Category: International

All aboard at Cannes

Product Design graduate Mārtiņš Ēlerts, who now works for Dixon Yacht Design in Southampton, has just got back from the Cannes Yachting Festival where the new Sealine C430 motor boat was unveiled.

“This is not the first boat that I have worked on to hit the water, but it is the first project where I had the privilege to see the entire development process. From the beginning, the very first sketch, initial CAD model, all the way to a finished boat moored up at the Cannes Yachting Festival. My main role in this project was to build the exterior CAD model, which was then further developed by our team of engineers and naval architects.”

 

It’s a fairly rapid design process, as most of the fine design features are created on the go. Some quick dirty 20 second sketch might happen every now and then, but usually all the different ideas are quickly modelled in 3D and agreed on, or dismissed, without ever touching a piece of paper or pencil. The main advantage is the ability to see and evaluate every idea from all angles in the correct proportions in the actual environment. Might not sound like the traditional design process, but it’s the reality of working in a small team, with short deadlines.”

 

“Now just have to wait for the chance to go on sea trials with the team.”

And here is a video of it on water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1usynPl_zc

 

 

We Love Berlin

Earlier this month Product Design students visited the German capital, Berlin. The main part of the study visit was a day trip to the truly wonderful VW Autostadt in Wolfsburg, probably the world’s first automobile theme park, with its beautifully designed pavilions and of course the cars.

Other visits included the Reichstag, with the large glass dome designed by British Architect Norman Foster, the Vandenberg gate, the Bode Museum and trip to the top of the magnificent 368m tall Fernsehturm Tower with its incredible views of the whole city.

Product Design alumni receives honorary doctorate

John Barratt, President and Chief Executive Officer of US-based global design consultancy TEAGUE, received an honorary doctorate in Business Administration at this year’s graduation ceremony.

Founded in 1926, TEAGUE is considered to be the most important design consultancy in the world. John joined TEAGUE in 1999, after working in leading positions at Philips Design. He has dedicated his time to building on TEAGUE’s heritage, strengthening partnerships with some of the world’s leading brands including Intel, Starbucks, The Boeing Company and Samsung and pushing TEAGUE’s longstanding mission ‘to build a new and better world’ into the 21st century.

John studied at what was then Teesside Polytechnic, graduating in 1988 with a BA (Hons) Three Dimensional Design – Industrial Design. John said of his time at the University: ‘Teesside helped shape the person I am today. It taught me the philosophy of doing over talking, thinking through making and creating a culture that prioritises the ‘we’ over ‘me’. The notion of team is something I learned at Teesside and the experience has been the foundation to my life’.

You can listen to John here.

We Love Amsterdam

Following on from last year’s epic trip to Italy, the delights of Milan and visits to Ferrari and Lamborghini, Product Design students recently returned from this year’s International Study Trip to Amsterdam!

Amsterdam

I thought it would be difficult to top Italy, but what a fantastic city to visit.

The highlight for me was our visit to the Philips Museum in Eindhoven where we had a private escorted tour and learned about the history of this, most iconic of companies, from its early beginnings as a manufacturer of light bulbs to today’s global force in design innovation.

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Our hotel was in the heart of the Museums Quarter and we, of course, visited the world-class Van Gogh, Stedelijk and Ryjks museums.   Well… it would have been rude not to!   Nothing quite compares to seeing the great works of Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Kandinsky, Monet, I could go on “up close and personal”.   You get a real sense of “feeling” and how the artists worked in a way you can never quite appreciate from a screen or book.

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The Stedelijk Museum has a stunning permanent exhibition of 20th Century Design Classics that is a must see!IMG_0156

There was also plenty of free time for the students to take in some culture, including cutting gem stones in the diamond quarter, “designer” shopping, the flower markets and Amsterdam’s vibrant night life to name a few.

And…, we are already thinking about next year’s trip.   High on the list is a return visit to Berlin in 2017, the VW Autostadt and Bauhaus.   We’ll have more information at the start of term in October.

Grazie Italia… We’ll be back!

Product design students recently returned from an epic study trip to Italy and we thought we’d share a few moments with you.

Arriving in the Italian style capital, you can’t fail to be impressed by Milan.

Day 1 started with a trip to the Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci”… The Science Museum to the likes of me and you!   This is where I caught this lovely snap of our students in the Da Vinci Gallery which had intricate models of the great man’s many inventions.   The Science museum is on my must see list.

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We then headed to the city centre for lunch and the Duomo di Milano (the cathedral).   What a building!

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It’s difficult to believe that they started building it in 1386 and only finished construction in 1965!… and now they are having to renovate the old bits! :-/

Having been awestruck by the interior, many of us climbed the all too many steps to the roof.   Another photo opportunity amongst the spires of white and pale pastel marble.   You can see the mix of old and new.   The views were spectacular.

And afterwards, a walk around the designer fashion shops in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II followed by a beer (or two) in the city centre overlooking the Duomo.   And yes…, those are 1 litre glasses (just don’t ask the price!)

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Day 2 and we headed south to the Ferrari factory and museum.

We started the day with an escorted tour of the Ferrari test track and factory before visiting the museum.

The whole experience was fascinating from some of Ferrari’s classic racing cars to the stunning La Ferrari and of course, a Ferrari simulator!   The students took a group Selfie but I quite like my perspective on it.

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After Ferrari, we spent the evening in Bologna, a walk around the old town piazzas followed by some great, authentic Italian food.   We took over the entire restaurant!

Day 3 saw us head for the Museo Ferruccio Lamborghini.

Museum director, Fabio Lamborghini, nephew of Ferruccio, gave us a personal tour of the museum.

Fabio had some great anecdotes about his uncle.   Our thanks to Fabio for bringing the entire Lamborghini story so vividly and passionately to life.

From tractors, to air conditioning, the “Popemobile” to the very beautiful Miura we heard all about the ground breaking innovations and the “genius of Ferruccio”

 

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It was quite a road trip.   An unforgettable and inspirational experience for all.

I am reminded that Enzo Ferarri once said “If you can dream it, you can do it”

At Teesside, we believe that too….

Ireland abounds…

Product Design graduates Anna Staples and Emma Braham applied for European Placements and both ended up working in Cork, Ireland, on three month internship schemes.

Anna has been working for a company called Quay Designs who upcycle  furniture and sell it on in their own shop. Anna says:

“I am really enjoying working at Quay Designs because its allowing me to have a hands on approach with all the furniture, see how timber and oak is treated, we get a lot of different styles of furniture in, art deco and 50s kind of stuff. It’s actually ideal for me at the moment. I also get to see what styles of furniture are on trend and what colours are on trend also.”

Emma has been working for Air Dryer Systems Ltd in their new product development department.  Emma says:

“The experience has been really good, working on products to extend their current range”

Anna is hoping to extend her stay in Ireland for a further 3 months, whilst Emma has since secured a new position back in England.

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Ich bin ein Berliner…

Last week 1st and 2nd year Product Design students could be found in the German capital, Berlin. The main part of the study visit was a day trip to the truly wonderful VW Autostadt in Wolfsburg, probably the world’s first automobile theme park, with its beautifully designed pavilions and of course the cars.

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Other visits included the Reichstag, with the large glass dome designed by British Architect Norman Foster, the Bauhaus Archive Museum of Design, with its extensive collection art pieces relating to one of the most influential art and design schools of the 20th century and the magnificent 368m tall Fernsehturm Tower with its incredible views of the whole city.

DSCF0437 DSCF0486 P1100323 Overall it was an excellent few days with lots to see and do. Watch out for more posts from the trip.P1100460

Take a seat: Date for the diary

Postponed from 28th Feb,

Product Design graduate Jonathan Prestwich will be visiting the University this Friday (7th March) to talk about his very successful career as a freelance furniture designer and consultant.

Jonathan graduated from Teesside in 1995 and for 2 years worked as a junior designer for a consultancy in Boston Massachusetts.  From there he worked in France for 6 years as a design manager for Burkhard Vogtherr, a successful German designer, which gave him the experience and contacts needed to set up on his own.

Since then he has produced designs for many well known international furniture companies including Arco (Netherlands), Arflex (Italy), Davis (USA), KlÖber (Germany) and Modus (UK).

Time: 1:00 p.m.

Venue: Centuria Building (School of Health) Lecture Theatre H0.01

Jonathan will then be available during the afternoon to speak with students in the Product Design studio.

Body chair, Davis Furniture (USA) frame lounge, Arco Muebel (NL) Web Tec, Davis Furniture (USA) OS Lounge Chair by Jonathan Prestwich OS_wallpaper

‘Ketchup’ with Tom

Product Design Alumni , Tom Crisp, will be returning to Teesside on January 28th to give a talk about his career so far, working with some of the world’s best design consultancies, and to spend time in the studios with the product design students.

After graduating in 2004 Tom moved to Portland, Oregon to work for for international design consultancy ‘Ziba Design’ at their HQ and, for a short while, at their office in Germany. After 6 years he moved to San Francisco and spent a year and a half at ‘New Deal Design’ working alongside world renowned designer Gadi Amit. After that he was offered the opportunity to start a design studio in San Francisco for the Irish company ‘Design Partners’. They are now in their second full year of running the studio, getting it established and growing the team.

Tom has worked on: Many of the Wacom tablets and screens, the Fitbit products, the new Heinz Ketchup bottles, high-profile laptops, design strategy programs, in-depth research and conceptual projects. His clients have included: Heinz, Fitbit, Wacom, Citibank, Intel, Dell, Logitech, Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson and Samsung.Newly_Redesigned_HeinzKetchup_Bottles51Lbf6K3AkL notebook stacktc1 wacomintuos4medium

Tales from the Middle Kingdom

Teesside Graduate Conor Barnes’ ambition whilst a student was to teach in the far east. Since graduating in May Conor has realised that dream.The following is Conors 1st email since starting work.

‘I work at Changsha Foreign Language School as the head of junior two’s (12-14 yrs.) oral English lesson, where for the past few weeks I’ve been teaching them a range of topic’s; from Music genre’s to parts of the human body. Also teaching how to make comparisons, superlatives, spellings, pronunciation, etc.

I found that I’ve adjusted to life here very well and are already considering staying another few years.  I have made many friends here in Changsha and have a busy social life when I’m off duty, I’ve even started a band and we should be starting to play some shows around the pubs and club next month.’

Check back for further updates from Conor.

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