Kirsty

"Goldsmiths really provided the foundations for getting me where I am now. Its approach is completely unique and I think employers really appreciate that we are taught in a much more holistic way, it makes us stand out from the other thousands of graduates.

In my first year at Goldsmiths I was completely lost, not really knowing the directions to take. The design tutors and the incredibly diverse course programme really helped me to develop, expanding my knowledge and creative thinking. I've gained so many skills from the course, it pushes you to question everything, and it gave me strong communication skills and the ability to be able to present my ideas and my work. It gave me great experience in working in teams, as well as self-motivation. The diverse mix of people and cultures also plays a huge role in your own personal growth.

I've recently finished a year-long residency at Fabrica – Benetton's Research Laboratory based in Italy – within the Product Design department. My role as a multidisciplinary designer was extremely varied; I worked on several projects for galleries, creating limited edition pieces manufactured in glass, wood and ceramic. We were also responding to commissions from companies who wanted products for their collections; furniture, lighting, rugs, textile, and graphics. Part of the role was also designing for the Benetton Group; accessories, clothing, retail spaces and pop up installations.

The four years prior to this I was the Head of Product Development for British furniture company Established & Sons. I was responsible for managing a small team, where we developed all the designers' ideas from the first concept stage to the point of manufacture. It was an exciting role that really gave me a huge insight into the world of business, manufacturing and processes, as well as working alongside some of the world's leading design studios, such as Jasper Morrison, Barber Osgerby, Industrial Facility, Maarten Baas, and the Bouroullec brothers.

An ongoing project I co-curate with French designer Erika Muller is Vera Chapter. It's an inspirational and thought provoking multi-disciplinary show evolving around a fictional character. Stepping away from the mass-market design approach, which mainly produces for the average and standard end-consumer, the initial thinking process behind each of the chapters is creating a response to one individual. And that individual is Vera. Vera is a fictional character based on a series of photographs from a girl's family found a few years ago in a second hand shop in Brighton. Each chapter a group of artists and designers have been commissioned to respond to one image from the series in order to create Vera's fictive and collaborative biography. It's an ongoing investigation of design, art, literature, creativity, memory, narrative and how we experience our life world."