The Impact of SPD Alumni on My Learning Experience - Fashion and Print Careers
This is a continuation of my previous blog post, about the two Stationary and Illustration alumni speakers from Surface Pattern Design at UWTSD. Charlotte Field and Georgia Hampton both currently work in the fast fashion industry after graduating from SPD, working in print design and also sourcing fabrics and running fashion websites as part of a label.
Charlotte Field made a lot of contacts through New Designers by taking business cards and speaking to professional representatives from various companies, although she wasn't initially offered any placements or internships from these people she contacted them for opportunities. This was interesting as I always thought if you weren't offered a placement then you should just try for other ones, it for some reason never occurred to me that I could go ahead and ask them for opportunities and advice! Charlotte progressed to work for Marks and Spencer by taking part in their graduate scheme, this gave her more experience about print design in the professional workplace. She decided that working for them full time wasn't really for her, so she applied to work for a supplier called "Misfit", and after working there she cultivated a small brand with a few other people called "Nobody's Child". She now works for "Nobody's Child" full time as a print designer, both designing her own prints to adhere to current trends and also buying in prints from suppliers to create up to date fashion collections, with a fun and quirky feel to them.
Georgia Hampton graduated from Surface Pattern Design, and much like Charlotte, did not gain any internships or placements directly through the university. This has always been a worry of mine, to not gain any sort of opportunities whilst studying my degree, however both of these graduates really calmed that fear by sharing how they progressed. Georgia applied to lots of jobs, getting through to the interview stage at a lot of them, but wasn't interested enough to accept their offers and instead found a fashion company in Manchester that she was intrigued by. She applied for a two week internship at this company, called "In The Style". The company loved her way of working and offered her a three month placement, and now further on down the line she works for them full time. The company designs ranges for celebrities such as Charlotte Crosby from "Geordie Shore", Billie Faiers from "TOWIE" and Binky from "Made in Chelsea", as well as designing their own clothing ranges. Personally I had never thought about who designs celebrity clothing ranges, so it was a real suprise to me that a team of designers were involved in this process!
These speakers, although focusing on fashion rather than interior design (which is what I am more geared towards) were so useful and insightful for showing the process of getting into the professional design workplace. Especially without gaining internships or placements through their time at the university. I don't think I would like to work in fashion but again, their insight into print design will help me with my own print design for interiors.
