Voxpop

What advice would you give to students hoping to break into the industry in the current economic situation?

In times of economic downturn, although everyone else may be heading in the opposite direction and bunkering down, it is important to be as innovative and business-facing as possible. This means not just demonstrating you have high skills levels and great ideas, but that you can see ways to attach those ideas to commercial opportunities at a very early stage of development. Ironically, it is often in these times that new types of opportunities and breakthrough innovations occur.
Professor Anne Carlisle, Deputy vice-chancellor (academic), University of Wales, Newport

 

Remove the blinkers and realise design is a multidisciplinary, organic and ever-changing process that covers many disciplines and technologies. Understand, too, that the challenge is to understand design in wide economic and global contexts, and that graduates must embrace, and show passion for, innovation across the whole customer and product journey. Creativity and design are key tools that can identify and exploit new opportunities in these challenging times.
Paul Johnson, Head of product design, Nottingham Trent University