I’m Emma, Creative Lead at Fish out of Water.
My route here hasn’t exactly been linear.
Thirteen years as a mechanic led to art and design, immersive experiences, research, teaching, workshops and eventually Fish out of Water.
On paper, that looks like a collection of fairly dramatic career changes.
Looking back, I was doing much the same thing all along.
Then I found design. Same question, different tools.
I started in interior design, where I spent time understanding how design worked and how it affected the end user. That led me to immersive design, where I could push those boundaries further, seeing what happened when participants were given a space to discover for themselves.
Eventually, that curiosity followed me into research, where I spent several years exploring how objects, spaces and experiences gather meaning through the people who encounter them.
It started with fixing things.
I spent thirteen years as a mechanic, straight out of school, where understanding how things worked somehow also became: How can I make this experience better for the customer?
Then I went to university to study Art & Design. Which, on paper, looks like quite a career change.
Except I carried on doing much the same thing.
Somewhere along the way, I started handing the tools over.
Alongside all of that, I kept teaching and making. I taught practical sessions and workshops at university, and later developed and ran creative workshops and events as part of my work in industry.
Turns out, I really liked giving other people the tools to make, explore and discover things for themselves.
