In February, Edinburgh College of Art’s Product Design department was thrilled to open its doors for a new kind of event, bringing together students and alumni to exchange ideas and experiences. Image This innovative reunion model was the brainchild of Les Mitchell, former Head of the School of Design, and former Head of the Furniture programme (Product Design’s previous incarnation). Les and current programme director, Douglas Bryden, were delighted to welcome back generations of their graduates- from the 1970s right up to new alumni.Critical inputIn true creative spirit, final year undergraduate and postgraduate Product Design students were given the opportunity to present their works-in-progress to alumni, who provided critical input on the concepts.Several alumni then took to the stage to present - sharing experiences and charting their progression from students to successful design professionals.The reunion day went very well indeed and was a successful format for both our alumni and current students. I would like to arrange another reunion next year, and will look to include new ideas to keep it interesting.Douglas BrydenProgramme directorMemories of Edinburgh Image And, of course, there was also plenty of time for networking and reminiscing. You can hear some of these alumni stories here, including what they loved about studying in Edinburgh, the creative freedom they had at ECA, and the advice they’d give to new students.Meet the ECA Alumni (Vimeo)Related alumni profilesAlumni Profile | Mike HarrowerGet in touchIf you are a Furniture and Product Design graduate and would like to attend future events or reunions then please email Douglas Bryden for more details.d.bryden@ed.ac.ukEdinburgh College of ArtEdinburgh College of Art Product Design website Tags 2013 Publication date 02 Apr, 2015
