Welcome to the team, Valentin!

Valentin has joined the team as a product designer. Before joining Bad Dinosaur, Valentin was freelancing as designer for a startup in his home of Paris. We gave Valentin a quick grilling to get to know him a bit better:

Two years ago Valentin visited the UK for a holiday with his girlfriend, they stopped off in the Scottish capital during the fringe festival, went to the famous Lake District in Cumbria, and even came back for Hogmanay! Being ‘young and free’, they decided to go for a change and make Edinburgh their home. 

Why did you move to Bad Dinosaur?

I enjoyed freelancing but I didn’t want to be working from home all the time, so I decided to look for something permanent where we could be office-based (eventually). I actually went for a role in Bad Dinosaur earlier on in the year but I just missed the deadline for applications and they had already hired Miriam. The team is growing so much that Kyle got in touch with me a few months later, and now I am here.

I wanted to do a product designer role, instead of just designing websites directly from a brief. I liked the idea of being able to influence the product and create something from concept to launch. When I saw the portfolio of work that Bad Dinosaur have done I knew there would be plenty of variety too.

How did you get into design?

I did a degree in the field but it was a bit more IT-focussed. I wanted to do more creative things so I trained myself online about design stuff, even though I had no background knowledge of it at all. I knew that I loved it.

How do you feel about starting remotely?

Like everyone else, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone, looking forward to having a social life, going to the pub on Fridays, that kind of thing. I also want to have more opportunities to speak English with people, because that’s something I really wanted to do when I moved abroad, but don’t get a lot of chances to in lockdown. 

Got any interesting hobbies?

I love to do sports: running and swimming are my favourites. I don’t swim in the sea though, it’s way too cold. I live in Portobello and every day I see crazy people going into the water, I couldn’t do it! I also play video games. I love my houseplants, and I love to cook. I much prefer to cook than to get takeaway or delivery. My favourite dish to cook is lasagne.

Favourite computer game?

If I had to just choose one, it would be World of Warcraft. I started playing when I was quite young, and every two years they launch a new DLC and I end up returning to it again and again. There’s just something really special about this game. I play with my friends in France so it’s a nice way to keep in touch and chat with them. I’m definitely looking forward to the Thursday gaming nights that the Bad Dinosaur team does.

What was the last book you read?

It’s a French book, it’s called La Vérité sur l'affaire Harry Quebert (The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair). It’s about the mysterious death of a young girl in the USA, and a man obsessed with finding out what really happened.

If you could live anywhere aside from Edinburgh, where would it be?

Maybe Japan or Canada - in Tokyo or Toronto. My brother used to live in Toronto and I really liked it as a city. I really like Japanese culture so JTokyo is on my list too. 

What gig are you most looking forward to once we can again?

I do want to go to a festival, but it will be a little bit crazy being in such a big crowd after a year of just hanging around with one other person. I really want to do Glastonbury, we’ve always wanted to go to it. I’ve seen so many videos about the mud but I still want to go to it. 

What's your favourite dinosaur?

Velociraptor, because of Jurassic Park.

Would you rather spend the rest of your life with a sailboat as your home or a campervan as your home?

A campervan, all your life on a boat would be a bit boring after a while, but you could travel around in a campervan. I would travel around Scandinavia if I had a campervan.

If you'd like to join our lovely team please check out our current openings on Linkedin and get in touch for more info.