Alumni Stories- Amy Sexton
"I find, the stronger the developmental work and foundations that support a project the easier it is to get back on track if there is a setback"
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Amy Sexton
Name: Amy Sexton
Current Career (Field): User Experience (UX) Designer
Graduation Year: 2019
Discipline(s): Product Design
Location (Working/Living): Dublin
What career path did you want to follow as a child?
When I was a child I was always changing my passion. Each month it would be a different curiosity from being a football, to being writer, to being teacher and so on. Eventually, those passions just fizzled out. My parents would always find me doodling on scraps of paper. I always came back to drawing as it helped me focus my attention. My schoolbooks and copies were always covered in drawings. Even my exam papers were covered in drawings! It helped me visualize all the information in my head. But, it wasn’t until I was at NCAD that I realised why I was doing this.
Why did you decide to study at National College of Art & Design?
When I was in sixth year at school, I hadn’t a clue what I was going to do with my life. I was still doodling. My Dad had a friend whose son was in NCAD doing the Core first year. He invited me to NCAD to see the first year studio workspace. I instantly fell in love with the college, the culture and the whole learning environment. The freedom of expression, skills, methodologies and fearlessness exhibited in the work of the NCAD students was an incredible experience for a 17 year old, especially one who thought her doodles were just doodles. It opened my eyes to a world I hadn’t been exposed to before.
How did you develop your career towards your current job or practice?
After I graduated, the Covid pandemic really hit hard. A lot of potential job opportunities I had been interested in instantly dried up. It was a difficult time for everyone. I kept working away. I kept learning. I kept being creative. I kept networking. At first, I did design freelancing. Then I decided I needed to set up my own business. I began learning coding languages and how data really works.
The design industry is such a hard place to break into for graduates and emerging researchers. However, people are generally very helpful and generous with their time. You find designers have all gone through very similar career development journeys. Everyone knows how you’re feeling. Everyone has to start somewhere. I am forever grateful to the people who have helped me in recent years.
What is the one experience during your time at NCAD that has informed you most in your career and work to date?
It was a form and function project where I really learned the most valuable of lessons. We had to create a tool for a digital product, such as a mouse for a computer but with a recognizable brand attached to it. My design was for a foldable, portable, mouse but with the Dr Martens brand attached to it. Everything was going well. My research was strong. I had a good variety of sketch-model prototypes. I was ready to produce my final model. Then my 3D printed mechanism failed! The spray paint I used to finish it corroded the final model. To make matters far worse the deadline was the next day!
When I was getting my results a few days later, I had accepted I must have failed. By then, I was ready to redo the project. Thankfully, that wasn’t what happened. I had actually passed the project even though my model had failed. While I was relieved but quite confused. How had I passed the project? I had to find out. My tutor told me that the feedback from the workshop staff was excellent. They said I was the one student who spent the longest time learning all the machine processes and lots of other making techniques. I was the one student always willing to iterate and reiterate my design work to improve the end result. All my hard work was recognised by the team of staff I was working with.
This initially stressful experience helped me to learn that it is often the journey that really matters most and not the end result. This is especially true when you work in the design industry. I find, the stronger the developmental work and foundations that support a project the easier it is to get back on track if there is a setback.
If you were chatting with current NCAD students today what is the one piece of advice you would offer?
Always be curious. It’s the most important thing if you want to creative. Curiosity drives us each and every day. Perhaps, as children we are taught to accept things the way they are? But, its curiosity that sets designers and innovators apart from others. NCAD gives you the space, time, and freedom to experiment and not to have to accept things as they. You are actively encouraged to keep questioning.
As painful as can be sometimes, you have to keep networking to get your start in the design industry. It’s vital.
What new opportunities have developed for you as a result of changes in work practice during the Covid pandemic?
During the pandemic, the countries who set out to find creative solutions to both common and complex problems seemed to thrive. The creative industries have helped lead this change internationally. Ireland played its part in this rapid change which is fantastic. There are a new generation of designers and creatives living and working here. There is tangible optimism. We just have to keep pushing forward.
