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By Leia Milburn; Industrial Designer at Tone Product Design
At the end of 2025, I was invited to speak at my former school about my journey through design education and into industry. What began as a simple talk became something much more meaningful. Students asked thoughtful, honest questions about university choices, confidence, creative careers, and what working in design is actually like. I was reminded of how little transparency many young people have around creative industries, particularly around industrial design, which often feels hidden behind unfamiliar job titles and closed networks.
A few months later, I was invited by Natalie Cameron, an excellent teacher and Head of Design & Technology at Newstead Wood School, to deliver a similar session as part of their International Women’s Day programme. Many of the students came from backgrounds still underrepresented within the design industry, and initially, the room felt apprehensive. But as students realised they could ask open and honest questions about industry, the discussion became engaged and collaborative.
What became increasingly clear through both experiences was how powerful transparency can be. Students are often taught design as a subject without fully understanding what pathways exist beyond education, what challenges they may encounter professionally, or how varied a creative career can actually look. Hearing directly from people currently working within the industry helps contextualise those possibilities and aspirations in a tangible and human way.
Speaking to students there reinforced something important: representation matters enormously, but so does visibility and honesty.
A Need for Revision
These experiences became part of the foundation for REVISION, a growing initiative I co-founded alongside Sophia Kambouris. What started as casual meetups for women working in design has evolved into a wider movement centred around revisiting how the industry creates space for more representative voices and supports collaboration.
At REVISION, we believe that representation benefits everyone, and schools can play an important role in that industry shift. Creating a more inclusive, empathetic, and representative industry is more than simply encouraging women into design; it requires visibility, transparency, mentorship, and stronger connections between education and practice. It allows young women to see clearer possibilities for themselves, while also encouraging broader awareness and empathy among future colleagues entering the same industry.
One of our ambitions is to build a network of designers from different disciplines and backgrounds who can speak within schools, sharing honest insights into their journeys and helping students better understand both the opportunities and realities of the industry they may one day enter, which cannot always be communicated through curriculum alone. Challenging outdated perceptions of who designers are, what success looks like, and what futures students can imagine for themselves.
The design industry frequently speaks about innovation, disruption, and designing better futures. Perhaps one of the most important things we can redesign is the industry itself.
Sources:
https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/fileadmin/uploads/dc/Documents/Design_Economy_2022_Full_Report.pdf
Links:
REVISION LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/revision-design/
REVISION Instagram:
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