Life as a Design Technician: Jordan Thomas

Jordan Thomas is one of the faces behind our laminate fabrication designs and drawings here at Nu-Style and is responsible for many of our commercial washroom and bespoke furniture designs. To find out more about what happens behind the scenes with our design team, we caught up with Jordan who shared with us how his role fits into the diverse range of departments we have here in Aberdeen.

Background:

I joined Nu-Style back in July 2019 and just recently celebrated my first anniversary. Nu-Style was my first role after graduating from university with a bachelor’s degree in Architecture Technology and then an Honours degree in Building Surveying. I’ve always had a keen interest in the construction industry and spent many summers and weekends doing numerous jobs including design, labouring, kitchen design and producing surveys and drawings. This helped me to gain real-life experience and put my studies into practical use. I think this really prepared me for my current role at Nu-Style.

My Role:

As a Design Technician, my role at Nu-Style mainly involves producing designs and drawings for customers for a range of our products including; bespoke furniture design and many of our main washroom products such as vanity units, cubicles, IPS panels and lockers. I’ve included some drawings and renders from recent projects below:

One of my favourites parts of my role is visiting sites, meeting with customers and really immersing myself in bringing their designs to life. We’ve recently started inducing 3D drawings for more complex designs and I really enjoy this aspect as the client gets to see a true, 3D representation of the products we will be supplying to them. 

A Typical Day at NSP:

It isn’t easy to describe a typical day at Nu-Style as every day is different and involves working alongside the wider team both in the office and in our factory. When an enquiry is forwarded to me from our sales team, I arrange a meeting or conduct a site survey to ensure we manufacture the product to the client’s exact requirements. This then allows me to spend time perfecting my designs and drawings for each project. Throughout the day, I’m typically involved in multiple calls and meetings with customers and our production team. For more complex designs, I always like to work closely with our team of in-house joiners in the manufacturing process.

The challenges and COVID-19:

The fast-paced nature of my role is often challenging but it’s also very rewarding. New and bespoke designs require a lot of my time to ensure they meet the customer’s requirements and that they are 100% correct. The support of the broader team in the office helps to ensure we get the job right for our customers, first time.

Video calls were a relatively new concept to me until we found ourselves thrown into the COVID-19 pandemic, and I could no longer get out to sites and meet clients. I have to admit it took a little bit of adapting to, but I feel video calls are a lot more efficient than holding physical meetings around a table. As a result, I can spend more of my time in the office working on drawings and designs for our clients.