![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.wanderful.design\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Creneau-International_CocaColaVC_21-960x279.jpg\")
<\/div>Even though Will Erens is a self-taught man, he is not anti-school. School can be okay, if the drive and the passion are present. \u2018As a designer I have always thought in concepts. You don\u2019t build an interior, you build a world, from postcards or menu to bricks-and-mortar. I do think that the schooling for creative jobs should change. I don\u2019t believe in entrance examinations at all, because few people know themselves at a young age and most do need time to develop their talent. It took me a while too before I acknowledged my creative path. I also think that splitting up disciplines isn\u2019t necessary. Why not present students with a broad creative program adding several specializations on Saturday. Then you put the question out there: is it worth this extra day? Do you really want to do this?\u2019<\/p>\n
Will often works with trainees, the last few years they mostly come from Holland. \u2018I like the school system in Holland; they can be an intern for half a year and even more, should they want. And I get the feeling they really want to develop new stuff in Holland. Look at the rise of Amsterdam. What a great inspiring place. My philosophy is quite simple: just go for it. Try it out. Live and dare. Lots of youngsters today immediately wonder how much money will be involved in a project. I have always thought about the project first, the money issue came later. I have always invested in my job. I thought: maybe there\u2019s no money yet. But maybe within a few months, there will be money, and then I will be able to do a second project.\u2019<\/p>\n
Being a designer has never been a nine-to-five job for Erens. \u2018It\u2019s like being part of the premier league in soccer. You always have to be on top of things. I never stop thinking about projects. My mind never stops. That\u2019s why I always want to do projects, rather than keep discussing them. I walked by the Central Station area in Antwerp a few days ago. My god, so many empty spaces. A ten-minute brainstorm with my team and I know the answer to that problem. Sometimes I get the impression that nothing ever happens in cities like Antwerp. People keep talking about projects, but they hardly do the work.\u2019<\/p>\n
He has never considered himself a teacher, although he did give workshops and would love to be a Maecenas to youngsters. \u2018One intern left here once, saying I taught him to think differently. I was absolutely stunned by those words. I would really love to help young people to build their own dreams. I would especially try and tell them what not to do, because the real world is not what professors tell them in school. That shouldn\u2019t be a negative thing: I can live with the fact that my ideas need readjustment, that people want some things done differently. As long as all of us are happy with the result, there\u2019s no problem now, is there?\u2019<\/p>\n
Needless to say, Will has ideas for the ideal design school. He has been discussing a particular project for quite some time now. \u2018Think of this academy, which isn\u2019t really a school anymore but a real business. Even kids who cannot pay the tuition fees are welcome. Every student would get a share of the business and once the three-year course is over, the student would get a certain amount of money to start his or her own business. The teachers would not get paid. It\u2019s a way of giving back to society. And to be honest: I think we need more rough diamonds. So many people walk around with a talent that is undiscovered. Even to themselves. I would try to get a mix of nationalities and cultures in the academy, because I think there\u2019s lots of talent around, but we hardly see designers from our multicultural society. I understand why: they hardly believe that being a creative person can bring in money. Eventually, that is.\u2019 (he smiles)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Will Erens wanted to be a tennis pro. But a knee injury made him change his career plans. The daredevil from Maasmechelen went on to become a visionary in the field of interior design and other design concepts. \u2018You can\u2019t learn to be a designer in school, only life will teach you that.\u2019 Will Erens […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n