Rebecca Brookes

Brunel

In 2006 I completed my course in BSC Industrial Design‘prompt’ is a product that is presented to you upon arrival at the airport. ‘prompt’ was created to inform, direct and update passengers whilst in the airport. One of the main aims of ‘prompt’ is to reduce the number of passenger related delays, helping to minimise the ripple effect caused by them. By displaying their specific flight details, the passenger is able to relax and take full advantage of the airport facilities and shops. They will be alerted to any alterations to their journey, such as gate or time changes, ensuring that the passenger can fully relax knowing that they have the latest information to hand.The design courses at Brunel push you to your limits and work you harder than you ever have. And with such talented peers, we push each other really hard. I was recommended Brunel through industrial contacts, and it was a name that was mentioned time and time again. At Brunel you’re taught and develop such a broad range of skills in so many areas; be it electronics, wood, structural or programming. This balance of skills makes so many career opportunities available to you.It tests every part of you. Environmental Sensitive Design is something that I really enjoyed and is a field that I would like to go into in the future. The courses are a really good starting point that pushes you to your limits to let you know what you’re capable of. Also being a part of Made in Brunel, it offers you an insight into what work is like, managing so many different projects at the same time.There are so many fun memories. Taking Made in Brunel to central London was very exciting! At university is where you forge really strong friendships and it’s at these times where I have such fun memories.

Made In Brunel

This experience ultimately got me my job. At the show Henry and I did the introductory presentation and it’s from this that my employer hired me. Being so highly involved with Made In Brunel, you’re exposed to an extra level of professionalism dealing with large companies. With so many projects to oversee, fundraising, sponsorship, directory etc, there was a lot to manage and it was a great experience. It’s something that I still refer back to professionally.I also exhibited at New Designers. I found this was a great opportunity to see what other universities were producing. Often what you found was that where we proved all of our designs and ideas, a lot of the other universities only presented concepts and did not have any real understanding of how their product worked.

Work

For my placement I spent 6 months as Virgin. Here, I was involved in the improvement of designs. It’s here where the idea for my major project came from. Commuting through Gatwick started me thinking about the difference in customer experience between cattle and premium class, and so the idea evolved to prompt.I then moved to Virgin Business Solutions which was more business to business projects; developing graphic solutions to packaging and branding.I finished off with a placement at Kinneir Dufort in Bristol working on medial design. This placement involved some future trend analysis. All of these placements were a good preparation for my final year, seeing how projects develop.I now work for PA Consulting as a user centred designer. I’m currently working on the interface designs for the NHS national record program.I would have liked to become a handbag designer and start up a handbag shop, but for now I intend to stay at PA Consulting.Brunel students go that extra mile. With a large breadth of knowledge, they are professional, well rounded, driven and work extremely hard. What makes us different that anyone else is that not only can we make things look stylish, but we can also build prototypes to show that the idea actually works from an electronic and manufacture point of view.