The B!G 5 never fails to entertain and the most recent interviews have certainly lived up to this. Over the past 6 weeks we’ve had the pleasure of chatting to Dr Iain McDonald, Head of Design Innovation at Maynooth University; Rosin Lafferty, CEO of interior design company, Kingston Design; Sean Lennon who runs Think Design; Grace Hughes, conversational design lead for Europe in Fjord and Accenture Interactive; Peter Murphy, industrial designer for Design Partners and Aisling O’Neil, homewares designer for Primark.
What a bunch!
Fifteen seconds might seem like a long time to answer a question on Creativity but as these B!G Mentors found out it goes very quickly! So what we end up with is pure gold.
It’s encouraging to note that when asked when they are the most creative, everyone had similar answers and they all involved doing something relaxing or fun. Grace feels it the most when she is walking her dog or on her bike, Rosin when she’s travelling and Iain when he’s just about to fall asleep! It might not be ideal for resting the brain but it all sounds do-able so far.

There were some great answers to the biggest creative challenge that they have overcome including Iain’s rather cheeky one which was how to keep in contact with his teenage sons. Sean was feeling equally charmed by his brood by saying that his kids were his biggest design problem. There could be a B!G project in that! Roisin recalled trying to get an oversized custom light in through a door where it just wouldn’t go and Peter said that working with surgeons, doctors and nurses directly is what he gets the biggest lift from.
The B!G question of the day is always what advice would our industry titans give to our students and as always there were some gems. Sean emphasized the importance of understanding the brief and also being able to take criticism. Sometimes new ideas come out of the criticisms so toughen up the skin and take the criticisms for the team!

Grace encouraged every student to believe in themselves. It can all be a bit chaotic and overwhelming but trust your gut and you will get there. Iain was right on brand when he discussed not being afraid of failure. The B!G Idea have their own word for this which is F-Learning. F-learning is learning through failure and Iain was bang on the money when he told students not to be afraid of making mistakes and to take a risk and explore new ideas. Roisin was all about the questions, ask, ask and then ask some more. The more you ask, the more you understand and the more fun you will have with it. Aisling also suggested that if you don’t know who to ask then put your question to social media. Somebody, somewhere will know the answer.
Peter believes that comparisons are negative and that they divide us as people, in fact, they distract us from what we are meant to be doing so just focus on what you are doing and remember that your voice matters and your opinion matters.
Worthy advice for us all from some amazing people and there is an open invitation to join them!

• Become A Mentor