The Make it in Design team love nothing more than to celebrate all of the wonderful work from our talented and amazing community.
The Live Hub – is our monthly membership club that is jam packed full of energy and dedication from our members each and every day.
The group is such a supportive, wonderful, magical place and we want to acknowledge that with our Member spotlight!
Today we showcase the work of Beth Rosenberg.
Tell us a little about how you got started in design
I’ve dabbled in all sorts of creative pursuits pretty much my entire life. My mom took us to art museums quite regularly as kids and was the “art mom” in our school. My grandmother was a truly gifted seamstress and an avid knitter. I took up knitting in my 20’s and often design my own patterns. I suppose I’ve always had a love of functional art which fits very well with surface pattern design. I’ve taken art classes off and on as an adult fitting it around my professional life as a scientist and researcher. Like so many, the pandemic reordered my life, and I began playing with illustration and design on my iPad. I am following that thread and beginning to knit those threads together into a design identity.
What brings you joy?
Quiet walks in the forest, jazz music turned up loud, time spent with people I love – these things in the everyday bring me joy. The thing that has most consistently given me joy in life is recognising talent and potential in others and helping them see and realize it for themselves.
Which is your favourite market(s) to design for and why?
I’m still discovering myself as a designer. Having said that, I’m often thinking of home decor when I design. It’s the area where I’ve most had trouble finding things for myself that really speak to me, so I suppose I’m now trying to create what I wish I could find for my own home.
What are you working on currently?
I feel like I’m flying off in perhaps too many directions. I am trying to develop my designs into coherent collections. I’m starting the Florals and Nature course on MIID. I spend too little time actually drawing on paper and I would like to grow in that area. I just completed my first commission which was very exciting!
How has MIID helped your work evolve /grow?
Although I’m new to both design and MIID, this is absolutely the community I was looking for! First of all, it’s a community. Something that is so needed when working independently and still very much on the steep part of the learning curve. MIID members are kind, engaged, talented, and welcoming. The Make It In Design team is professional and I feel like that is helping me take myself more seriously as a professional. I love that everyone is free to explore their own style in this community. It’s really helping me discover who I am and how I can bring that to the marketplace.
Any aha moments during MIID journey you would like to share?
The design trends and and briefs both in the Live Hub and Winter school have been hugely helpful in refining my workflow. Incorporating mood boards and research into my own work definitely led to the success of my recent commission work.
What are your key successes since finding MIID?
I’ve definitely seen my confidence grow since finding MIID. Along with that has come the courage to experiment and play more which is hugely helpful. Commercial success will come. Or it won’t. But MIID has given me a place to embrace being creative and I count that as a very key success.
How would you describe MIID to a fellow designer looking to develop their design?
For me, MIID is the design school that doesn’t tell you to draw a red flower with a green stem. They just suggest that florals are always popular and fun to explore as design. That’s not to say that I’m not learning best design practices, but rather that I’m free to implement those in a way that feels most authentic to me.
What’s your dream design gig?
I would love to cobble together a passive income through design work. Whether that be through licensing, commissions, POD, or all of the above and things I haven’t even thought of. I would love to see how others utilize my designs and how they are incorporated into other people’s lives.
Best tip/advice for MIID students
Jump in! The water is fine! More seriously, embrace where you are on your personal journey and grow from there. There are so many talented designers as fellow students that’s it’s quite easy to feel overwhelmed. Wherever you are is just where you are right now. We all came to learn.
How do you stay motivated?
I don’t think I’ve designed anything yet that I’m 100% satisfied with and it seems likely I never will. There’s always something I wish I knew how to do or how to do better. At the same time, I made a commitment to myself at the beginning of this journey to put what I do out into the world in a hope that something I do might bring someone else joy. That keeps me motivated. A love of learning and a desire to be a force for good in the world in my own small way.
How do you balance other commitments and work?
I have stepped away from my life as a scientist which has afforded me a luxury of time for design. Somehow I still feel like there isn’t enough time in a day to do everything I want. I keep a calendar and try to adhere to a schedule. Key for me is starting everyday with meditation and journaling. That let’s me know where things are getting off-kilter so that I can correct, and often provides clarity on design directions.
