Alumni Stories - Marcus Notley
"Going back to NCAD to study my Masters, one thing really stood out for me during my studies. I learned to just ‘have a go’ at new things, new skills, new experiences. To learn by doing, to make mistakes, to try things out. This is what I will carry forward to what I do next."
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Name: Marcus Notley
Current Career: Interaction/User Experience (UX) Designer
Graduation Year: 1995 & 2020
Discipline: BDes. Product (Industrial) Design / MA Interaction Design
Location: Waterford, Ireland
What career path did you want to follow as a child?
I wanted to be an inventor. I grew up in rural County Leitrim. From as far back as I can remember, I always loved art, drawing, making and fixing things. We had a very old traditional farm workshop at home and I made lots of my own toys. I was fascinated with how things worked.
Why did you decide to study at National College of Art & Design?
I have studied at National College of Art & Design twice. I did my undergraduate degree in Product (Industrial) Design and graduated in 1995. Years later, I returned to complete my Masters degree in Interaction Design in 2020.
In secondary school my strongest subjects were Art, Maths and Physics. However, I was very unsure what career path to follow. I had a wonderful Art teacher and I first heard about the Product (Industrial) Design course at NCAD through her. As I learned more, it seemed like a great fit for what I wanted as a career. I knew NCAD was highly regarded as the leading Art & Design institution in Ireland. I still remember the excitement when I secured my place at NCAD.
In 2019, I decided to return to education because I wanted to become a designer in the technology industry and to further develop my design career. I did a lot of research of various Masters programmes at different third level institutions and attended their various Open Days. I was very impressed by the professionalism, knowledge and understanding of all the staff and lecturers at an Open Day I attended at NCAD. Everything about their Masters programmes; course content, research engagement with industry, learning methods, really stood out from all the other institutions. After that, I knew this was where I wanted to study. I applied for the MA in Interaction Design course soon after. As a mature student, the thought of returning to education and understanding the processes involved was very daunting to me. The NCAD Admissions staff and course coordinators were amazingly helpful.
How did you develop your career towards your current job or practice?
My first design job was in Italy while on Erasmus in my third of my Product Design degree. I worked part-time as an intern at an Irish Product Design consultancy McKimm Studios based in Milan. While there, I generated sports accessory concepts for Italian cycling company Cinelli, as well as health and beauty packaging concepts for Unilever. Erasmus in Italy was a wonderful experience and really broadened my horizons before leaving college.
After graduating, through employer contacts in NCAD, I landed my first paid design job in Phoenix, Arizona, USA with industrial engineering consultancy, Tefen. I designed workstation layouts and equipment for the microchip fabrication industry for companies such as Intel and AMD. I travelled extensively throughout the USA. My role was very much focused on the engineering spectrum of Product Design and over time I really wanted to find a more creative path.
I returned to Ireland and initially found work back at NCAD. They were celebrating their 250th Anniversary and I coordinated the design and launch of an exhibition of Product Design Alumni
After that I worked for a short time as a Retail Merchandising Display Designer at Kleerex International. They designed and manufactured all kinds of transparent acrylic displays for the food and service sector for leading European retail companies including, Tesco, Sainsburys, and Eurospar.
Through my work on the NCAD 250th exhibition, one of the exhibitors was the Head Lighting Designer for Waterford Crystal, who was a former graduate of NCAD. Waterford Crystal was hiring a Lighting Designer and I got the job. My principle role was to design and co-ordinate the manufacture of luxury chandeliers for the international contract lighting market and to develop new core crystal lighting products from concept to production. During my time there I got an amazing opportunity to collaborate with International Fashion Designer John Rocha and to design and develop their award winning 'John Rocha at Waterford Lighting' collection. I really loved working at Waterford Crystal.
Having grown up in a family owned business, self-employment beckoned. I took the plunge and set up ‘Marcus Notley Product Designers & Innovators’. I specialised in designing consumer products for the home. My clients were typically established Irish and UK homeware manufacturers or brands, e.g. Tipperary Crystal, Waterford Stanley. Over the years, I have designed an eclectic range of consumer products from Irish souvenir porcelain tableware, to premium cast-iron cookware, to luxury crystal chandeliers. Many of the products I have created are sold internationally across a diverse range of retail outlets; from Harrods in the UK, to QVC and the Home Depot in the USA. I have collaborated with other international Irish designers and celebrities, including Louise Kennedy and Rachel Allen designing a range of endorsement products for their brands. I have also designed Ireland’s largest crystal chandelier situated in The Merchant Hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Recently, I decided to transition from being a designer of physical products, such as manufactured goods, to becoming a designer of software or service related products. This led me back to NCAD and to completing the MA in Interaction Design. Now I begin another new design journey in what has been a very rewarding career so far.
What is the one experience during your time at NCAD that has informed you most in your career and work to date?
Recently, going back to NCAD to study my Masters, one thing really stood out for me during my studies. I learned to just ‘have a go’ at new things, new skills, new experiences. To learn by doing, to make mistakes, to try things out. This is what I will carry forward to what I do next. NCAD created an exceptional learning environment. What I also loved about my course was the emphasis NCAD placed on learning from my exceptionally talented peers.
If you were chatting with current NCAD students today what is the one piece of advice you would offer?
My advice is that in your career path do not be afraid to change or pivot. Be adaptable. A creative career is a career of uncertainty and a career of change. The world of work is changing rapidly and your greatest skill as a creative person is your great ability to learn to adapt within this changing world. Non-creatives cannot do this so well. You may not know where you will find yourself in 5 years times. But when you look back 20 years from now, you will really cherish all you have achieved and created on your own unique journey.
What new opportunities have developed for you as a result of changes in work practice during the Covid pandemic?
I think society is going through a new technological and environmental revolution of immense change unlike we have ever experienced before. Every aspect of our lives will be transformed by this in the coming years. I think that the creative industries’ biggest opportunities are to get involved in either helping to build this new world or helping us to reflect on it; the good and the bad. In the things we create, we play a vital role to strive to ‘do good with technology, to do good for our environment’. To create things that will enrich our human experience, that will be more inclusive and give more opportunity to ALL in society.
