Eleanor graduated from BA (Hons) Design Management and Cultures (now BA (Hons) Design Management) at London College of Communication in 2020.
What was the most interesting project you worked on during your course?
If I were to pick a favourite, I’d choose my final major project as it was very personal to me, while also being extremely topical for the time. It fell during the initial stages of Covid-19. My project was called ‘What’s the Story Northern Tory’ and explored this rise in right wing populism within the sector of the white working classes living in mid/northern England. It allowed me to directly dissect our current situation in both the political and human-scape, touching upon the chain response to the pandemic from both the government and working-class population.
Did the course provide opportunities to engage with industry?
Yes! We had a wealth of interesting speakers come in for both the course and the wider university community. I actually secured an internship for the company I now work full-time for through a talk they held, Daisie.
Did you complete any work placements / internships whilst being on the course?
In second-year, the CEO of Daisie held a talk for our course. Daisie is a platform for up-and-coming creatives to hang out, learn and kickstart their careers. I reached out and secured an internship position as a Marketing Copywriter. The main elements of the role entailed maintaining their newsletter, providing copy for the platform and writing social post copy for Instagram. I also ended up doing jobs for the engineering, design and product team.
What important piece of advice would you give to students thinking of studying this course?
Make it your own. The best and worst thing about the course is that the briefs can be interpreted in a multitude of ways, allowing you space to explore your personal interests. Be sure to centre your projects around aspects of society or the creative industry you’re passionate about, manoeuvre the brief to fit what you wish to pursue.
The majority of my projects had a very political tone. As someone who was very interested in studying political science, I was sure to weave this interest of mine alongside my design degree, to maintain my passion for the projects I produced. I wanted my designs to be directly commenting on the current state of affairs, offering innovative human-centred ideas and theories for our future.
It's also super important to expand your creative capacity through the workshops and additional courses offered across LCC.
What was the highlight of your LCC experience?
The people. I absolutely loved my course and my peers, being a small class meant we bonded and exchanged wonderful future-thinking ideas that helped inspire and maintain motivation.
What was the most important thing you learnt from your course?
To embrace your evolution. When I first began my Design Management journey, I was far more naive and ignorant to the wicked problems of the world.
In our final year we had to reflect on past projects, it was humbling for me to see how my tone and approach was so different to the current version of myself. I think it’s important to embrace this character development and be aware of your growth and foster it, acknowledging your past mistakes.
What have you been up to since graduating?
I moved back to Copenhagen in August 2020 shortly after graduation. I have now been working for Daisie for over a year and a half and have been promoted to the position of Lead Creative Strategist. I lead on social media and help ideate their creative prospects with events and opportunities, expanding their educational program to encompass an intersectional and authentic representation of creative industry pioneers. I'm also the in-house designer, something I had been striving for since I first ventured into industry work.
In the future, I’m thinking of finally pursuing Political Science to enhance my understanding of the wicked problems of the world. Hopefully, my human-centred design knowledge can help me further understand and offer insight on these issues.
How did your course support you to get you where you are today?
BA (Hons) Design Management offered me the parameters to hone my craft through a human-centred lens. The briefs allowed for an array of creative interpretation spanning the industries - with lecturers fully supporting my ideas and creative endeavours.
I got directed towards relevant opportunities and felt my lecturers really took the time to get to know each student, tailoring their support to suit each of us on our personal career timelines.
View the BA (Hons) Design Management course page.
Visit Eleanor's website.