Anneli Eddy studied in the USA, Sweden and Spain before the native Californian moved to Salzburg, where she completed a Master's degree in Design & Product Management. Now she works in the Brand Strategy Team at the design agency KISKA and researches with users around the world to develop human-centred brand strategies and meaningful designs.
Anneli Eddy studied in the USA, Sweden and Spain. A summer job took her to Austria, where she worked in digital design, and then went on to study for a Master's degree in Design & Product Management at FH Salzburg. It was mainly the content of the degree that appealed to Anneli. The mix of research, strategy, design leadership and sustainability interested the young designer and the relevance of these topics for the present and the future.
She particularly appreciated the very practical projects: During the studies, numerous projects are implemented with partners from industry and business. "In the process, you don't just learn the theory, but develop yourself in many ways and expand your network," describes Anneli Eddy. The excursions abroad will also always be fond memories. Together with their fellow students and teachers, they travelled to Israel and Turkey to experience how design is lived in other cultures. Anneli's conclusion: "I found the countries fascinating both culturally and creatively. Unfortunately, the focus is often only on the political turmoil, but despite the turmoil, creative minds are still working hard to create an open, peaceful and innovative future - which I really appreciated."
Involved in research
Already during her Master's degree, Anneli Eddy worked as a junior researcher in research projects at the study programme (research area DE|RE|SA). Among other things, she worked in the interdisciplinary project 'REACT one', which dealt with the analysis and design of medical products in order to increase their acceptance. "The research skills I learned at UAS continue to benefit me - and the knowledge of how to develop a strategy to integrate insights into designs," she says. And it also helps to understand the whole design process beyond the individual projects. "Even though I'm not in the designer role in my work, I can give the designers I work with on projects input that is relevant to their process."
Towards the end of her studies, Anneli was open to various professional fields - as a graduate of the Masters Design & Product Management, many doors are open to you. In her search for interesting jobs, she found what she was looking for at the design agency KISKA. "I already knew that it was a great company and that I could apply a lot of what I learned in my daily work." Now the half-Swedish is employed in the Brand Strategy team at KISKA. Anneli works with clients to identify their challenges and researches with users around the world to develop innovative, human-centred brand strategies and meaningful designs.
Bringing ideas to life
"The world of design allows us to bring new ideas to life and create tangible solutions to real problems we face as people and as a society," describes Anneli Eddy.