Bringing a new perspective to the design team

In Ellen’s own words her approach to design involves careful attention to detail and bringing joy to the experience of a brand or product. She utilises user and market insights to produce empathy driven interactions and believes it's crucial to understand the importance of storytelling within the user experience and strive to create a compelling narrative that resonates with consumers.

Ellen is a driven and passionate designer who has been recognised and honoured with several design awards. Quick to develop new skills, Ellen has developed a comprehensive understanding of the design process, with experience of working internationally during an internship in Japan. This experience fused with a strong set of design skills increases Phase Two capacity and strengthens our ability to deliver a diverse range of design and engineering projects.

More about Ellen

Ellen, tell us a bit about you and what led you into a field of Industrial design and product development!

What and where did you study and how was the university experience?

I recently graduated from Loughborough University where I studied Industrial Design and Technology. Throughout my time there I had the pleasure of meeting fantastic peers. I enjoyed immersing myself in the ‘Loughborough bubble’ playing lacrosse and getting involved in university hall committees. My course had a good balance of technical ability and creative possibilities, with a focus on feasibility. As part of my course, I completed an industrial placement where I had to opportunity to live and work in Tokyo as an industrial designer. I gained invaluable experience and expanded my skill set in an amazing city – the food was pretty great too!

Did you always want to be an Industrial designer?

I had always enjoyed art in school and knew I wanted to go down a creative route, but I wasn’t certain in which area, so I studied an art foundation at Loughborough University.

During this course, I had the opportunity to explore multiple areas of creative practice such as Fine Art, Textiles, 3D and Visual Communication and gradually specialise throughout the year. I was very drawn to the 3D specialism as it unlocked a whole new dimension to design, I felt so challenged and excited by it. I had a place to study both architecture and industrial design, but I just felt so inspired by the products I had seen students creating, I just thought to myself I want to be able to do that!

What would be your dream design project?

Anything in the feminine healthcare sector, I have a true passion for femtech and feel that it is a sector that has a lot of catching up to do. As a woman working in a male dominated industry, I can bring my perspective and experiences into the product design process, to create products that are more tailored to women’s needs. I would love to be able to contribute to the improvement of the health and well-being of women.

Who or what inspires your design?

I follow several design blogs and websites such as Behance, Dribble, Design Milk, and Core77. These provide me with material on current design trends and new technologies. I have always been very inspired by Joseph Joseph products; I feel they have a perfect combination of practicality and beauty which is what good design is all about.

Outside of design what are your other passions?

I enjoy keeping fit and have been getting into running. I’ve also gotten very into painting using watercolours I find it very therapeutic and it’s a nice switch off after looking at a screen all day at work. When the weather’s nice I love to get the paddle board out and go down to the river or sea.

And a bonus question to win a luxury holiday, what have been your highlights of working at Phase Two so far?

I have been so excited by the diverse range of projects I have already been involved in. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to meet and present to my work to clients, this is something I did not expect to be doing so early in my career, but I am so grateful for the responsibility and trust I feel I have here. I have already learned so much in the three months I have been here. The team are very approachable and happy to give me their time to learn a new concept or software. I love the fast-paced projects and range of projects.

I have enjoyed getting involved in some more user experience design. I feel I have developed my design thinking and can put myself in the shoes of the user. I love the diversity of Phase Two clients; working with huge companies and also being able to guide the way of product development with start-up companies.