About
I'm Jochem Oosterhuis, a designer and maker based in the Netherlands, graduated from New Design & Attitudes at St. Joost School of Art & Design.
I'm fascinated by the way we perceive the objects around us. How something familiar can suddenly feel unfamiliar through an unexpected material, a shift in scale or a change in context. How an everyday object can spark curiosity, challenge expectations and invite us to take a second look.
My work explores this space between recognition and curiosity, creating objects that move beyond their practical purpose and evoke something more instinctive.
I believe our first interaction with an object happens long before we consciously understand it. We recognise, associate, question and feel. It is this immediate, intuitive response that fascinates me and forms the foundation of my practice.
Making as a way of thinking.
My approach is rooted in experimentation, material exploration and hands-on making. Rather than treating making as the final step of a predetermined idea, I see it as an essential part of the thinking process.
Through working with materials, techniques and prototypes, ideas are continuously questioned, challenged and refined. Unexpected outcomes become opportunities for discovery, allowing objects to develop their own character throughout the process.
I'm particularly interested in the tension between what an object appears to be and what it actually is. By placing familiar elements in unfamiliar contexts, I aim to create objects that invite a second look.
Not everything needs to be understood immediately. Sometimes, a moment of confusion is exactly what makes something interesting.
Objects beyond the obvious.
This philosophy took shape during my graduation project, Warped Senses, an exploration into how objects can trigger intuitive emotional responses through form, material, scale and context.
The project resulted in two designs: a concrete tape dispenser and a lighting object inspired by high-voltage transmission towers. Both reinterpret familiar references through unexpected design decisions, creating a dialogue between the ordinary and the unusual.
What started as a graduation project has since become the foundation of an evolving design practice.
In a world increasingly shaped by digital imagery, efficiency and rapid consumption, I find value in creating physical objects that encourage people to look, feel and question.
My work exists somewhere between functional product design and autonomous objects. A growing collection of independently developed designs, connected by a shared curiosity for challenging the familiar.
Designed to be used. Made to be noticed.