And so it begins...

Shortly after graduating from the University of Manchester in 2009 I joined OpinionPanel, researching the UK student population I had only just recently constituted. For 18 months I worked as  a project manager, carrying out quantitative and qualitative research on behalf of a number of universities, public bodies, and brands.

It was during my time at OpinionPanel that the Student Factfile 2011 was published. This was a publication consisting of data and analysis I compiled using publicly available and OpinionPanel data on the UK student population. Establishing trends from the overwhelmingly fragmented data on applicants, students and graduates and communicating them coherently was by no means a simple task, but the outcome was incredibly rewarding. It was even referenced in the BIS (Dept of Business, Innovation and Skills) government white paper Students at the Heart of the System.

As much as it was an analytical piece of research, it couldn't have been successful had it not been engaging visually. Ironically it was the fact-file that re-kindled my interest in design, and led me to leave my career in research to follow Graphic Design. Over the next 3 months I'll be updating my progress on my journey at Shillington College, Manchester.