Martin Heßmann

Hey, I'm Martin 👋 I live in Friedrichshain, former East-Berlin, just 500 meters from where my parents first moved in together—back when getting married was the only way the GDR government would allow them to share an apartment.

Getting Started (2010-2014)

I studied Communication Design at HTW Berlin because I wanted to grow up, be independent, and provide for my family. But what I really enjoyed back then were the bike rides through the city 🚲 connecting dots that wouldn't exist if I had just taken the U-Bahn or a cab (not that I could afford one).

Freelancing during this time was less about building a career and more about trying things out—having my first direct client interactions, helping them reach their goals with the tools I had at hand, and learning the rest on the go.

From Design to UX (2013-2018)

At Ape Unit GmbH, where I started as an intern in 2013 and later became a UX/UI Designer (2014-2018), I realized I needed more than just visuals—I needed structure, principles, a plan. Otherwise, projects quickly turned into a mess of taste, opinions, and impulses. That chaos drained my motivation and confused the developers at Ape Unit (shoutout to Emil, Micha, and Max ♥).

I started seeing how a simple bullet point list of features or a structured, almost text-adventure-like user story format helped create a shared language. It gave us a way to talk things through with both the team and the client, to align on what we actually wanted and needed. "I want that, I don't like that, I feel like something is missing…"

"Art" Direction (2018-2023)

I never really understood why we called it that, but as our team grew at Unit 4 and we had more than one designer on a project (shoutout to Ray), we could finally split up cognitive and creative work. And while I loved the visuals, I found myself more and more drawn to development flows, handovers, processes, and data.

Projects I worked on during this time:

• Co-creating the web platform and style guide for easyCredit Partner, shaping their B2B brand identity
• Long-term digital strategy and design support for Grün Berlin and InfraSignal
• Helping Ninetailed.io with their custom Tailwind setup and design system for contentful
• Working with Tertianum Premium Residences alongside the amazing Amelie Drews and Julian Fleck

"AN"kommen (2023-Present) 🚀

Now, at AN, I feel like I've reached a point where I'm happy with my role. I have the freedom to decide how we advise clients, what solutions we propose, how we structure teams, which experts we bring in, and how we manage timelines, budgets, and processes. I also focus on what the team needs to work well—communication, time management, workflow clarity.

• Supporting WoMoFonds and Dein-WoMo
• Developing Whats Netz, an interactive 3D strategy game for E.ON in collaboration with Ray Sono and their game designers and project managers

And then COVID happened 😷 Our semi-remote team had to go fully remote, which gave us both freedom and the need for daily check-ins—via Slack, Notion, Toggl. It shaped how we work together now.

Side Projects 💗

These aren't really side projects—they're more like things I pass on. Community work. Sharing experiences, making connections, valuing the things I do or did—not just for money, but for what they create in the long run.

Some of these include:

• Building ElodieCarstensen.com and developing a Digital Rental Catalogue as a React app powered by AirTable
• Supporting movement director Marie Zechiel with SEO strategies
• Working on branding with Studio Stellar, a female-owned, queer, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC-friendly photo studio in Kreuzberg ✨

What's Next? 🤔

I don't really know where the AI bubble is going, and to be honest, it's kind of crazy to watch fully generative images, videos, marketing funnels, and ads evolve at this speed.

I help my colleagues at Openwonder.com navigate that space, but I'm also critical of the ethics and impact this has in the hyper-capitalist phase we're in. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement and forget that all of this is only possible because of billion-dollar investments from big tech companies. We're privileged to have access to these tools, and we shouldn't take that for granted.

Learn more: ElodieCarstensen.com · LinkedIn · GitHub · Instagram

Set in Commit Mono · GitHub · Vercel