Introducing RP Kruizinga as MODYN's Design Director

“We provide our clients with long-term direction, not just a map to a one-off destination. And we have that same ethos internally,” explained Managing Director Gert-Jan van Breugel.  “Bringing RP onto the team, we’re not only strengthening our offering today but adding a valuable asset to our team that will prepare us for the next decades.” 

“RP is also going to be a great asset for MODYN’s growth,” Business Development Director Remco van Laar noted. “He has an extensive network in the transportation sector and I’m excited to work alongside him to continue bringing in top clients and projects for our award-winning team.”

Rik de Reuver added, “Gert-Jan and myself have actually known RP since the mid-2000s, from back at the Design Academy in Eindhoven. Now as part of the MODYN team, we look forward to working together on exciting projects. With his appointment, I will take on the role of Creative Director, taking on more of a helicopter view and ensuring we keep delivering at the highest level while continuing to secure long-term interests for MODYN and our clients.”

Known to many as RP, Roelof-Paul Kruizinga is a Dutch product and transport designer who trained at the prestigious Design Academy in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. After graduation, RP worked for various international clients, including Geely, Ford, and Jaguar Land Rover. He then joined Yellow Window in Belgium for 5 years working on countless European rail projects and international consumer electronics companies.

In 2013, RP joined forces with DCA Design International in Warwick, UK, where he grew into a role to help shape DCA’s well-known Transportation Sector. During his time at DCA, RP worked on a variety of strategic projects in rail, aviation, automotive, and healthcare, and helped DCA expand into the Chinese market and set out the strategy for DCA’s transport sector.

To learn more about RP, his passion for mobility design, and his new role, we decided to sit down and have a chat with the new Design Director himself. 

M: Why was now the right time to make this move in your career?

RP: “I loved my time at DCA — I received a lot of freedom to set my own goals for parts of the transport sector I was directly responsible for, and this allowed me to grow both personally and professionally. But, it was time for a new challenge and this coincided with some of the changes at MODYN. Once we started to discuss it, it quickly became apparent that our visions on how to run a successful design agency, deliver value to clients and make the world a better place had a lot of synergies. In the end, the step to join MODYN felt very natural. I know I’m going to have a lot of room to both grow and do what I love here.”

M: What attracted you to MODYN in the first place?

RP: “I’ve been following MODYN — back then Vanderveer Designers — since I became part of the design community, and I really admired MODYN’s recent re-branding and repositioning. From the outside, their drive, agility and creativity are apparent, and you can see that in the fantastic work they’ve delivered. I also admired their sole focus on mobility design, as it’s not only been something I’ve always operated in, but am really passionate about. Their expertise in this sector really elevates their expertise and sets them apart. And the fact that they work in all aspects of mobility really suits me well, because at more core I like to do a lot of different things.”

M: Tell us more about the unique perspective you’re bringing to the team.

RP: “I’ve never been afraid to try new things and pick up challenges. I remember working as a young designer for a project manager who wasn’t very interested in either project or client management, so I took that as an opportunity to learn and stepped in. This was a project for a Chinese client, so very quickly I became familiar with Chinese design and business culture, and it ended up shaping my entire career. Today I not only have a really big network in China, but think of it as my second home. I’ve built up a few companies there over the years, not only designing new products but working closely with stakeholders to improve the processes, quality standards, and brand assets.

But besides my skills in management and new business, I also have a broad range of experience in transport design, designing products across the rail and automotive sectors for at least 15 years. I see myself as the spider in the web — connecting and facilitating others to be successful. And because I have worked for a larger organization, I can also add to the structure and strategy already in place at MODYN.”

M: How about your passion for mobility design? Where did that come from? 

RP: “It’s one of those things that was just always there. My first word was ‘Volvo’ and ever since I can remember I was drawing cars, trucks and bikes, or modifying my Hotwheels to go faster. But it wasn’t until I saw a British documentary about a design team re-designing a toilet bowl that I realized that not only everything around us is designed by someone, but that it is actually a paying job. So it just clicked with me and from then on, and I had this singular focus on becoming a designer. 

I did go on to work in car design studios like I wanted to as a kid, but I found I am much happier having a broader focus and working in different areas of design simultaneously — taking ideas from one industry and applying them to the next. I believe this made me a better, more well-rounded designer.” 

M: And we touched on it briefly, but you actually go all the way back to the Design Academy in Eindhoven with Gert-Jan and Rik, right?

RP: “Yes! Rik wasn’t just one of my professors, he was actually a mentor to me. He stood out because he was still working in the industry while teaching, so he brought a lot of real-world insight into the classroom. Gert-Jan and I graduated at the same time so we spend a lot of time in that final year working on our own graduation projects, but we kept in touch ever since. It’s great to work together again and I feel we complement each other’s skills very well. 

M: Finally to wrap this up, what are you most excited about in this new role at MODYN?

RP: “I’m really excited to just build on what they already have and add my expertise into that mix. We’ve seen what this company can do in the last 40 years, and they’ve developed that even further since the rebrand. So I’m excited to add to that vision and grow with them.”