Ele (Gabriele) Krekeler is my full name and I am a strong creator and I love to solve complex problems through empathy and visual codes. Get in touch!
My story
My path into UX has been anything but linear. I come from a background that spans design, service environments, and hands-on operational work, all of which have shaped how I understand people, behaviour, and the systems they interact with.
Over the past eight years, I developed and marketed a physical product that reflects my core values as an artist: sustainability and equity. Bringing this product to life took a year of development before I launched my soap sculptures and began building a marketing strategy and user experience around them.
Being an entrepreneur taught me to think beyond ideas and aesthetics. I learned to ask practical questions: Can this exist in the market? What real-world variables need to be considered? As an artist, I have always been able to imagine meaningful possibilities, and I now want to bring that creativity into UX design.
My creative career began with a 2 year training in photography, followed by a diploma in design and a diploma in fine arts. These experiences eventually came together in my own business, where I took on multiple roles and led a small team of up to four people.
Most recently, I completed Google’s UX Design Certificate, which allowed me to return to design from a digital perspective. I especially enjoyed creating digital worlds and experiences that can genuinely support people in everyday life.
Craft, context, and impact
I combine an entrepreneurial mindset with an experimental artistic approach. Throughout my career, I have always been driven by the process of creating something meaningful ,whether an image, an insight, a sense of value, or a memorable experience. What connects my work is a deep attention to context and to the possibilities within it.
My motivation comes from understanding people and their environments, then translating those insights into thoughtful, well-crafted experiences. I approach each project with curiosity and care, seeing it as a chance to learn, refine, and create something that genuinely improves the way people interact with a product or service.
I value collaboration and treat every project as a shared process. For me, design is both craft and responsibility: a balance of creativity and strategy that results in solutions that are intentional, human-centred, and built to last.
How I work
My background in photography, art, entrepreneurship, and event work has taught me to observe systems, people, and environments from multiple perspectives. These experiences shape how I approach UX: considering not only how something works, but how it affects the spaces, communities, and resources around it. I strive to design solutions that are responsible, inclusive, and mindful of their long-term impact.
Not only the soap as a piece of art, also the soap as soap really stood out from anything we have tried so far.
—Lejlac customer