Josh Akrigg

I currently work at the packaging company Plastique as an Industrial Packaging Designer. My role at Plastique involves designing packaging solutions for thermoformed plastic and natural fibre. I am responsible for progressing projects from initial ideas and designs, through to prototyping and into full scale manufacture. This regularily involves; sketching ideas, creating CAD models of products and packaging, producing high quality rendered visuals, making detailed tools ready to be machined, testing of prototypes, and making CAD alterations based on testing. My position also means that I participate in daily planning meetings to discuss the design team workload and to help solve general production problems. I have worked with many brands to create innovative designs with many having gone to market; Reckitt Benkiser, TomTom, Beiersdorf, Gillett, Pfizer, Sainsburys, M&S, Pret a Manger, EAT, Graze and many others.

During my time at the University of Nottingham, I achieved a First Class Masters Degree in Engineering, in the subject of Product Design & Manufacture. The course involved a substantial amount of manufacturing detail, from material properties, processes and construction, as well as looking at economies of scale. The course also looked into product marketability, branding, usability and ergonomics, and the use of rapid prototyping. Overall the course was a mix of conceptual design practises together with real-world engineering knowledge.

The first portfolio of my work begins with a detailed look at a small number of recent packaging projects, followed by my final major degree project. The second portfolio contains only University degree projects.