We sat down with Kevin Grima, Creative Director to ask him about his thoughts on recruiting and developing design talent for the future and how this plays such an important part in pushing the creative boundaries at Harrison and for advice on how best to showcase your skills and expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have been lucky enough to spend my whole career in the world of design. I can say without hesitation that one of the most satisfying contributions I now make, especially in these later years, is mentoring young people coming into the business. Giving them a leg up on the design ladder, helping them understand what good practise looks like and demonstrating the importance of client management, is so rewarding. Mind you, it is a two-way street. In the process of helping to develop their skills I am learning from them, coming as they do with fresh ideas and contemporary thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe it is our incontrovertible responsibility to share and pass on our knowledge to the next generation of designers. Our world, the design landscape, is never static and depends on new thinking, new techniques and exhilarating new ways of responding to a brief. Harrison has always encouraged young designers to come and be part of the company. We recognise in order for us to flourish we need to keep attracting exciting new talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last few years have brought so much change in almost every aspect of business life. Gone are the days when confidence and wide-open vistas of the months\/years that lay ahead were taken for granted. Replaced instead by nervousness and, for some, an understandable urge to hunker down and halt hirings. This is not the Harrison way. We cannot win and deliver on new business if we are hesitant in our hiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luckily, unlike some college subjects, large numbers of students are still choosing to pursue a career in design. This means there is a constant pool of enthusiastic graduates hungry for opportunity and hands-on experience in a design agency. Our challenge is finding the most promising talent and then providing an environment for them to learn and thrive as their careers change gear and they establish skills and make sector choices.
Graduates join us with well-expressed theoretical knowledge of the subject but, not surprisingly, little practical experience. Nothing compares to real life, such as being part of a team at the sharp end of a design project. Nurturing young designers has always been at the heart of Harrison\u2019s culture and ethos.
Our alumni are scattered across the whole design world, both nationally and globally. Some have gone on to other stellar agencies, some have gone in-house and others has struck out and founded their own practises. Luckily many have chosen to stay and make their whole career at Harrison. The best example of this is our own CEO, Keith Anderson, who started out as a junior designer 20 years ago. His career progression is inspirational to young people on the threshold of their business design life.?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By creating a multi-generational workplace where the young rub shoulders with our design gurus means best practise becomes second nature. From a functional perspective it allows us to embrace and incorporate inspiration and fresh ideas from our younger team members. It is embedded in our values to listen and learn from everyone. By doing this we can be sure our insights are never stale as well as helping us to push boundaries, create beautiful and workable designs and deliver the commercial objectives required by our clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2024 is a milestone year for Harrison. We will celebrate our 35th anniversary. During that time, we have accrued a phenomenal body of work across the hospitality sector. Such experience gives us a unique perspective on how design has evolved and become ever more sophisticated in its presentation and accountability of outcome. One of the key differences across the decades is the unification of aesthetics with the science of success.
There was a time when good design and functionality were mostly the sole pre-requisite for a job well done. Now the algorithm for ensuring commercial returns is not left to chance. As designers we need to have the skill and bandwidth on a project to ensure it will deliver optimum results. The design gurus of the future who are just now starting on their careers need to have the headspace to cope with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harrison, as a new agency in its infancy, was a product in the age of the millennials. And whilst this sector remains central to \u2018buying\u2019 design and delivery solutions, the emerging power of Gen Z means adapting to their different decision-making and general thought processes. There has always been a fine line between the strength of good judgment and the weakness of being judgmental. Our challenge is to manage this expectation both for clients and colleagues alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To celebrate our milestone anniversary, we have launched the Harrison School of Design competition<\/strong> to find two exceptional young designers \u2013 one from the UK and one from the US. The prize is a year\u2019s paid internship working alongside our team on prestigious multi-million-pound commercial projects. The competition offers an unsurpassable opportunity for the keenest students to showcase their work and impress the judges. In return they will get the sort of experience that will set up their career for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In conclusion, I have three pieces of advice for young designers: let your thinking and individuality shine through in your portfolio, including showing the effort that went into the research and strategy of your creative executions; dive deep into what line of interior design you are most suited to and be sure it is reflected in your portfolio; finally, express your passion, hunger and commitment \u2013 qualities that are essential if you are to impress a potential employer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We sat down with Kevin Grima, Creative Director to ask him about his thoughts on recruiting and developing design talent for the future and how this plays such an important part in pushing the creative boundaries at Harrison and for advice on how best to showcase your skills and expertise. I have been lucky enough […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":14434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,53],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n