Five Years – It’s Quite The Milestone; An interview with Matt Beamish, ITERATE’s Advanced Design Engineer
Calm, driven and creative; Matt Beamish is ITERATE’s award-winning Advanced Design Engineer. Although he may possess a reserved demeanour, don’t be fooled – this mask hides a razor-sharp intellect and a rare creative talent that consistently drives innovative breakthroughs! Fresh out of university, Matt joined ITERATE Design Consultancy in 2019 bringing with him a wealth of up-to-date design knowledge and from there, has consistently demonstrated an ability to transform ideas into market-ready products.
ITERATE have been very fortunate to have Matt as part of the team for the past five years. With this milestone fast approaching, we felt it couldn’t pass by without speaking to him about his design journey to date. Let’s start at the beginning…
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Matt! Thank you for agreeing to chat with me and provide us with some of your product design insight. Firstly, what inspired you to pursue a career in product design? ????????????????????I’ve always enjoyed being able to solve problems, be creative and create new, exciting things. I loved Design Technology in school as this subject combined each of these passions and the thought of designing the next big product that everyone uses, like something Apple would create, was really motivating!
What attracted you to working at a Design Consultancy???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? The variety of work. Design consultancies work with a wide range of clients from various industries, which means I’ve tackled a variety of diverse projects over the years. This diversity keeps the work interesting and challenging, enabling me to continue growing my skillset and knowledge.
Five years is quite an achievement! Can you share a memorable project you have worked on during this time at ITERATE? MOHONTO! MOHONTO is a sustainable shower head that is made from just three parts – an aluminium body, a faceplate and a circular seal. The shower head is supplied with a small tool that allows the user to remove the faceplate and replace it with a different pattern. Small changes in the number, size and angle of water holes mean that an endless variety of spray types can be experienced. I designed this product after spotting a gap in the market for an environmentally friendly shower head. MOHONTO was subsequently awarded a European Product Design Award in 2021. Winning this design award for my product was a proud moment!
Has the product design industry evolved since you started working in it at all? ?????????We are seeing a lot more medical products, especially since the Covid’19 pandemic, as the need for high quality medical devices was shown to be vitally important in our society. It ensures that the UK can respond swiftly to health emergencies without being overly reliant on other countries. Additionally, I think there’s a greater consciousness of the environment now and that’s led to far fewer “invention” style products coming about from individuals having an independent idea.
AI is also something new that is slowly starting to be adopted within the design industry. Personally, I feel it’s a really useful tool, especially for visualising concept ideas with just a few clicks.
What challenges do you face in your role?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Time. There are never enough hours in the day to get everything I want to get done, and yet time is important as this is the service we sell. We want our products to be the best that they can be so ultimately, it’s about time management and being efficient.
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What most excites you about your job????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Seeing a design created physically with a 3D print - going from the screen to having something tangible in your hands in a mere couple of hours. It never gets old!
Once again congratulations on reaching five years at ITERATE! What are the main reasons you have chosen to remain with the company??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????The variety of the role; being a product design consultancy we work on a variety of different projects. The autonomy we each have, being able to get on with tasks independently and manage my own time is a big incentive. Additionally, having easy access to 3D printing technology along with the tools and resources I require to complete my day-to-day projects.
What advice would you give to someone starting a career in product design? Join a consultancy if you're not quite sure which direction you want to go, as it will expose you to so many different industries and teach you how to confidently communicate with clients. Through this avenue, you can also find out what you like and what you don't like working on, which can lead you to specialising in a more specific area later in your career.
What do you envisage for your career in the next 5 years?!????????????????????????????????????????????????????? I’m going to do whatever is going to make me happiest! I don’t plan to stay in design forever and one day would like to own my own business. I could see that business being with my partner and potentially getting into property but we shall see what the future holds…
Thank you, Matt, for your open, honest and interesting answers to the above questions. Getting to know the individuals behind the brilliant designs and learning their own story, is something I am very passionate about!
?If you would like to discover more, ITERATE has a blog page via the following link; https://iterate-uk.com/insight/ so do take a look. We are always open to introduction conversations so if you would like to arrange a call, don’t hesitate.