Why I chose to study Design: Zeeshan’s story

In 2024 we welcomed our first cohort of Design and Global Sustainable Development (GSD) students. To find out how they are progressing, we caught up with current student Zeeshan - who decided to switch from Engineering to our Design Studies BASc after realising the course aligned more closely with his interests and passions. He shared more about what motivated his decision to pursue design and his experiences of the course so far.

Before I became a Design student

Before I came to The University of Warwick, I was basically pre-set on becoming an automotive design engineer; having taken A-Levels in mathematics and the sciences to increase my chances of being accepted into an engineering school. So, when I received my offer for Warwick’s prestigious engineering undergraduate programme, both me and my parents were thrilled as it meant I was finally on track to achieving this goal.

However, during my first year of study, I realised that I was not enjoying the course as much as I anticipated. I had chosen to pursue engineering because I thought it would involve getting to come up with ideas and designing new automotive products before witnessing them being built.

However, after being on the course for some time, I began to understand that engineering is more centred on the technical and mechanical aspects of an idea, usually fulfilling someone else’s vision and following instructions as part of a wider team, rather than being the individual coming up with the creative concept.

Towards the end of my first year, my growing disenchantment with engineering was resulting in my grades slipping. Luckily for me though, it was around this time that I met the Head of Design Studies, Adela. She told me about the new joint honours Design and GSD course that was about to be launched in 2024, and I instantly realised that it was a better match for what I wanted to be doing in life. My parents were initially unconvinced about me switching degrees because of the efforts I had put in to get into engineering and follow that career trajectory. However, once I attended an open day with my dad and he met Adela, he agreed that Design was a better fit and encouraged me to make the switch.

Of course, this was in 2023, so the Design programme had not yet officially started! Therefore, after withdrawing from Warwick’s engineering programme I took a year out of education and worked across several companies in small roles to gain some more design work experience and earn a little money before starting my first year in autumn 2024.

How my studies are going so far

The Design Studies course at Warwick allows you to focus on the area of design that interests you most, whether that be fashion, social design, architecture, or in my case, product/automotive design. Most other design courses I researched across the UK either sit within engineering or the arts, so the Design programme at Warwick’s School for Cross-faculty Studies stood out due to how flexible and interdisciplinary it was.

During my studies, I have been exposed to the wide range of design disciplines in the world, as the course allows you to gain new perspectives on the field by covering a broad range of topics.

My class is much smaller than before and as a result, I have grown very close to my fellow peers, who come from a diverse set of backgrounds. We live and work in our very own studio all term-round, talking passionately about our favourite design subjects, and often bouncing new ideas off each other.

I also get the benefit of being able to speak to the Design faculty pretty much daily, for support or wisdom. The intimacy of a smaller group is amazing, and personally a little better for me, as I know it can often feel quite isolating being in a larger cohort as I was before.

Although I initially undertook the Joint Honours because I was drawn to Design, I have found myself really enjoying the GSD classes too. Not only are they very different from what I’m used to, but the GSD teaching faculty have helped me gain an awareness and appreciation for the many sustainability challenges facing society, allowing me to design better products based on this knowledge.

What I would advise those considering a Design Studies degree

Make sure you have an idea of what you want your future career path to be and do your research on the job prospects of that career following graduation. Part of the reason I was drawn to Design is because its broadness of topics opens a wide range of potential careers, so I would strongly advise exploring some of them to see if any feel like they would be a fit for you.

I would also like to mention that you don’t need to be amazing at drawing to enrol in this course. There is someone here who can teach you the basics and essential skills from the beginning and help you out. Just make sure that you have a passion and mindset for design!

My plans following graduation

The big dream will be for me to be doing my own thing; however, I know that that is unlikely to happen straight away! Therefore, right now I am most interested in working for small consultancy firms designing for various niche products. I am also considering postgraduate education and would be open to undertaking a Design MASc as I am having such a great time in my current studies. I’m super excited to see what happens and how my future unfolds!