Career Compass: Environmental Design

Briefly, tell us about your job. What do you find most rewarding? What are your greatest challenges within this profession?

My career has led me to work as a freelance multidisciplinary digital media artist and filmmaker to a wide variety of clients and projects. I work as director, editor, animator and writer, depending on the project and team. I have completed projects for DAVID’s Tea, Banfield Marketing and Communications Agency, the National Film Board of Canada, Place d’Orleans Mall, the National Arts Centre of Canada, the Canadian embassy in Vienna and various musicians. I really enjoy the challenge of telling people’s stories and relaying their message in a visually compelling manner.

I am currently working at the Canadian embassy in Vienna in a marketing and communications position. The rest of my week I dedicate to client work and artistic endeavours. I find it is challenging finding work here as my German is not at a very high level yet.

What experiences and activities helped you to map out your career pathway?

After completing the environmental design program,I worked on residential projects in Winnipeg and the Whiteshell, but I wanted an adventure so I applied for landscape designer positions in Hong Kong and moved there in 2007 to work for Urbis International. While in Hong Kong, I worked predominantly on a project in Dubai, which I found to be disenchanting in its disregard for sustainable design. I did, however, discover that I enjoyed presentation methods and conveying design stories to clients, so I decided to return to school to study digital multimedia technology, with a focus on video and animation. After completing my studies, I moved to Ottawa and worked with Banfield Marketing and Communications Agency, while also working on my own films and other client work. This was a very rewarding and busy time. So busy, in fact, that I had to choose whether to focus on commercial or artistic projects. I decided to focus on my artistic filmmaking and take a hiatus from commercial work, so I returned to school once again to take the Master in Fine Arts program at Concordia University. While there, I was able to work as a sessional instructor while pursuing my studies. After completing my course work, I moved to Vienna to work on my thesis.

As far as activities that helped me to map out my career path, I would have to admit that many of my opportunities arose out of applying for things and waiting to see what I would get. Being friendly, enthusiastic and resourceful is also quite important if you move around as much as I have, because it helps build a community and support structure that is important if you predominantly work for yourself. And of course, saying “yes” to projects and opportunities, even when they seemed daunting or intimidating, has really shaped my career.

As a student, did you see yourself in your current career? What stayed the same and/or changed?

As a student I did see myself in a similar career to my current position. I always knew I wanted to do something studio based and working directly with clients. The medium seems to have changed many times, from landscape architecture, to advertising, motion graphics and short films, but the work dynamic and creative environment has remained the same.

What advice do you have for students who are interested in pursuing a degree in environmental design?

Go for it. Be prepared to work your butt off!

What job search advice do you have for students and recent graduates?

Apply for jobs you may not even think you have a chance at getting. The more you apply for, the more opportunities you will have and the more experience you will gain, which allows you to be more selective about the work you do.
Don’t believe everything you hear about “finding your calling” or “having your dream job.” In the end, you are paid to do a job because it is a job, not a dream. All you can do is your best and try to do work that you’re proud of so that it leads to similar opportunities.
Be nice to people.

Tell us a fun fact about your career path.

My career path wasn’t direct or straight. I envied the people who knew what they want to be right out of high school. My own path was much more meandering, which has provided me with a lot of interesting experiences. Sometimes not having a clear path can be a good thing because you try so many things along the way.

Briefly, tell us about your job. What do you find most rewarding? What are your greatest challenges within this profession?

I am the owner of a specialty coffee shop in the heart of Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District which opened in 2011. Fast forward 5 years-I extended the insights and experiences I learned through operating Parlour Coffee to help open a second café, Little Sister Coffee Maker, and begin operating a wholesale roasting operation called Dogwood Coffee Canada Ltd. I am in charge of general oversight of these businesses and take on special projects to push them forward but also to help carve a unique niche.

The most rewarding experience of operating my own business is creating and fostering new relationships. The greatest challenge within this profession is maintaining a particular level of quality and attention to detail that I am personally proud of whilst meeting the needs and expectations of clients.

What experiences and activities helped you to map out your career pathway?

The experience that introduced me to the idea of opening a café with a particular sense of identity was a studio trip in the final year of my undergraduate studies. I believe that the environmental design program helped foster a passion for thoughtful details and practices. Through this lens, I was able to re-approach my entrepreneurial habits.

As a student, did you see yourself in your current career? What stayed the same and/or changed?

I definitely did not see myself being in the coffee business while I was a student–I didn’t even drink coffee until my final year. I thing that changed for me was that I wanted to see my ideas and plans realized rather immediately versus sitting on paper for some time. One thing that didn’t change was my enjoyment of planning and executing minor details.

What advice do you have for students who are interested in pursuing a degree in Environmental Design?

I would suggest throwing yourself completely into your studies and being open to the outcome. I was never set on having a particular career, but I was interested in soaking in as much information and experience as possible. Also, I would highly discourage ever pulling an “all-nighter”. I always slept, at least a few hours, every night and my studies never suffered.

What job search advice do you have for students and recent graduates?

If you don’t see the job you want, make your own work. Self starters always win.

Tell us a fun fact about your career path.

I got Samuel L Jackson’s autograph. Other than that, I basically changed careers a few months after receiving the Rado Design Award for the Best New Protoype at IDS11 in Toronto while working for EQ3.

Briefly, tell us about your job. What do you find most rewarding? What are your greatest challenges within this profession?

I work as an estimator and project manager for a general contractor in Kenora. We work on a wide variety of projects ranging from houses and elaborate cottages on the lake to post-secondary education facilities. I take drawing sets provided by designers (architects, landscape architects, interior designers, etc.) and calculate what the cost to build the project would be. This is often done in a competitive bid environment where multiple companies submit an estimated cost for each project and the lowest bid tends to be awarded the contract. Once awarded a job, my role moves into a project management position where I oversee all aspects of the project with the intention of finishing the project within budget and on time.

The most rewarding part of my job is helping the build team take the various materials and work together to create what had previously only existed as ink on paper.

The biggest challenges with this position are dealing with any unforeseen hurdles that can crop up during the course of a project, or dealing with vague or inaccurate drawings that cause the initial estimating process to be less reliable than it should be.

What experiences and activities helped you to map out your career pathway?

I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands and pursued an apprenticeship in carpentry after graduation with the intention of finding a way to build my own designs. While working as a carpenter, my familiarity with plans led to opportunities in the office during times of bad weather doing estimating work for upcoming projects. This experience led to work with other firms estimating projects in a competitive bid environment. Successful bids lead to projects requiring office support which is where the project management side of my career began.

As a student, did you see yourself in your current career? What stayed the same and/or changed?

Not at first. In the beginning I was enamored with the design process, and in many ways, I still am. But as time passed I became increasingly aware that my preferences and skill set were more in line with a practical and tangible role in the physical creation of a structure.

What advice do you have for students who are interested in pursuing a degree in environmental design?

Realize that being an architect, city planner or interior designer is not the only possible outcome from this degree. The built environment is acted upon in many ways at many scales and the understanding gained in this program can be beneficial for a remarkably diverse array of employment opportunities.

What job search advice do you have for students and recent graduates?

Know your strengths and work towards a role you will find fulfilling. Don’t be too proud to take entry level positions- Hard work and demonstrated ability will lead to opportunities.

Tell us a fun fact about your career path.

I actually intended to avoid architecture as a profession entirely after graduating from the program. However, the interest that led me into the program in the first place, and the knowledge and skills gained through its completion eventually led me to where I am today – which involves near daily interactions with architects and designers.