FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2007Engineer/designer finds success in being diverse
by Jeremy Schnitker |
| Lockton |
Dan Lockton isn't like a lot of other freelancers. The UK-based designer and engineer tackles everything from product development to researching competitor products and new technologies. He's also dabbled in writing.
He says it's a bit of a rarity these days to see freelancers doing such diverse work.
"I've met a few very successful jacks-of-all-trades, but most freelance designers and engineers have tended to specialize in a few areas in which they are an expert," he said. "This might come as a result of employment in a particular company where they've had a chance to work in detail on a series of projects with similar aspects, so they develop a specialism and experience that can be applied to subsequent problems."
Lockton has focused a lot of his work around the themes of lightweight transportation (such as bikes) and the concept of designing for independence. That includes "mobility products and devices to help people with tasks which would otherwise require external help." For the most part, he continues to work on a wide variety of projects on an independent basis because he still wants to figure out just what he is best at.
"To a large extent, it's because I wanted to try my hand at different areas of the creative-technical intersection, to see where my talent actually lay," he said. "That suggested trying freelance work, since there seemed to be very few product/industrial design consultancies where a young/new recruit would be able to experience so much variety, and the competition for those jobs that do exist is extremely fierce."
He said it also had to do with being a little scared to commit to anything specific at a young age.
"It's perhaps also due to indecisiveness: [Being] unsure of exactly what I wanted to be doing in life (other than 'something to do with design'), it frankly scared me a little having to commit, in my early twenties, to a career path which I might not ultimately enjoy. Freelancing allows me to try out lots of different avenues and see what suits me best."
In 2003 Stockton published his first book,
Rebel Without Applause, detailed history and analysis of British automaker
Reliant company. He hopes that some day his writing on engineering and design will allow him to be a valuable consultant, something many freelancers get into farther along in their careers.
"One of my aims is to become established as a design and technology commentator and consultant as well as simply a practitioner," he said. "There is a lack of engineering discussion and technically-informed discussion of design in the mainstream media, and I'd love to be involved in remedying that situation, in parallel with raising my profile as a designer and engineer.
Stockton has published a handful of magazine articles and has a couple book projects on the backburner.
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