Quorum International<\/a>\u2019s Director of Design David Patton wants to change that. For the past 10 years, he has guest lectured at the University of Houston and Southern Methodist University (SMU) on the opportunities available to today\u2019s design students.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA few months ago, a group of students from University of Houston\u2019s design program drove to Dallas with their professor for an organized \u201cfirm tour.\u201d These organized firm tours expose students to many different types of design work that could lead to a successful career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor example, before they came to see me, they went to a watch manufacturer, a traditional design firm, and a major car company,\u201d Patton comments. \u201cI could have taken the students to Quorum\u2019s studio and shown them where we do the design work, but instead I took them to the Trade Mart in the Dallas Market Center and walked them through the Quorum, Oxygen, and Cyan showrooms. I wanted them to see the majesty of the marketplace \u2014 not just our own showrooms, but to see all of the lighting companies that are here. This is a buffet of opportunity for students. Then I walked them over to the World Trade Center, and when they saw there were 15 floors of manufacturers, they were blown away. They had no idea that these industries existed or that Dallas is a huge hub for lighting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patton \u2013 whose design experience spans categories as diverse as sporting goods, consumer electronics, commercial furniture, and lighting \u2013 realized that business education is often missing from the design school curriculum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s just not enough time to train in every aspect over a four-year period,\u201d he explains. \u201cStudents often lack business training. They come to work for [a manufacturer] and don\u2019t understand that product design has to marry up with business goals. They don\u2019t talk about this in design school because they just don\u2019t have time. Programs like the one that I\u2019ve been involved with, and have brought to Quorum, give me an opportunity to educate these students. Part of my goal is to have them experience product-business alignment. The most successful designers I know understand this very well, but many young designers believe this is an art career \u2014 and it\u2019s not. Design is not art. An artist stands alone and is not responsible for whether or not you like their work. A designer is a member of a team that needs to create the right product for the right markets that is on trend and at the price points needed to grow the business. This is the point I stress to young people. And I show them that, where lighting is concerned, it\u2019s one of the few fields that you can go into where there is a complete marriage between art and design.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was while working in the commercial furniture industry that Patton made that connection for himself. \u201cI learned a lot. That\u2019s where I made my transformation from being a design director into having more of an executive mindset,\u201d he recalls. \u201cHow do we grow the business? How do we give back and do more than just simply be in business? And that\u2019s when I started to work more closely with schools and help train the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patton\u2019s lectures have proven inspirational. \u201cI\u2019ve gone out to the colleges and gave lectures and those students end up applying for an internship,\u201d he says. \u201cI did a lecture in the fall of 2023, when I first came to Quorum, and a student wanted to intern with us. He came in, he dabbled in lighting design, and he enjoyed it. In fact, he developed some designs that Quorum will be introducing next market. Maybe he\u2019ll ultimately join the lighting industry, and maybe he won\u2019t. I think that the lighting industry as a whole \u2013 especially in the industrial design community \u2013 is largely not visible. Students don\u2019t even know that this is a category of design that they can go into \u2014 and that\u2019s one of my goals: to bring awareness to these students that lighting can be a rewarding and fun path to go down. Just knowing that I\u2019m giving back is rewarding. Students may not come work for me, but they will remember the tour that they took at Quorum that started their career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Patton\u2019s opinion, not a lot of companies are interested in fostering interest in the lighting industry. He\u2019s also noticed that the industrial design community is moving away from traditional, physical products and going toward digital design. \u201cStudents and young people these days don\u2019t want to work in an office, and digital provides them with that option,\u201d he observes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patton\u2019s advice to design students who are curious about a career in lighting design is to reach out to lighting manufacturers. \u201cGet in their front view mirror where they can see you and know you,\u201d he advises. \u201cI hire a lot of people from the relationships I\u2019ve formed. Relationships matter. Get exposed and be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As many in the lighting industry grow older and retire, Patton says it\u2019s time to focus on bringing in younger workers. \u201cI don\u2019t consider young professionals as competition; I see them as our future. With young eyes comes fresh designs and perspectives,\u201d he affirms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether you work for a design firm, a manufacturer, or a lighting showroom, reach out to the local design schools and community programs and offer to share the rewarding opportunities available with students. As Patton noted, many young people aren\u2019t aware of lighting as a career choice and it benefits the industry as a whole to actively seek out new talent to bring in. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The lighting industry is an exciting business to be in, but unless your company has one or two generations of families involved, it might as well be a secret to the outside (non-lighting) world. Quorum International\u2019s Director of Design David Patton wants to change that. For the past 10 years, he has guest lectured at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":406,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[25,26,27,24],"class_list":["post-261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-david-patton","tag-design-school","tag-design-students","tag-quorum"],"yoast_head":"\n
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