On Wednesday 8^th February, our new Designers in Residence, Grey Gekko, ran their first workshop with our students on insights into careers in the design industry.

Grey Gekko are a Newbury based product design and marketing consultancy and we are delighted to have partnered with them for 2023 as our new Designers in Residence. The team will be working with our students across this year to provide many exciting opportunities to learn more about the practice of professional designers and inspire the next generation of creative talent.

Grey Gekko’s first workshop involved Year 8 students who were taken through what design is – including everything from games consoles, cars, app design and much more – before going into some of the various roles that a career in design could involve. Students gained first hand insights into the work of mechanical engineers, industrial designers and user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) designers. Tom Weston leading the workshop, also shared the endless possibilities to thrive in the design industry, including opportunities to travel and work with sectors across the world, as well as being in an industry with high levels of demand and employability.

Students showed real engagement throughout the workshop and asked insightful questions about the professional practice of designers and how they bring ideas and concepts to fruition as an end product.

Mr Liam Anderson, Head of Design and Technology commented, “We are thrilled to be working with Grey Gekko and provide our students with the opportunity to learn from industry experts about the exciting world of design and hopefully enable our students to showcase their creative talents and be inspired to follow design in some way in the future. We’re looking forward to the rest of the workshops we have coming up for other year groups too”.