Designer's Dream of Living the Life as a Digital Nomad

We’re lucky to speak to this young designer whose dream is sharing beautiful ideas between people, and his life as a digital nomad. Learn the life of Valentin, Art Director working for Portfoliobox.

After growing up in the Middle East and exploring Sweden and Thailand, the world is his inspirational playground. In between meetings and travelling, we’re lucky to have a chance to speak to this young, energetic designer whose dream is all about creating, connecting and sharing beautiful ideas between people.

Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a world citizen with roots in Sweden & Thailand. A social butterfly who loves traveling on the edge, always curious to explore what’s behind the next hill. I recently moved to Thailand 6 months ago and am excited to learn the language and dive into the whole Thai culture to make a new chapter here. Ever since I was young I have always been drawing and realised soon after that I wanted to become a designer, and ever since then that has been my path and journey.

Where did you live and how did you get started working for Portfoliobox?

I grew up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and went to an international school before moving to Sweden to continue high school. After graduation, I moved to Milano to get my Bachelor degree in Industrial Design.

Later on, I joined Pond, a design innovation company in Stockholm doing concept development for spirits and tobacco. That was really fun for a few years but I missed the international flare so I moved to London and became a freelancer for a year. During the time I was there Portfoliobox reached out asking me to join them. For me, who originally was an artist and knows how difficult it can be to be discovered, it felt really good knowing I was gonna work with a company that could help the creative community move forward. So I joined right away!

And why did you decide to move to Bangkok?

I’m half Thai, and I was always wondering what it would be to really live here so why not give it an honest try. Sawadeekap, it’s the land of smiles! I have to be apart of that! Also from an efficient perspective, working in Bangkok enables me to be 6 hours ahead from my colleagues in Europe which I found to be more practical.

How would you describe yourself?

I would say open-hearted, easy-going and always curious about anything to keep a fresh new perspective. But some say I am just an energy bomb spreading good vibes with positive power ha ha!

Can you tell us about your company?

Portfoliobox is a super easy to use website builder tool that enables you to build your own online portfolio with free imagination. You can manage galleries, e-commerce and blogging and you don’t need to know any coding to do so. With Portfoliobox you are never restricted by an overall theme that limits your design. You can use any style and template for any page and create a truly unique website that reflects you and your work. More than half a million websites have been created with Portfoliobox and all of them are unique! Our service is for everyone but our main focus is the creative community of designers, photographers, artists, stylists, models and architects.

What are you trying to tackle in the market?

It is important that a creator gets the recognition they deserve and that their talent comes to use. We are currently working on a new exciting project called Find Creatives. This will be a free platform for creatives to showcase their online portfolio and where people can easily discover them and directly request for projects. The mechanic is kind of like Airbnb. If someone wants to find a creative talent for a project, they can browse to our website, chose a specific creative profession, search for a location and a list of creatives will be showcased on a world map where they can be at reach. With this platform the creatives and the clients can be connected to each other right away. The good thing is that we already have our base clients, around half a million from 130 countries all over the world. And this could be a good start for findcreatives.com. If you have a Portfoliobox Pro account you can easily import your work to Find Creatives in seconds, but you can also create a profile on Find Creatives directly.

What is your team like?

We are a very tight team with 12 people, I’m the only one living in Bangkok, and another 8 are in Stockholm and some few around Europe. Let say that we are an international young and fun loving team who are passionate about powering peoples visions.

What is the most important part of running Portfoliobox?

To always listen to our customers and make sure they get the best support and experience as possible.

Can you tell me what your daily duties include for your job?

Wake up…swim…take a cup of coffee…ride my motorbike to The Hive…Checking for new inspiration online…Start to design! Skype with my team in the afternoon for a little catch up. Go out for some recreations and then enjoy my social butterfly life in the evening.

Why did you choose to work at the Hive?

I was staying at a condo nearby last year when visiting Bangkok. Was having a coffee with my friend at the Coffee Club. My friend saw The Hive sign and said he had read about this place so we checked it out. I fell in love with this place right away and tried it out for a few days. All of the sudden I decide that this is my office. So I went back to London to pack my stuff and moved here. I can say that The Hive is also one of the reasons why moving to Bangkok was an easy decision.