A day in the life of…

1st in a series of product design alumni talks this morning and what a great way to start with 2015 graduate Martins Elerts all the way from Latvia. Martins talked about his work as project designer for Dixon Yacht Design. Fascinating insight into ‘day in the life of…’

Graduates deliver online masterclasses

This week members of the E3 Design Consultancy, all graduates from Teesside, delivered insightful online workshops in digital illustration, Solidworks and Keyshot sharing hints and tips picked up from working in the industry with our students.
For some years, Product Design has engaged with a professional design consultancy E3 Design, based in Newcastle, in the delivery of future facing, employment skills. Practitioners from the consultancy are involved in sharing their working practices and highlighting their experiences in a professional working environment.

3 years on… Lewis returns

Great to have Product graduate Lewis Brown back in the studios this morning. Lewis is a KTP Associate working with local specialist bathroom equipment supplier Nymas. He gave a talk about his career since graduating in 2018 and his work on the KTP project helping to embed a bespoke New Product Development function into at the company.

Good to see Lewis doing so well.

David Fox returns to Teesside

Thank you to David Fox for a fascinating insight into the world of furniture design. Our 2nd year Product students are looking forward to working on a brief set by David along with his support and knowledge.

Design Guest Lecture

David Fox is a Teesside University graduate of (BA) Hons Industrial Design and Design Director at David Fox Design Ltd

David graduated in 1996 and started his career as a designer for a tubular steel bedroom manufacturer in west Yorkshire. In 2002 he decided to pursue his own creative studio.

David Fox Design, is now a multi award winning industrial and product design studio. Their spectrum of product designs range from furniture, to bathroom basins, faucets, cabinet hardware, fabric and carpet design. International client base covers Belgium, Turkey, UK, Italy, Czech Republic, Canada, Poland & Spain.

David Fox Design, is now a multi award winning industrial and product design studio. Their spectrum of product designs range from furniture, to bathroom basins, faucets, cabinet hardware, fabric and carpet design. International client base covers Belgium, Turkey, UK, Italy, Czech Republic, Canada, Poland & Spain.

His award winning ‘Kruze’ chair for Boss Design can be seen on Match of the Day supporting the likes of Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer and also on the 4th floor of the Curve Building here at Teesside.

The boys are back in town.

Last week saw the return of four graduates from 2015. It was great to welcome back David Johnson, Martin Elerts, Lui Zatrak and Stephen Mounser . On the morning they delivered a joint presentation to students across design about their time at Teesside, friendships and their careers to date.

In the afternoon they spent time in the studio with our current 3rd year  giving some really good advice and industry insights.

Thanks again to the ‘class of 2015’ until the next time.

‘Design Plumbing’: an insight into the life of Product Design alumni Matt Hulbert

Matt Hulbert; BA Hons (First Class), MSc

Having graduated from Teesside University’s prestigious Product Design course in 2010, I found myself working within the exciting world of commercial design just three months after graduation. I joined a team of like minded designers at E3Design in Newcastle, where we worked on many household products that millions of people still use daily. At E3 we considered ourselves to be ‘Design Plumbers’ – called in at any point within the design cycle to assist in which ever way we were required to do so. Every day we were met with new challenges, whether it was to re-engineer a specific type of valve for costing down purposes or the conceptualisation and production of specialist laboratory equipment, no task was too big or too small. I am a big believer that Product Design is a creative extension of problem solving, and to be successful within the industry it’s more important that you develop a plethora of skills. My time at Teesside helped me to do just that, we were encouraged not only to develop our drawing, CAD and model making skills but importantly to ask questions and constantly address problems and apply creative thinking to overcome them.

It’s this core skill set that helped me to find my place in the industry and then go on to successfully design and launch my own invention, a digital golf training aid called TALON.  In 2014 I left E3 (whom I continue to work closely with) and started Ojee Golf Ltd with my father, Paul. The last three years I’ve been fortunate enough to embark on an incredible journey, we successfully crowdfunded the TALON on Indiegogo selling 178 TALON units to 20 different countries. We’ve raised more than £150K in funding and were invited to Orlando and Shanghai to help promote UK business.

One of my greatest achievements to date has been realigning with Teesside University on the very course that I graduated from just seven short years ago, only this time as a part-time lecturer. I owe a great deal of gratitude to the University, the course and the lecturers so it feels good to play a part in the future of the course. If I can help to instil the same design values in today’s students that I learnt during my years on the course than it will give them everything they need to help pave their way into a successful design career.

Ben traces his journey to Dyson

Ben Russi, 25, who graduated from Teesside’s BA (Hons) Product Design and Industrial Transportation in 2012, is now working as a Design Engineer with Dyson, the company best known for it’s revolutionary vacuum cleaner design.

Originally from Saltburn, Ben, a former student at Prior Pursglove College in Guisborough, met with students currently working on design projects as part of their degree studies.

He said: ‘I studied at Teesside University largely as it was so highly recommended to me by my college lecturer. It gave me a great grounding in product design and helped me to make up my mind about what I wanted to do.

‘It’s been great meeting the students and telling them about my journey since studying at Teesside and it’s been really good to speak to them about their own projects and ideas.

‘I really enjoyed my time at Teesside, so it’s been great to return and see all the reminders of being a student here. Speaking to the students too is a great reminder that just a few years ago I was one of them myself.’

Ben, who is now based in Wiltshire, joined Dyson in 2014 as a Graduate Design Engineer before moving into the role of Design Engineer.

He said: ‘It’s a great place to work, I’m inspired every day. The degree at Teesside helped to give me the confidence to apply and push for a role with such an innovative company.’

Fun in the sun.

Great to see the Class of 2016 enjoying their graduation in the sun today.  It was probably a shade too hot but it certainly added too the day. There was a fantastic atmosphere in campus heart and throughout the University.IMG_2012 IMG_2014 IMG_2015 IMG_2016 IMG_2017

Also what a  pleasure it was to meet up with Product Design graduate John Barrett, who was here to receive an honorary doctorate from the University. John graduated in 1988, from the then Teesside Polytechnic, and is now President and Chief Executive Officer of US-based global design consultancy TEAGUE.

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John gave a wonderfully inspiring speech, talking fondly about his time at Teesside and how the course helped to mould his hugely successful career.

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Good luck to all our graduates.