This week I traveled to Dundee to present Studio Unbound to the Masters of Design students,  as well as some Design Ethnography Master students. This is my  fifth Studio Unbound session and this time I invited James Porteous to join me via skype.

James is a designer from Glasgow school of Art, studying on the Product Design course, with interests ranging from traditional areas of the subject, through to aspects such as service and interaction design. Outside of this, he works as a photographer, covering sports, news, music for various publications and clients, both online and off. James was in the audience at Studio Unbound II – shortly after attending , he wrote:

“So, I guess you could say I was skeptical of what I was going to learn (Sorry!), but the whole thing was very convincing. The depth of their arguments was engaging, and the discussion after the talk was as useful as the presentation itself. Looking at the numbers of people from the evening who are now embarking on blogging and micro-blogging, it’s plain to see that the event hit the mark.”

He now twitters, keeps a blog and has an individual project blog. Sarah and me have been watching from afar and it is so brilliant to see that James has interpreted our talk in his own way and is clearly getting something out of it! In one project blog alone he has written over 10,ooo words which he admits would not have happened if it had not been for his digital platform.

James was brilliant and provided yet another perspective to what the Studio Unbound can achieve. The audience asked some great questions like “Do you have methods for this stuff?”. Well, at the moment we have methods set up to run one to one Studio Unbound sessions with students to prepare them in lots of different ways for embracing the digital world. Our next step will be developing tools to capture what we do and evidence to prove it works.

A conclusion that came of out of the discussion was “Never tell anyone you are a student unless you are asked.” Yes – you study ethnography but you are still an ethnographer. One student remarked “This can clearly lead to brain overload” and of course she was right! James rightly put it saying “There is so much to be said for switching off “…

Keep up with the Studio Unbound conversation and welcome new comers here.

Inspiring words from Thomas Friedman in the NYTimes last month. Read the full article: The New Untouchables.

On Monday 9th November (2-3.30pm GMT) the <strong Studio Unbound returns to Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design for a lecture to Jewellery design students and graduates.

This lecture will be led by MDes graduate and Jewellery designer Kate Pickering (@katesjewellery), and Service Designer and Studio Unbound co-founder Lauren Currie (@redjotter). Kate Andrews (@kateandrews), Sarah Drummond (@rufflemuffin) and Dave Cuvelot (@davecuvelot) will also be joining live via skype.

So if you are studying jewellery design or have recently graduated and feel unsure how to use social media, or confused at the value it could have on your career development, come and meet us at the Matthew Building 5016RT.

As always, everyone is welcome! Please join the conversations on twitter by searching for #studiounbound
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(Big thanks to Dave Cuvelot for the poster designed for this lecture!)

Here are a few photos of the Studio Unbound’s Sarah Drummond and Lauren Currie presenting a lecture at Glasgow School of Art this week. The evening was a great success and already we’ve had an incredible feedback, so thank you to everyone who participated both on and offline this week. Personal thanks to Kate Pickering for live tweeting from the audience and James Porteous for taking these fantastic snaps! More coverage and knowledge sharing coming very soon!

Closing thought from Quentin Hardy this month:

“There are too many social networks, too many styles of discovery, commenting, sharing and all the other aspects of participation. People are fatigued by choice. All is made worthwhile by finding a group that is as passionate about some specific area of your life as you are.”

So, where to begin and who to follow? For Studio Unbound I’m pleased to offer you a glimpse at some designers, studios and organisations using twitter. Of course not all of these will interest everyone, however – keep your eye on the page; Design on Twitter.

As this resource evolves and we select some of the best people to ‘follow’ on twitter, we will break down the list into specific categories to better help you navigate your way to the right people! To do this, let us know what you are interested in and looking for.

Tonight, the Studio Unbound lectured to design students at Glasgow School of Art. Presented live by Lauren Currie (@Redjotter) and Sarah Drummond (@Rufflemuffin) and with Kate Andrews (@KateAndrews) joining via skype.

Full photographs and coverage of this evenings lecture will be posted here in the next few days. But, in the mean time, follow the team and conversations on twitter at #studiounbound