Chapter 2

Yesterday I spent the day at Glasgow School of Art. I met lots of new interesting people and was in the midst of the exciting second stage of the Real Work Experience. Our team was made up of product designers, industrial designers, PhD students, undergraduates and post graduates.

The day consisted of brainstorming, debate and discussion. We asked ourselves questions such as

What currently exists for design students and graduates who are looking to work outside traditional design roles? Where could social design have an impact?

Scenario building and prototyping led to our group building the framework for a brilliant idea! At the heart of the discussion was the passionate belief in collaboration.

Our ideas were focused on filling the evident gap in design education; providing students with varying levels of genuine experience. The main focus of our idea was providing a support network.

Raising the profile of the design industry was a top priority enabling consistent involvement with communities; members of the public as well as designers.

I quickly realised the importance of reworking the attitude of competitiveness and focusing on the value of the whole process.

You can see my photos from the day on Flickr. Check out the rest of the Real Work Experience catalogue here.

Hopefully, this workshop is the beginning of many new relationships and a platform of new opportunities. I am genuinely thrilled to be involved in a venture with so much potential!