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MEET PIA SCHILDKNECHT!
Text: Alina Vlaicu
As our last article talked about a TEKO student, for this issue I want to present you a TEKO graduate. We will meet Pia Schildknecht, the person behind Phusime and Stormsalen. Pia finished her Design Technologist- International Marketing studies at TEKO in the summer of 2010. Let’ s see what happened till now!
1. How did you experience the TEKO environment? I loved being a part of an international atmosphere and learning about other cultures and how to cooperate with other nationalities. It also gave me a great base for an international network of former TEKO students. Besides that I learned a lot about my own role in an international group- and I also got a clear view of my weaknesses and strengths. The great thing about TEKO is the broad range of topics you get in the two first semesters. You get a good understanding of the entire value system of the creative industry. I have always been a hard s tudent to have in a class- I have a tendency to question everything- and read everything else than my homework. Lucky for me- I had a teacher in TEKO that gave me a bit of free range.
2. When and how did you start Phucisme and Stormsalen? I started PHUCISME right after the summer 2010, with conceptual artist and designer, Phuc Van Dang. I created our business plan as a part of my final exam, based on Alexander Osterwalder’ s business model canvas. We wanted to create a company that one cannot put into a box. For the both of us the creative process can be applied to basically everything. We work with the sense that everything is connected- so we work in a crossing between culture, design and art,- however still very focused on the business perspective in these areas. In the beginning of 2012 we finally got to create STORMSALEN- a new way of thinking co-creation. I am one of seven founders. We were six companies that joined forces and now we are one creative house. We created an actual company together- and now have the qualifications to compete with bigger design and graphic companies. We are seven professionals with totally different qualifications- which give us a clear competitive edge in everything from public art, marketing / PR, product design, art and interior design, together with lectures, workshops. The common nominator is that all the projects are user-based and often based in workshops with users and clients.