The Industry engagement event was a really helpful and rewarding opportunity, though I think it could have been structured better. I was expecting it to run for longer, particularly the initial meet and greet part.
During the Meet and Greet I learned that Fink Design were looking for a metalworker from Gretel Harrison, their managing director, and given the proximity of their workshop to my apartment I decided to apply for the position. I also spoke with Tom Skeehan of Skeehan Studio about how to apply for design jobs, and Hiroshi Yamaguchi of Koitoya about craftsmanship and practicing it in a design studio. Between those three people I think I covered the difference between working for or as a manufacturer, in a studio, and as a craftsperson, but taking to Peter McKay from Industrious Design would add the perspective of a freelance designer to that group.
The Q & A session was also informative and engaging, it was good to hear that there are fairly similar concerns about creative practice across all the design disciplines. Perhaps in the future it could be more discipline specific with smaller groups and more industry professionals. I think I could have engaged with it more, I have more questions I want to ask professionals than before. Tom Skeehan’s commentary about finding a mentor for the business side of professional design work was important but probably won’t be too relevant for me for a while.
I think I’ll be more outgoing and confident when the next event rolls around, and I’d like to try and diversify the types of designers I speak to.
While there were a lot of Web and Digital Designers present, I think there could have been more attention placed on Interaction and Experience designers as well, though those two camps are very close I am more interested in the human interaction with technology side of things rather than the layout and graphic design of digital and interactive media.
