My Journey to Design
Growing up in the film industry
Growing up in Wellington, New Zealand I was exposed to the film industry and everything that comes with it at an early age. For the first 16 years of my life my Dad worked at Wētā workshops, first as a character designer and sculptor before transitioning to Head of Media Production, working on a wide range of films from Lord of the Rings to Avatar and everything in between.
This lead to me hanging around the workshop, doing odd jobs, stepping in as an extra when needed and sparked creativity, even leading to my first job...
First Job
When my Dad left Weta Workshop to start a production company of his own he began renting a shared studio with an Ex colleague and friend, Max Patte. This eventually lead to my first job working for him as a workshop assistant, this started just as sweeping up and cleaning the workshop but eventually became more involved, assembling and disassembling artworks for shipping, operating light machinery during the creation of his early lightworks.
Sitting in on Max's creative process served as a huge inspiration in my pursuit of design but also taught me valuable practical and artistic skills.
Wellington High School
High School was a confusing time for me, my passion for creating clashed with a natural talent for STEM subjects often resulted in taking very polarising courses- Calculus and physics to Design and Mechanical workshop- where we created enormous metal sculptures to decorate the school grounds.
Design class stood out as a favourite, letting me combine principles learnt in STEM classes to ground artistic concepts in reality.
During my last year at high school I put a lot more focus into this class, teaching myself Sketchup and Blender to better communicate my ideas and compete for a scholarship position. This effort eventually resulted in an excellence endorsement and an award from my school for teaching the class the two software programmes.
Early Blender experimenting
Furniture Flipping
During my last year of high school and into my journey flatting as a student I began flipping furniture, picking up tired examples of furniture icons from the past and fixing them to a polished, sellable point.
This was largely due to my own obsession with mid century, Bauhaus and postmodern designer furniture and acted as an outlet and source of income while I was studying, so much so that my friends often joked my flat looked more like a design showroom than a normal student flat.
These flips often came with unique challenges forcing me to learn new skills quickly, I learn't how to re-cane Cesca chairs, dye faded Togo sofa's and re-upholster leather on torn Wassily chairs all in a matter of weeks.
Not only did this experience teach me valuable practical skills but it also gave me a deeper understanding on how these brilliant designs come together, as many designers know the best way to figure out how something goes together is by ripping it apart and putting it back together.
University of Canterbury
After High School I moved to Christchurch to begin my Bachelors of Product design majoring in industrial design. Over the last three years I've grown both in skill and approach to design, partaking in projects designing anything from playgrounds to hairdryers.
I've learn't further practical skills in software such a the Adobe suite, Fusion360, Figma and Simscale- modelling testing and presenting design concepts as well as making in the workshops gaining skills in metalwork, woodwork and CAM and additive manufacturing.
Beyond practical skills I've gained a deep understanding of the human centred design approach, designing solutions that actually make a difference, collaborating with users during the entire design cycle.
Overall I've gained an understanding of manufacturing limitations, standard compliance as well as human centred design and further practical skills have rounded me into a designer, ready to make an impact on the world.
University of Canterbury
Centre for Entrepeneurship
After completing my final year project I was offered a scholarship and place in the University of Canterbury's Centre for Entrepeneurship summer startup programme, to test the commercial viability of launching my product, Crescere, to the market.
This programme has given me amazing opportunities to meet individuals from different sectors, getting input from tooling and manufacturing experts, marketing specialists, retail managers and national buyers and some amazing startup founders on the reality of staring a business and how I could make that happen.
Overall the programme has given me a far deeper understanding of the process of getting a product to market and the challenges and compromises that have to be taken along the way.
What Next?
Currently I'm pursuing opportunities in the design or film industry, NZ and worldwide where I can bring my skills and perspective to make a difference....
Contact me if you're interested in my services!