Junior Digital Designer at Financial Times

My experience at University of Nottingham was brilliant. I'm in love with Nottingham and I always go back. For me, it means friendships, discovery, happiness, family, encouragement, support, inclusivity and acceptance. Even now, whenever I have the chance, I go back for the weekends because I miss it so much.

 

What did you do after you graduated?

After I graduated, I went to work as a Part 1 Architectural Assistant for one year at Rolfe Judd, an architecture firm in London. It was during that time I discovered that I wanted to be closer to users and shape the experiences that they have with the world. I realised that people are impacted by technology, and I've always been passionate about both design and coding. During that year of working for an architecture studio, I was deciding whether to continue my career in architecture or to change my direction completely.

Where did your career take you?

After I worked for one year as an Architectural Assistant, I decided to enrol into a user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) boot camp, and a software engineering boot camp. Here I gained all the skills that I needed to go into UX and UI, which was what my other career option was. After that I landed a job as Junior UX/UI Designer at Cheffie. I then became Junior Digital Designer at the Financial Times.

What is your favourite thing about your job?

Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve loved both design and coding and didn't want to choose just one. When I chose my university course it was in between architecture and engineering because I love art, but I also love maths and physics and coding. That’s why I studied architecture, it was the best fit for that, but I missed coding. Now I do both design and coding - it's brilliant.

What was your favourite thing about your degree?

I love architecture. It’s my passion and it’s always going to be my passion. It's part of who I am and the way I see the world. Architecture as a subject is very complex and it teaches you so many transferable skills that can be applied in so many different careers. As an architect you need to know a bit of everything to understand the world around you and how to shape those experiences for people. It was hugely useful for everything that I'm doing now and I'm sure for everything that I’ll be doing in the future.

How did your time at university help shape your career? 

My time at University of Nottingham was a full three years of discovery. Firstly, discovering who I am. I joined when I was 18 and had a lot to learn about daily life without my parents. There was also the academic growth and all the support I got from my teachers. They encouraged me to look at research, experiment with different designs and find my own design style. My time at University of Nottingham has defined who I am today.

What has your UoN experience meant to you?

My experience at University of Nottingham was brilliant. I'm in love with Nottingham and I always go back. For me, it means friendships, discovery, happiness, family, encouragement, support, inclusivity and acceptance. Even now, whenever I have the chance, I go back for the weekends because I miss it so much.

I really enjoyed all the greenery at the University of Nottingham. I've been to so many different university campuses, but Nottingham is unique. The greenery that we have at University Park campus and around Nottingham City centre is amazing. I've not seen a more beautiful campus anywhere else.

What did you enjoy about your social time here?

Nottingham is the best when it comes to socialising. There is lots to do on the two the main campuses (University Park and Jubilee) and it’s so close to the city centre. There are great places to eat out and I got to try so many cuisines. There are loads of places to go out for drinks with friends, dancing until morning, going ice skating and singing karaoke and so many other activities.

The Old Market Square is amazing from an urban design perspective, because they always have so many different activities going on around there. At Christmas there is the festive market and during the summer they have a beach for the kids to play in the sand.

I was the social secretary for the Tongue and Groove (T&G) Architecture Society. It’s a society for architecture students and I was responsible for organising the end of the year ball and other parties that we hosted.

I was also a Welcome mentor, which was a brilliant experience. I helped first year students during Fresher’s Week and got to make new friends outside of my year group. It was a great opportunity to meet people that I wouldn’t normally have met.

I wasn’t in a sports team, but I did go to watch them because I had friends who competed. Nottingham is a sporty university and even if you don’t play, there are opportunities to join in. I watched one of the ultimate frisbee varsity teams when another university team came to compete with us.

Did you feel supported by your lecturers whilst at university?

Yes, absolutely. Architecture has a brilliant bunch of teachers. In my first year, my teacher took us for walks around Nottingham to discuss the architecture. In my second year I was part of the Design and Build studio and the teachers we had there were brilliant as well. They helped us develop our construction and technical drawing knowledge. In my third year, my lecturer introduced me to the world of renderings and very cool architecture software - something they were happy to talk through with us to make sure we understood how to use it.

The studio heads were amazing at supporting us and I never felt like they were limiting me in how to design. I was free to experiment with design and find my own style - when it comes to architecture, not many universities allow you to do that. Some of them are very strict about how everyone should design.

What advice would you give to a student considering studying Architecture at University of Nottingham?

Be curious - explore, discover, be open minded and try new things. Those are the three years that can really show you who you are - and who you want to be further in your life.