Louise Willis
Product Design Graduate specialising in toy design — London, United Kingdom
About
My ambition is to bring life to my dreams and the dreams of others through my Arts and Craft. To do this I wish to harness my ever improving breadth of skill through experience and observation in the creative industry. I believe my insatiable curiosity, thirst for inspiration, enjoyment of Memetics and lateral thinking give me the ability to spot gaps in the market and act on them in an original from, making me an ideal addition to any innovation-driven company.
- Education:
- Coventry University Sept 2009 – June 2012 Product Design (specializing in toy design)
Ravensbourne College of Communication and Design Sept 2004 – June 2005 1st Year Computer Visualization and Animation
Orpington College Sept 2002 – June 2004 A level Art & Design, Film Studies and Media Studies
Cleeve Park Secondary School Sept 1997 – June 2002 11 GCSEs, Prefect in Year 10, Librarian in Year 8 - Awards:
- Coventry University Sept 2009 – June 2012 Annual 'Addvantage' module: Academic Writing, Second Life, and Adobe Flash
Coventry University – Institute of applied Entrepreneurship January – June 2011 SPEED West Midlands/EFS –This consisted of one on one Mentoring from Entrepreneurs, as well as workshops (topics included Intellectual property, international business, etc), Networking, tutoring and funding towards our own business ideas.
WEETU – Women’s Employment, Enterprise and Training Unit January – March 2009 Is Enterprise for me? A course in Self management, setting S.M.A.R.T goals, and teaching us to assess whether our business ideas are Viable and profitable
Since 2006 I have been creating bespoke soft toys; this began as an exercise for me; designing and working out patterns, and creating experimenting with different fabrics such as fleece and corduroy. Due to the positive feedback and requests I had received thanks to my online portfolio, in 2007 I began taking commissions to recreate the characters of clients as soft toys. As well as forming my own aesthetic, I greatly enjoy working with the styles of others and I am also very adept at illustrating to get an understanding and feel for characters, working closely with the customer to bring their ideas to life. Since 2009 I have been working to make this into a registered business and sell my work via an online shop. I have ambitions to tour appropriate fares and conventions to distribute my products, building my customer base and look into collaborating with other bespoke freelancers.
