I hope they feel warm inside and can imagine the warmth of the sun shining on their face! I love that warm and positive feeling that the sun can give you, like all your worries are melting away. As a child, I spent all summer vacations in Portugal where my grandparents had a vacation home. I’ve spent so much time playing and lying in the sun, it gives me warm memories. When you grow up in a rainy country like The Netherlands you just really appreciate it. The Dutch certainly do; when the sun starts shining they basically run out of their houses and offices to sit outside.

It was the first thing that came to mind! I’ve taken "You Are Sunshine” very literally. I wanted to depict where the sun’s live: a cozy community full of dancing and happy sun’s. Those iconic La Fonda del Sol matchbooks by Alexander Girard were definitely an inspiration for this design too. I love the colors and the retro vibe to it. I also looked at pre-space age images of the sun and stars: like a sun riding a horse, it’s just fabulous.

I love all kinds of chocolate, but dark chocolate (with anything else) is my favorite.

I’d say everything is better in the sun, but there are some particular situations that I enjoy: I like to take a folding chair from our basement and place it outside along the canal, watching the boats. I also love putting a little mattress on our roof terrace and read the newspaper.

To my sister, who is a ray of sunshine herself and loves everything sweet.

Surprisingly easy! The team were so kind and lovely to work with. I think I’ve never had such a cozy first work video call ever before! I love how we wandered off and talked about poodles instead of only talking business. Even though it was short, I felt like they were actually interested in me and we got to know each other a little. I also felt like they really wanted to give me creative freedom with this project and they truly did. Some clients say that at the beginning of a project, but later on it turns out they actually have a lot of specific wishes.

Probably this was inspired by our little poodle chat on the video call! Kirsty and Jake asked if I own a poodle because I draw so many. I told them I was about to get one soon. And then Jean showed me her poodle on the call and it was so adorable! I just felt like I had to incorporate a little poodle and I think it’s so cute with the sunny head!