Designer Laurie Wiid Van Heerden Explains How He Started His Design Business Without Formal Education
Designer Laurie Wiid Van Heerden Explains How He Started His Design Business Without Formal Education. Designer and founder of Wiid Design, Laurie Wiid Van Heerden is someone who did not let his lack of formal education about the designing industry affect his dream of owing a unique design business that seeks to offer innovative design ideas that will change the industry.
In an interview with The Insider SA, van Heerden explains that he never studied but he still was able to build his business. He said, “I never studied per say but I always pushed myself to design and understand materials, ceramics, timber, the ways of joinery, finishing and sanding. There is a lot of practical skills I learnt from a very young age, so from when I was about 25 or 26 I had a lot of knowledge when it comes to materials. It’s very important for my studio to design, manufacture and conceptualise sustainable products.
Van Heerden founded the company which uses cork material to make its products. This is a unique way for a designer to distinguish themselves from their competitors as this provides a different offering compared to regular designers. With Van Heerden being able to start and build his business without formal education shows that people need to start with what they have and then proceed to use whatever information they can access to help them navigate through the challenges that they may face.
This gives other people who do not have a formal education inspiration because they will be able to see that building a successful business can be done without formal qualifications as it needs one to have a mindset of continuous learning so that they can compete. Laurie Wiid van Heerden established his studio, Wiid Design, in Cape Town in 2013. Often working collaboratively with other artists and across a wide variety of materials, Laurie’s product range spans furniture, lighting, tableware and collectible objects that combine specialist manufacturing with handcrafting.
