Chatting To The Professionals

On this week’s podcast we had guest speakers Norman Stevenson from Design Partners and Noel Joyce from Hax. It was great to hear about two successful professional product designer’s perspective on the design world.

It was interesting to hear that Norman’s path was not straightforward. He initially went to study architecture but decided to drop out after 1st year. He took a year out and worked in a jean shop as a salesman. He then changed course to product design. I feel like everyone, at some point has some sort of minor setback or point in their life where they don’t know where to go or what to do next. I feel because everything has gone my way with the leaving cert and my course choice, that there could be point where I feel stuck and do not know what to do next. It is important for me to not panic and realize that things will work out. On top of this Norman mentioned that he gained a lot from his experience as a salesman, he said it is very important in the design world and what he gained from that really stood to him. This reminded me of one the most successful designer/businessman/chancers Steve Madden, I recently watched his documentary and it really intrigued me and has inspired me to learn more about the business side to design. “If you can’t sell the brilliant design you created, it’s not worth S***” -Steven Madden. He also said, “you need to define yourself in the marketplace”. (Steve Madden, 2020)

Norman also mentioned how he landed his first job straight after college. He got the job in an interesting way, LG electronics assumed he had given his cv as they took a list of the students that did well in his year of college. They rang Norman saying they misplaced his cv and asked for another. This showed me the importance of really pushing yourself to do well in college as it will stand to me when job hunting after college. When speaking about different jobs he talks about different skills he acquired from each job, it is important to take everything you can from every opportunity you are given, wherever and whatever it is. Norman gave great advice on life as well as design. To use life experiences for example travelling and allow it to help shape your design philosophy and perspective on the world.

Noel took a more business route. He gave very informative advice, he told us that we have a competitive advantage over other businesses as we are qualified designers. We have the knowledge to do a lot of the design work ourselves. We understand systems and how they work. We have a skill to tell a story that other entrepreneurs don’t have. Hearing this from a successful professional has boosted my confidence, it has made me really consider starting my own small business on the side of selling vintage clothes. I have always thought about doing this but now I think I will pursue this idea. I can use design as the key driver for my business.

Noel spoke about learning a lot from his failures. An interesting point he made was about how he realized all the design fails he had made in designing a product when he had to assemble the product together by hand. I was intrigued because when I am designing, I tend not to think about manufacturing the product which is one of the most important parts of the product in a business perspective. This talk gave me an important insight to learn about the business side to design.

Noel’s business experience seemed so exciting, he got to see his own his own design and creation grow. He got to see people he looked up to like Tinker Hatfield use his product. I think when you have your own business there is huge risks but there are also huge possibilities. After listening to these professionals speak, I am excited to enter the working life and see what it withholds for me.

(Venture Capital Program for Hardware - HAX, 2020)

(National Manufacturing Event Conference & Exhibition » » Design Partners, 2020)

Bibliography

Wisefamousquotes.com. 2020. Steve Madden Quotes: Wise Famous Quotes, Sayings And Quotations By Steve Madden. [online] Available at: <https://www.wisefamousquotes.com/steve-madden-quotes/> [Accessed 2 May 2020].

Manufacturingevent.com. 2020.National Manufacturing Event Conference & Exhibition » » Design Partners. [online] Available at: <https://www.manufacturingevent.com/exhibitor/design-partners/> [Accessed 5 May 2020].

HAX. 2020.Venture Capital Program For Hardware - HAX. [online] Available at: <https://hax.co/> [Accessed 5 May 2020].