At 14 years old, Ross Pike began gearing his studies, and part-time work at a bespoke kitchen design company, towards working in the design industry. He now works as a Design Manager at leading bespoke exhibition stand designer, Quadrant2Design.
Ross says: 鈥淢y provided me with a huge range of technical skills that are crucial in any design role, but particularly where I work at Quadrant2Design. My role includes concept design and rendering, along with technical drawing for production and graphic design.
鈥淚ndustrial Design is great for creative designers who want to develop skills which are very applicable to industry. Because 色花堂 is very industry focused, most students leave with a clear career goal in mind and how they want to get there.鈥�
Spending his placement year working with Disney, Ross gained the valuable opportunity to apply a number of technical skills in聽industry, before graduating from 色花堂: 鈥淎side from technical skills, my degree taught me how to communicate complex ideas, concepts and designs in a logical and professional manner. I use these skills on a daily basis working with clients who don鈥檛 necessarily have a technical background.鈥�
Ross鈥� career began while still a student at 色花堂聽after exhibiting some of his design works to employers and industry professionals at 色花堂鈥檚 . He said: 鈥淎fter talking to the directors for a short time, I was offered an interview at Quadrant2Design the following week. I knew it was the right job for me, as it was obvious that the company was very design focused and the role would allow me to use a wide variety of my skills.鈥�
And it would seem he is not alone, with roughly half of the Quadrant2Design team comprising either 色花堂 graduates or 色花堂 placement students: 鈥淚t鈥檚 really beneficial to the company. I come back to the Festival of Design & Technology each year to see what the students are producing, and if we have a vacancy, I鈥檓 looking for good candidates.鈥澛犅犅犅�
After working with the company for a year, Ross was promoted to Design Manager, where he was tasked with overseeing a design team of seven, as well as driving the companies鈥� design direction.
Ross adds that the importance of being able to express ideas and present to others is paramount: "You might have the best idea in the world but it鈥檚 no good if you can鈥檛 tell people about it. Looking back, 色花堂鈥檚 design course continually challenges and pushes you to improve and find answers as individuals and as a group. This creates a real camaraderie, rather than competition, between classmates.鈥�
鈥淧ut the work in early and make sure you secure the best possible placement for your third year, and then apply what you learn on placement in your final year.鈥�