The latest person we’d like to introduce you to is Josh… a very interesting member of the team (inside and outside of work). He’s been with us for two years and is one of our design consultants who’s on the ground seeing work through from beginning to end for our clients every day.

Right. Let’s get to it then…

Tea or coffee?

Both! Tea is definitely for home, coffee is for work… right now I have a vanilla latte.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
I have lots… many of them involve watching TV – I love watching different series and movies.

I do like to watch a lot of anime cartoons (and draw them as well… although not as much as I’d like now that I’m working). However, skydiving would have to be my biggest guilty pleasure… during the summer I normally will do a dive fortnightly. I guess it’s my guilty pleasure due to the expense involved and the thought that I could be doing something more with the money.

I’m currently just under 100 jumps and I am hoping the next one will be in Kenya next week.

Do you have a skydive target number?
My next big skydiving target is to complete 100 jumps and to celebrate I might do a naked skydive when I hit it… that’s the done thing. Not sure whether I’ll do it or not yet?!

So, then when is your 100th skydive due?
It’s top secret!

Josh went to Kenya, did the skydive and here’s the proof. Now, he’s either not yet hit 100 or decided to keep his kit on after all.

What’s your favourite animated film?
Lion King… no wait Beauty and the Beast!

I love everything about it, I love the Beast, I love Bella! The beast is great because he’s shrouded in mystery, living up in his dark massive tower… I love his nature. I find stories with excessive wealth and mystery combined so interesting and my favourite movie is the Count of Monty Christo. It makes me happy!

Do you have a Belle?
I do indeed have a Belle. She’s out in Africa and I shall be seeing her soon.

[After this interview our lovely Josh proposed to his Belle and she said yes!!]

Can you remember what it was that made you want to get into design?
Yes…. I always loved making things, design and tech was my favourite subject at school. I really loved being hands on but I didn’t know that product design or industrial design was a degree until I was living in Australia.

So, I was all set to go to Exeter for Geography and then I ran into an industrial designer and went to his University which was Monash in Melbourrne. He had this BIGGG 5 x 6 touchscreen that he was designing cars on and I was just like wowwwwwww…

He was in the workshop making models, testing things and I saw what he’d made and I was like…. Oh, I didn’t know that this was a job, it’s perfect – that’s what I want to do!

He then told me about the degree, I looked it up, found some courses in England… I thought about doing the course in Australia but international fees are so high so that was it, I came to England and studied at Brunel University.

What part of your job do you enjoy the most?
I like being on site with everyone involved in a project, sign contractors etc… figuring out how to solve problems if something’s not gone quite to plan… on the spot thinking and problem solving, being able to practical and realistic skills into practise there and then.

When are you most creative?
When I’m outdoors, doing my treks and adventures.

I think my creativity stems from a place, like all designers, to want to make things easier and better… I also have a heart for sustainable development. So for example, when I’m in rural communities in South East Asia and I see how they’re doing something I wonder how I could improve that or make that easier, as their lives are very hard and what I could bring to them could make a big difference. Whereas, some of the more Western developments do make life easier but I do think that the impact is much larger on rural communities in developing companies… this is where I empathise. So on my next trip to Africa I will always have this in my mind.

How do you get over a creative hump?
I set to the computer and google or pinterest away… Steve Jobs said that good artists copy and great artists steal. Now, while I would never steal I do think it’s great to draw inspiration from other designers who are doing something well… this normally gives me a spurt of creativity.

As our first #meettheteam member of 2016, do you have any new year’s resolutions?
Do I have a new year’s resolution? Hmmmm…. I have a new year’s attitude.

My new attitude is to pursue life more passionately and vigorously. And to prepare myself for that… this includes being fitter and healthier, reading more to become sharper and then it just means that I jump on every opportunity and most the most of the year. I’m young, fit and strong and want to make the most of it… and will have this in the front of my mind and carry this with me every day.

So to round it off, Josh is a skydiving, outdoors-y type who loves Beauty and the Beast.

See you in a few weeks when we unveil our next #meettheteam interview with none other than our in-house comedian and would be X-Factor hopeful Dave Crittenden.