4 minute read
Sam Graham.
SAM GRAHAM
Account Manager and Creative Lead at Stone2Stone
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My name is Sam Graham and I am currently an Account Manager and Creative Lead for a B2B Technology Marketing Agency called Stone2Stone.
I have always had a creative outlook in life and throughout school and college I knew that I wanted to have a career that allowed me to express myself. My favourite lesson at school was Art; I used to spend hours upon hours with my head in a creative project. Coming out of secondary school, I was unsure of what I wanted to do for a living. Should I go straight into an internship and work my way up to a stable and routine office job? Thankfully for me I decided instead to attend The University for the Creative Arts, where I took a foundation course. The objective of this course was to experience 5 different subjects all based around Art and Design in the space of 2 weeks. You would then choose one to study for the rest of the year. I discovered just how much I love Product Design, which further pushed me to attend the Product Design course at Middlesex University.
Coming out of University, I had the opportunity to show my final major project to the world by taking it to market; The Genus, an urn that allows people to keep their loved ones' memories alive by growing them into a bonsai tree. This was spotted at New Designers by the owner of a company called JC Atkinson, who are the biggest coffin and urn manufacturers in the UK. Working alongside the production team at JC Atkinson overseeing prototyping, manufacturing and marketing, we managed to ‘bring my product to life’ (pardon the pun). This was truly an amazing experience, one that I couldn’t have achieved without the encouragement of my University tutors. The Genus now sells in just over 200 funeral parlours across the UK and has been nominated for numerous awards.
My biggest tip for those currently on the course would be to take in everything you can, attend any workshops you find and really enjoy the journey that your tutors take you on. The 3 years I spent at Middlesex were by far some of my happiest memories. I know it sounds cliché, but I truly did make friends for life, and learned skills that still apply to me today even though I am not based in the product design world any more.
Although it may be a goal to work in a product design setting once you graduate, don’t panic if you see yourself swaying from it.
Currently I have found my way into marketing, working for a technology marketing agency, Stone2Stone. It was something that I had no intention of doing whilst at university, but nevertheless it is something I now love. We work alongside manufacturers, vendors and distributors, creating marketing campaigns to propel lead generation. Our projects could range from Direct Mail, social media campaigns or events. We work with companies such as CDW, Check Point and e92; all huge companies in this sector. It may surprise you just how often my product design skills come in handy in my job; it definitely surprised me. Working here taught me that you can never truly predict how your past experiences will affect your future career and life.
Last but not least, have fun! If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, you’re not going to continue to craft your skills and create wonderful new inventions. Don’t settle for something that you know isn’t what you truly want in life. If I had done that, I could be working as an accountant right now – suffice to say that is furthest from the dream I can get. So good luck with all of your degrees, be unique, have fun and I hope your future careers use all of the incredible talent, I have no doubt, you are all bursting with!
Follow Sam Graham on Twitter @SamJohnGraham94 and IG @samjohngraham
Connect with Sam: linkedin.com/in/sam-graham-3b760a104/
Check-Out Stone2Stone: www.stone2stone.co.uk
Article from #MDXPD: 5 Years On (Class of 2016), #MDXPD 2021 p.53-54
