In Over pijn en puddingbroodjes (about pain and pudding rolls), I explore the impact a parental divorce can have on a child’s life. My personal journey serves as the starting point for a 15 minute documentary film in which I look back, ask questions, and re-engage in conversation with my parents and younger sister. In this film, I quite literally take the direction in my own hands. And make steps towards writing, separately from my parents, my own little history book.
A few stills from 'Over pijn en puddingbroodjes'
A short clip, full film will be available soon
This exploration leads to new personal insights and highlights the value of creating space for open and equal dialogue. From this need, I designed an interactive board game—an addition to the film, but also a standalone project. The game invites participants into open conversation about the themes surrounding divorce in an accessible and playful way. The focus is not on the divorce itself, but on the world around it: loyalty, responsibility, sadness, and comfort.
Two players are invited to take part with a goal to meet each other in the middle. On their journey they go through different phases and answer (personal) questions regarding the topic of divorce.
To start the real conversation once they meet each other in the middle.
My working method is rooted in social design, where design is not a goal in itself but a tool to foster connection and reflection. During my research, I interviewed other children of divorced parents using a 'conversation piece': together, they sat on a large pink sheet of paper filled with paint, chalk, and pencils. Interviewees were invited to draw intuitively while talking. The movements on the paper—lines, colors, shapes—provided insight into emotions and states of mind that didn’t yet have words. This not only served as a visual translation but also as a safe space in which conversation could emerge gently and spontaneously.
Little insight of how these interviews went (in dutch)
I work at the intersection of audiovisual, graphic, and social design. My approach is both personal and investigative; I combine lived experience with theory and conversations with others. For me, design is a way of creating space—for nuance, for the invisible, the unspeakable, and for what may feel uncomfortable.
'Over pijn en puddingbroodjes' doesn’t offer ready-made answers, but instead raises new questions—not to solve, but to connect. Only then can true understanding begin to grow.
