Juliet Symes is breaking into the London design-scene
The London design world has a reputation for being hard to crack, but Bachelor of Design (Product) graduate Juliet Symes is giving it her best shot.
After graduating from the Otago Polytechnic in 2009 she emailed more than 47 UK design studios with her portfolio. Juliet was happy with the result - an internship as a design studio assistant for London’s Soner Ozenc Product Design Studio, also known as RazorLAB (the UK making hub for Ponoko.com - a New Zealand company!)
“London's pretty intense. The design scene is really competitive here and in Europe, and I really have to step it up to get anywhere. But I am up for the challenge!” admits Juliet.
While in the UK, Juliet continues to research manufacturing options for a number of the products she designed while studying at the Otago Polytechnic. These include the Dusi Tea Kettle which won her a silver award in the Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards (Student Category) and a final place in the NZ Dyson Awards.
Juliet is keeping an eye on further study. “Recently I was offered an Honourable Mention scholarship to do my Masters in Interaction Design at the Domus Academy in Milan! Unfortunately, I can’t afford it at the moment, so I had to turn it down.”
For now, she realises that London is the place to be. “I’m finding out it is who you know, not what you know!” Further designs by Juliet are stocked and distributed nationwide by the Port Chalmers Design Store.