Mario van der Meulen

Principal Designer
at
Foolproof SG
when interviewed in
March 2018

Mario van der Meulen is the principal designer at Foolproof SG. It’s a UX design agency that was started in 2002 in the UK. Mario is originally from Belgium and moved to Asia around the millennium. He considers himself an old school graphic designer – a ‘designosaurus’ to be precise – a very friendly and insightful one we should add.

During our interview, Mario talked about his responsibilities, how he connects things as a designer, the mindset of a design person, developing ideas, feedback & criticism, curiosity, his graphical journey, soft skills and people he looks up to.

“I connect brands and their products and services with people. How I like to approach my work is to consider all aspects of a brand’s various touch points and see how it could be improved and made better for people.”

Interview

Part 1

Current responsibilities | Connecting brands with people | What is design? | Cool bits about design

Part 2

Wearing two hats | Handling critique in design | Coders and designers collaborating | Tricky bits

Part 3

Improving design skills | Customer behaviour | Facilitating skills | Good career choice?

Part 4

Daily routine | Writing down ideas | Free time | Annoyances | Inspirational people

Part 5