Simon Hall: BA Hons Product Design

Simon Hall

BA Hons Product Design, 2001

“I’d left school undecided about my career path. It’s a big decision to have to make when you’re that young, and although I’d always been interested in design and engineering, I wasn’t certain."

"After my A-levels I worked for a while doing various jobs that were relatively uninteresting, until I decided to apply for a degree course at the University of Luton. "

"It is my local university and it was definitely the best decision I could have made. The course was excellent, especially since I had the opportunity to carry out a year’s work placement during the third year."

"I obtained a placement at President Office Furniture Ltd, where I worked in the design department for 15 months. I then continued part time while I finished my final year at university, and was then offered a full time position as a Product Designer when I graduated."

"However, I was recently made redundant, as the company became one of many in this field forced to make cutbacks. I took this opportunity to do something that I’d always wanted to do – work for myself."

"I started planning EcoStyle Ltd during my final year as part of a module, and I’ve worked on it part-time since then. EcoStyle designs, manufactures and distributes renewable energy products, operating out of the Innovation Centre in Luton. Although being made redundant obviously isn’t a good thing, it’s certainly working out well for me."

The modules that I chose within my degree are really helping me along now – they taught me how to be self-employed, how to set up and run a business, that kind of thing.

"I’d recommend further education to anyone, but make sure you study something you’re interested in. Also, if you get the opportunity to take a work placement somewhere, do! It’s great experience and certainly boosts your academic record when you start applying for jobs.”

Interview took place in 2004.