Natalie Quinnies, S/IDSA, is a senior working on a bachelor’s degree in industrial design at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. She did not take a direct path to ID. “I was always intrigued by the way things worked and focused my mind on absorbing what I could from the physical world, digesting as much math and science as I could in the hopes that one day I would become an engineer,” she says. A year into her mechanical engineering studies, she switched to graphic design and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Yet another change was to come. “It was here that I began to understand the correlation between product and package, that they do not need to fight one another for importance, but can work together to attract the viewer’s eyes and heart,” she explains. “This dynamic relationship a product has with the user became a crucial part in my decision to further my education, seeking my second bachelor’s degree.”
Now, Quinnies feels she’s found her calling. “My previous passions of math and science have led into a world of research and development, while my preceding degree in graphic design has enriched a desire to enhance the relationship of a product to package.”
She hopes to use her knowledge of industrial processes to minimize manufacturing and aftermarket waste by understanding the lifecycle of the product and the packaging. “ For when we are designing a new product, we are also responsible for the lifespan of the creation,” says Quinnies.
