Design Persona

My name is Megan van der Poel and I come from a dairy farming family in a small rural town in Taranaki. I am currently living in Joan Stevens Hostel studying a Bachelor of Design Innovation with a minor in Marketing. Although moving to Wellington was a major change in my life I am really enjoying both the course and the city.

What lead me to design? The answer is my year 13 graphics teacher. I had always thought that I would go to Victoria University to study a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration. Business studies was a subject that I had achieved high marks in so I thought this is what I had to do, even though nothing about it excited me. The decision to swap degrees came after a talk with my graphics teacher who, after seeing the time and effort I put into graphics, simply told me that I had to pursue design. After talking with him I realised that he was right. Although I may be more naturally gifted at other subjects they were not what I was passionate about. Through the effort that I put into the subject I found that the work that I produced in graphics was of a high quality and something that I was proud of.

My inspiration in the field of design would have to be Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus design style that he employed. The idea of simplicity in design is the notion on which a lot of my concepts are based. However I am looking forward to learning about new designers in the hope to draw more inspiration and better my design ideas.

I hope that the completion of this course will allow me to pursue a career in design that I am passionate about. The idea of designing everyday products to help people live a better life is something that I would love to do. Though I do not wish to produce good designs, great design is what I strive for.