Postgrad UK 2008/2009 - (Page 43) www.prospects.ac.uk/PostgradUK Arts and Humanities 43 A WORLD FOR DESIGNERS One thing both qualification in the UK opens your eyes take into the rest of your career. From this point you could go anywhere you want. More generally, if you study abroad you understand the world a bit more and you are practiced about going to a new country and setting yourself up there.’ Rui also believes an experience abroad can make you a better designer. ‘If you work only in your own country you probably never see another level to your work and yourself. When I came to the UK I never thought about how many of the products you use here are made in China and that became the focus for my Masters show. If I’d just stayed in China I would never have had that awareness, so I think studying abroad helps you to understand your own country better than if you’d just stayed at home.’ ANDREW SHANAHAN postgraduates believe is that getting design and gives you a platform that you can qualifications equips you with skills which have relevance on a global scale. ‘Getting this qualification in the UK means that I can go to Europe, or over to America or New Zealand and it just helps to have that second step of education and that title with it. In places like New Zealand there is an interest for designers and entrepreneurs to join the country. My Masters is specialised in sustainability and that was a major factor for me because if A WOMAN’S TOUCH Whilst Rui’s opinion about we are honest that’s the way we have to go in the design business in the future. Every country is different but being one of the first to be committed to that design approach provides students with a great opportunity to work around the world.’ Rui says that his qualifications are the beginning of a career that could take him around the world. ‘I think a postgraduate different points of view improving a product’s design is true, one group who have traditionally been isolated in the process are women. Franziska’s experience shows how for some women, gaining further qualifications helps them to compete. ‘After my first degree I went straight into working as a designer and that experience helped me decide to do a Masters degree, partly because I wanted to be taken seriously in a very maleorientated area – I graduated as one of two girls from a year of around 58. I think when people see me turn up as a designer, they just see this little blonde girl and say yeah right!’ According to Franziska, there is still work to be done on showing women that design can be for them. ‘Apparently, girls are less likely to study maths, physics or engineering which I suppose makes it less likely that they’ll get involved in product design – although there are more women in other areas of design like interior design. It’s an advertising and education point as well; letting girls know that this is something they can do and be very good at.’ © Charles Elder http://www.prospects.ac.uk/PostgradUK
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.