New colleague: Sam Verloop (Graphic Designer)

In this article, we introduce you to our new colleague: Sam Verloop. With several years of experience, she is starting an exciting challenge at Merkelijkheid. She tells us about her background, why she chose Merkelijkheid, and what it’s like to work here.

The 25-year-old Sam Verloop has been working for Merkelijkheid as a designer since March 2023. Specialized in digital design, Sam works, for example, on the design of new websites.

“I knew early on what I wanted. That’s why I went from 3 HAVO to Nova College in Haarlem to start the Media Design/Media Manager program. I just knew I wanted to go in a creative direction, and this was the right step for that. In the third year, I chose the design track, which was much more creative, and we learned to work with the right programs, such as InDesign and Photoshop.”

Design and Marketing

“Merkelijkheid is my second employer; after my education, I started working at another company. I worked there for several years and learned a lot about, for example, web design, banner creation, and email campaigns, and I developed myself as a designer for the business sector. But after a few years, it was time for a new challenge; I wanted to know more about the role of design in marketing. I wanted to see what happens when my designs are used in practice. Exploring the marketing aspect of design.

At Merkelijkheid, I have a much more concrete goal, a prospect to work towards. I don’t just deliver a design and never hear about it again; I really see what works. That makes me think differently about design; why do you design something, and why did I make certain choices? That is a whole different and new challenge for me.”

Working at Merkelijkheid

“Well, to start with, it’s very pleasant here. And I appreciate the independence I have here. I feel a lot of trust, there is room for my input, and what I say is truly valued. Besides that, I have learned a lot in a short time, such as a new program [web design program Sketch] and, of course, a new way of working. At Merkelijkheid, I can organize things much more the way I like. I can immediately suggest a folder structure with colleagues without it being set in stone. So I can put my own spin on it, and I like that.”

Future

“Long term is nice, but right now I’m trying to focus more on the short term. Looking forward to a nicely completed project, for example. Right now, I’m working for a client who is really looking for the WOW factor for their new website. We’re already quite far along, and I’m looking forward to seeing what this will bring them in the end. Whether it delivers the marketing results they aspire to, we will keep an eye on that at Merkelijkheid; I find that data-driven approach exciting, and it’s completely new to me.”