Inspiring Design

In this episode, Dr. Tim Kitchen (Senior Education Specialist) and I unpack the powerful tools of Adobe relating to the importance of creativity in education and design. Tim and I detail answers to questions such as – Who is Adobe? What is the company legacy and story? What are the Adobe Capabilities and Applications as well as and understanding the creator’s insights behind the powerful applications in Creative Cloud (CC) such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Premier Pro, Premier Rush, Spark, AfterEffect, LightRoom, XD, Character Animator, Audition and more. Following which we delve into detailing what the future of Adobe holds with the incorporation of AI through Adobe Sensei and VR/AR through applications such as Adobe Dimension. Finally, we discuss how students/educators and professionals can harness the power of these tools within their portfolio of 21st century skill sets. Incredibly informative – tune in to learn more.

In this episode we wrap up season 2, with a unique conversation with Shelby Parkes (a Year 11 student from Hillcrest Christian College). Shelby humbly shares his perspective on overcoming the mindset of ‘failing’ and ‘flearning’ as a part of his school’s embedded and facilitated pedagogy. Shelby humbly shares how his approach to ‘fail forward’ is paving the pathway for him to overcome perfectionism as well as how to approach his learning with a growth mindset. We discuss the various challenges from a student’s point of view of walking through this journey of failing forward, towards success. This unique episode is full of insights and answers to questions such as – the definition of failing forward, how and why is it an important ingredient towards future success and tailored advice for educators and students walking through the same journey!

In this episode we get international! Victor, a Vietnamese International Student of Architecture shares his incredible journey into design. We deep-drive into the mindset and point of view of an international student, finding insights and answers to questions such as – What is the journey of an international student going to study design? What are the obstacles and challenges as an international student? What was the effect of the language barrier as an ESL (English As a Second Language) student? Were personal qualities aided in the success – Resilience? Grit? Motivation? Determination? Self-awareness? Self-learning? How is work-life balance affected studying as an International student? How was it managed and overcome? What was the impact on the studies? Following an extensive conversation, Victor humbly shares valuable insights and advice to universities and schools on how to help students succeed as well as advice for other international students. These are just some of invaluable gems found within this episode.

In this episode we kick off 2020 with a unique individual who has self-taught himself to now be an expert in a long list of design tools, while engaged in full time studies and work. These tools range from: Adobe - Photoshop, Lightroom, Premier Pro, After Effects, Illustrator; Autodesk – Revit, AutoCAD, Inventor, 3DS Max; Cinema4D, Lumoin and many more. Elvin humbly shares his journey and experience, the do’s and don’ts the pitfalls, the learnings and answers to questions such as: What was the techniques used to learn these tools? Was it the same method for all applications? How long did it take to master each tool? How was this managed while studying full time? Did it affect your grades/other commitments and work-life balance? Was this supplemented and supported through your secondary and tertiary education? Elvin then continues to share his incredibly achievements by passionately sharing some valuable advice for universities and school as well as students who are traveling on his same path. These are just some of the gems presented within this episode. If you are wanting to learn how to be intrinsically motivated to self-teach through ‘play’ – this is the episode for you!

This is a unique episode with Kaitlin Sells – one of my past students and the very person who was essential to the main purpose behind Inspired Education Australia. Today we unpack some amazing insights into how Kaitlin was able to apply design thinking principles to business development and leadership through her own journey. This is a transferable skill across every industry and useful key towards industry 4 and 21st century career development. We were able to find answers to questions such how did business development manifest itself in your architectural career? Did the learnings in creative problem solving (design thinking) play a role in your success within the BD role? If so, how? Do you think this can be applied in other industries? How is this relevant in the 21st century? What about advice for universities/schools? Is it important to make this thinking approach apparent for student success and career flexibility? These are just some of the gems presented within this episode. If you are wanting to learn how to be successful in the 21st century, this episode is designed for you.

In this episode I had the privilege to speak to the young aviation & aerospace prodigy – Megha Wijewardane. Megha shares his incredible story in becoming NASA’s one and only ambassador for Australia at the age of 9, alongside his journey from his humble beginnings. We unpack insightful information, about his involvement with NASA as well as how he learned (almost self-taught himself) about aviation, aerospace and physics (just to name a few topics!). Megha and I follow on to speak about how to build knowledge from as early as year 4 and the tips and tricks that have led to Megha’s success. Megha humbly shares his career aspirations for his future and how he plans to contribute towards the aviation and aerospace industries, alongside NASA. This inspiring episode was capped off with some valuable advice and wise words from Megha’s experience towards teachers and parents, as well as his own friends, peers and students. Highly engaging and simply awe-striking. This episode is a once in a lifetime, in inspiring design.

In this episode I am able to understand the student’s mindset, experience and insights into their own journey in entering the industry. We unpack insightful information, the tips and tricks, the do’s and don’ts of what to do, when looking to transition from tertiary into the practicing industry. How to overcome the various challenges and obstacles as well as sharing the learnings along the way. Is it different to male graduates vs. female graduates? What about cultural prejudice – does it exist? What does ‘networking’ really mean? What about if your personality type is an introvert – how do you ‘put yourself out there’? Does sending out mass applications work? Are there better ways to engage companies? These are just some of the useful goodies hidden in this episode! If you are a tertiary student and looking to enter the industry, this episode should not be missed! If you are an educator – these are the challenges of your students, tune into the being able to empathise and learn how to guide and develop the future leaders of tomorrow.

In this episode – things get interesting! While the design thinking research continues, I spoke with Alma Yulianisa who has achieved something incredible by being able to design and construct (D&C) a residential project and a villa project (in Bali Indonesia), while working in Brisbane as a student! This episode is full of useful insights into the importance of real-world applications during your early career stage as a designer but also being mindful of the pitfalls challenges and learnings. We unpack answers to questions such as how to manage your time to engage real world projects while studying/working. What are the do’s and don’t’s? Should students jump into real world projects during their studies? As well as the mindset to succeed when such opportunities present themselves. Tune-in for an insightful conversation, useful for any secondary or tertiary design student, educator or design professional.

In this episode I continue the design thinking research approach by digging more into the minds of our future leaders! This episode is jam packed full of useful insights into the importance of traveling during studies and how it plays a crucial role in shaping a designer’s mind. Natasha (having travelled to over 34 countries!) detail her own journey, experiences and shared her valuable insights in the importance of exchange programs (to Oxford), how it has shaped her design abilities to be more aware and design through a holistic viewpoint for more socially and environmentally sustainable designs. How it has given her an edge and to stand-out in entering the industry as well as the tips and tricks on how to ‘make it happen’ and committing to traveling to learn, grown and develop. This was an eye-opening conversation for any secondary or tertiary student, educator or design professional.

In this episode I kick off Season 2 and the Design Thinking research process with 2 x amazing Creative Industries students of QUT – Cameron Topping and Shannen Roe. This is a unique conversation uncovering the student’s mindset detailing their own journey, experiences and answers to questions such as their career aspirations, career progression choices – how this was formed, influenced and guided, What was their transition into tertiary education like, from a secondary system – what worked well, what didn’t? How they felt about the tertiary education system aligning and preparing them for the industry and making them future-ready. Not to mention understanding the student’s point of view on how the current education system can be improved and what educators of today need to pay attention to. If you are an educator of today, this is exactly the conversation for you to tune into.