Biography
I am a designer, living and working in London having graduated from the design department at Goldsmiths College in London. I am a concept-led, post-disciplinary designer, capable of making, thinking, building, design-research, developing, film-making, hacking etc. I am excited by the prospect of continued learning, and feel it necessary to constantly develop skills and thought processes. I see the most potential, and thus am most interested in critical design; I understand that design can and continues to shape the way we live. However I am often fearful of designers and the term ‘design’- I feel critical design offers us methods to think harder and deeper about how we shape and change the world around us – we can play, experiment, make mistakes, and learn. I feel as though we should be getting better at design; learning from mistakes in the past and thinking critically about the things we make and do. I am keen to question what critical design is capable of and what it currently does; furthering my own understanding of what design can do, the role it currently occupies in our lives, and how we ‘use’ and understand design in the future.
I have worked on a number of projects both in London, and abroad. These have ranged from highly conceptual projects, for example a project that concerned our human conditions and learning, through to a project that dealt with and experimented with design process, I have created speculative system designs, several short films, pieces of graphic literature, exhibition design/organisation, and various personal projects alongside.
In the last year I have been working on a project that is primarily concerned with belief, learned perceptions, and as a condition, the human need for belief. The project is manifested in a design context through the use of machines and performances that act to question and/or quantify our beliefs, testing our perceptions. The project went onto set up an ideology that acts to discuss systems of education, learning, and the value of experiences and knowledge.
I can offer a wide range of technical skills to a high standard, including film production, drawing, prototyping/making, graphic design, programming and electronics knowledge, cad/cam, web and photography.
Employment
Kin Design: Farringdon, London
Freelance
[July 10 - Present]
Innopia factory, Donostia, Spain
Design Research
Innopia is a pilot project design company based in San-Sebastian, Spain.
[January 10 - June 10]
Kin Design: Farringdon, London
Freelance
Filming, editing, and Producing a number of films for the University of the arts, London. That were shown in both London and Manchester as part of an exhibition for prospective students.
Research project concerning mobile telecommunications and interface design.
[September 09 - December 09]
Dunne & Raby: 13 Voss Street, London
Working alongside Tony Dunne and Fiona Raby. My responsibilities included producing graphics ready for print, preparing for ‘Wouldn’t it be nice’ exhibition, general administration, organisation, and research the idea of mechanised behavior in the work place for a future project.
Working with Dunne & Raby has perhaps had the most profound effect on the way I approach, and think about design. The two of them gave me a fresh perspective on critical design; the ability to design in order to prompt, question and use design as a tool for research. I see that design has the ability to identify problems through designing, as opposed to simply solving existing ones; using objects to find things out, as probes or tools investigating what people think about, fear, believe in, love and so on.
[July 08 - August 08]
Made in 24hrs: Self initiated, Paice/ISA charity supported
I was the organiser for ‘Made in 24hrs’, an event that took place in September 2008 as part of the London Design Festival. The event brought together 50 designers from different disciplines to work in a space for 24hrs, concluding with an exhibition that started the following day, lasting for a week. I initiated the project and was involved from conception through every role; the organisation and design of the 24hr workshop, press, graphic/web, finance, promotion and so on. The project was kindly supported by the Paice ISA charity, which also gave a huge amount of support and advice in running the project from Richard & Adriana Paice whom offered me their experience in both design and business.
‘Eco e Narciso‘
Alongside Nadine Jarvis & Jo Harrington. Working in a small Italian village called Balme for a water bottling company whom were interested in becoming more sustainable, and establishing closer ties with the village they were working in. The project involved meeting villagers, observing production, and research into the history of the village. This research would go onto inform a series of speculative prototypes that were initially made in the village using materials and processes available, and a film offering up ideas to make the practice of bottling water more sustainable.
[June 08 - August 08]
Raw Nerve: Faircharm Studios, Deptford, London
Design and production of the ‘Deptford Design Challenge‘, shown as part of the 2007 London Design Festival. Responsibilities included the design and build of the exhibition, outsourcing production, prototyping, and graphic communications. In 2008 I worked for Raw Nerve again, working freelance to put together graphics for ‘The Deptford Project’, implementing them in print and physically in ‘The Deptford Project Cafe’.
[August 07 - September 07, Summer 08- freelance]
EC Harris: Lynton House, 7-12 Tavistock Square, London
Junior Graphic designer (Paid position)
[July 06 - Sept 06]
Contracted Website Designer (Paid position)
[August 04 - September 04]
Qualifications
Goldsmiths College, University of London
Date: Oct 06 – July 2009
(BA) Design: First class honours
Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College
Date: Sep 05 – Jun 06
Foundation Studies: Art & Design
Aylesbury Grammar School
Date: Sep 00 – Jul 05
A-level: Art (A), Design (B), Computing (B)
Relevant skills
Software:
Graphics (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Bridge)
Web (Dreamweaver, xhtml, css, php, mysql)
Digital video (Premiere, Final cut, Flash, DVD studio, toast etc,)
Arduino, processing, hacking together electronics
Hardware:
CAD/CAM, wood work & metal work, casting, textiles, sewing, filming, digital & 35mm photography, drawing, thinking, organising, curating, reading, cardboard making, prototyping
If you need to know more, please contact me.
