Product specialist in the R&D department
I work at Royal Talens in the R\&D department as a Product Specialist. My main focus is on acrylic paints, the acrylic factory, and new developments such as Creative Wall Paint. I operate right at the intersection of technology and hands-on practice. I make sure that an idea eventually becomes a paint that not only performs well on paper but is also truly pleasant to use.
My background has been rooted in coatings and paints from the very beginning. During my studies, I completed a graduation project on strippable coatings. After that, I joined a work experience program where I researched heat-conductive coatings. I then moved on to the R\&D department of an international coatings company, where I worked for 23 years. Nearly four years ago, I made the switch to Royal Talens. In total, I’ve now been working with acrylic as a binder for around 27 years.
Artists’ acrylics, like the ones we produce at Talens, were new to me when I started here, but the fundamentals felt familiar. There are many similarities between artists’ paints and professional paints such as lacquers and wall paints. What makes this field so fascinating to me is the puzzle behind it. There’s never a one-size-fits-all solution. Every adjustment to a raw material can solve one problem but create another. It takes experience, analytical thinking, and creativity to ultimately develop a paint that performs well in every aspect.
The biggest difference between artists’ paint and wall paint is in the rheology—the way the paint handles. Artists’ acrylics have more of a gel-like structure and are designed for brushwork in various layer thicknesses. Wall paints, on the other hand, need to roll on smoothly without dripping or splattering. Wall paints must also meet additional requirements such as washability and breathability.
When developing Creative Wall Paint, our starting point was to create an acrylic paint that could be applied with a roller so that large surfaces could be covered quickly, but with the quality and color strength you expect from Amsterdam. We envisioned mural paints in particular. Additionally, the paint needed to be fully compatible with other products in the Amsterdam range.
Before the paint was considered “ready,” several key properties had to be absolutely spot on: workability, durability, and color quality. We conducted both internal and external tests. Workability, especially, received a great deal of attention. In our previous building, we painted entire walls to test everything in real-life conditions. That’s also what I’m personally most proud of. We’ve received a lot of feedback saying the paint is very pleasant to work with, and that’s where a significant part of the development time went.
In terms of coverage and pigmentation, the foundation is strong. Some high‑quality pigments are naturally transparent. By choosing a high pigment load, we’ve been able to optimize coverage without compromising color intensity. All colors are fully intermixable, as you would expect from Amsterdam, and the vibrancy is very high.
Producing the paint entirely in the Netherlands means no long‑distance transport is required and that we meet the strict European standards for safety and environmental protection. The quality standards for paint in the Netherlands are already high by default. Whenever possible, we source our raw materials from within Europe. For example, we do not use white pigments from China or India. The paint is also developed so it can be manufactured efficiently in larger batches, saving both energy and cleaning time. And thanks to its high quality, the paint will last for years—even for outdoor use.
What I would love people to know is that paint is a beautiful and technically refined product. When you understand how it works, you get so much more out of it. It truly pays off to dive deeper into the material. Fortunately, there’s plenty of content available today to help with that.
