Some Context Please Foundry

It’s the ending of a season, but also a great chance to get a little more understanding around what someone could expect moving into a new career in the industry. Matt Leach is talking to Andrew Jones, a freelance designer based in Launceston, specialising in exhibition, interior and branded space and 3D visualisations. Andrew’s had an amazing career for over 30 years, working across the whole east coast of Australia, from Brisbane to Melbourne, starting in Hobart. He’s particularly known for his joinery and fittings, and especially recognised for his exhibit design.

Matt and I were interested to talk to Andrew and get his take on what he'd do if he were a graduating student these days, or toying with the idea of a career change. How would he find a job, what he would put in his portfolio, and what sort of advice he’d have for you when going out there to find your first work?

You might be looking for that perfect entry-level role, either locally or interstate, or, on the other hand, thinking of starting up something on your own in a freelance business working with multiple studios or clients. Whatever it is…. Andrew has some great advice for you on how you might set yourself up and start looking.

It can be tricky to predict the future, but more and more, Interior Designers are being asked to forecast how technology could help their clients work, play and live better. How does the role of the interior designer change when there is constantly new and emerging tech, all promising to deliver the perfect experience.

In episode 6 of Some Context Please, Matt Leach talks with Nikki Davey, an Interior Designer at Fender Katsalidis. Many of you would have heard from Nikki before. She's a great person to talk to because her practice covers all areas, from residential to commercial, private to corporate — she's able to provide an entry point into a more detailed discussion.

There is normally a correlation between the scale of a project and the number of stakeholders involved. Who are the stakeholders, what do they do and how do we work with them?

This is episode 5, with Matt Leach and Nikki Davey, who discuss the range of stakeholders they've had to consider across all different types of projects. They shed light and give invaluable insight into how relationships have worked when stakeholders wanted input into the design.

In this discussion, Kirsty Máté talks with Andrew Francis about the design process and how he applies it in his work. Andrew is the Design Principal at Francis+Burne. He has over 25 years of experience working in interior design and is also the chair of the DIA (Design Institue of Australia) in Hobart. Go and check out the studio's website to see what sort of work they do.

This time around, Matt Leach and Nikki Davey talk further about the brief, reiterating why they are so important. They look at what happens when you don’t have a brief (nothing good) by dredging up some of Nikki's past experiences and using them as case studies.

This is Episode 02 of Some Context Please and Matt Leach talks to Nikki Davey, an interior designer that has a background in decoration and styling. This time around they talk about what a client brief needs to contain, how and why we rebrief clients, and what to do when you don't have enough information. There is a lot to cover in this one, so we'll further explore the brief in Episode 3 where they look at why you need a brief and what can go wrong if you don't have one.