My Internship with ITERATE
Interning at ITERATE Design + Innovation has been an amazing experience to say the least. After completing my integrated year as an Erasmus+ student studying Design and Fine Arts, I was very determined to find a design placement that would help enhance my skills and enrich my creativity, and at ITERATE I did just that!
The Brief
At ITERATE I was assigned a creative design brief, which was to create or develop a retail-based product. “The product must be innovative and either solve an issue or improve a part of the retail sector”. As I have external experience from both the retailers and consumers point of view, I had a great head start. Firstly, I started to understand the users and the environment to build a strong foundation for then a potentially innovative idea.
The Process
After extensive primary and secondary research, I had leant to focus on problem areas within the retail sector and with help from the designers at ITERTAE, I then defined the problems to then create my solution. The problem areas that I had found within the retail sector include the following:
- How can I help the store/brand keep its cleanliness?
- How can I integrate useful technology into the retail space?
- How can I help promote seasonal offers in (clothing) retail stores?
At the end of each week, I would give weekly briefings about how the project is progressing. I had gained valuable feedback from group discussions and different points of view.
My Solution
The product idea is an attachment used for the polished steel display bars that are commonly found within clothing retail stores and are used to promote new brand products. The newly designed product is made of x2 injection moulded parts containing a small CPU, display screen, x7 RFID receivers, RFID tags on hangers and a power cable. The way the product works is to indicate which hanger is in the wrong or right place, to display seasonal selling graphics as well as product information made from current methods of manufacturing and adaptable to materials and tools used today.
How the Internship helped me
Working at ITERATE had allowed me to work in a collaborative, creative and professional workspace with everyone willing to help answer any questions you have either about your project or the design industry itself. I had the chance to develop my problem finding/solving, CAD + rendering, sketching, presenting, time management and overall creativity skills. I also had the pleasure of using their facilities to 3d print during my rapid prototyping phase of the projects. I had also learnt to better understand the injection moulding process for better/quicker manufacturing results.
I have gained an amazing insight into the real-world design industry as well as understanding the imperativeness of a professional, collaborative and creative ethos and an innovative approach to design. Thank you very much to everyone at ITERATE Design and Innovation for having me, it has been a pleasure.
