
Especially in the (corporate) creative industry; don’t take feedback too personal. Unless it’s your own brand, you can’t always do things your own way. When you work for clients, consumers or anyone other than yourself, people have opinions on what you create, and sometimes judge your work good or bad. But it usually is about your work, not about you as a person. Try to separate those two and it’ll be fine.
Never stop being curious and keep asking critical questions. That’ll be your difference from AI
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Hard to say. What I’d like to do the next five years might lead to some sort of answer.
Less rat race, a place where I need less money and seeing and experiencing the joy that I can bring to people first hand. I’d love to carve out more time to be more creative, less meaning, more fun, closer to nature, small town, less screen time, more community, more presence, less distractions. Oh, and somewhere more sunny, less rainy would be great…
Sounds like I’m ready for retirement, doesn’t it? Haha