John Cowen is the Head of Design at Funeral Guide where he spends his time doing design and creative thinking. He holds a fascination for all aspects of design, from theoretical design down to the nuts and bolts of production-ready HTML & CSS. He is invested in research, workshops, presentations and conferences that have all blossomed from the simple pursuit of applying creativity to interaction design.

Name: John Cowen
Job role: Head of Design at Funeral Guide
LinkedIn: John Cowen
Twitter: John Cowen

What motivates you to do what you do?

I love to solve problems, make things simpler and more beautiful. Design gives me the opportunity to do this. And I still love the creative freedom that comes from working online and the ability to quickly publish new designs and the constant iteration that follows.

How do you start your mornings?

Overnight oats and the Guardian crossword.

What does a ‘typical’ work day look like?

My days are typically split between meetings with stakeholders and other departments to both review work in progress and gather requirements for new feature development work.
It’s then going back to the team and making sure everyone has got the right information and direction they need to be able to deliver the different projects they’re working on. So for me this varies a lot between running design workshops, individual and team critiques, art direction, brand development, writing HTML and CSS or helping steer and develop our design libraries for different products.

Frazer Anderson grew up in Exmouth and went to ISCA college where he found his love of science and technology. He studied at Bournemouth University and worked at an IT company in London where he first got introduced to 3D printing. After completing a masters degree in Aberystwyth and travelling the world (20 countries so far) he came back to Exmouth to start his own company.

Name: Frazer Anderson
Job role: Founder of Exclusiv3D
Social Media: LinkedIn; Twitter; Facebook; Instagram

What motivates you to do what you do?

I’ve always loved being at the forefront of technology and being able to bring that to customers on a daily basis is a great feeling.

How do you start your mornings?

3 times a week I hit the gym at 4am with a friend, otherwise I’ll wake up around 6/7am. Then breakfast and catch up on the news, podcasts, and stock markets.

What does a ‘typical’ work day look like?

I track each day with a whiteboard and will prioritise every morning what I need to do. I will split my time between designing, printing, and post processing prints (sanding/gluing), as well as prepping social media posts and networking with current or potential clients.

Milly Brown is a visual artist and educator. Often working with paper, collage and publishing formats, her practice explores ideas of objectivity, value and editing.

Name: Milly Brown
Job role: Senior Lecturer and Subject Leader on Plymouth College of Art’s  BA (Hons) Fashion Media and Marketing
LinkedIn: Milly Brown

What motivates you to do what you do?

It is important we ALL engage with big data as it increasingly shapes more areas of our lives. If print and publishing can be employed to do that I want to be involved!

How do you start your mornings?

Dog walking

What does a ‘typical’ work day look like?

I work as a senior lecturer at PCA, so most days I am in lectures talking about fashion marketing and publishing, so when I have a day to work on the Continuous Stationery project it’s very different dealing with artists and scientist-a brilliant contrast!