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“I found myself in a design rut two years after graduating as an industrial designer, prompting a move to London for a fresh perspective.”
Carnemolla was struck down with “designer fatigue” just two years after graduating from the University of Technology, Sydney. At the time she was working for a signage and interiors consultancy and found herself stuck in a design rut.
Feeling overworked and “a little stale”, she was ready for a change of direction but didn’t know how to go about it.
Heading to Europe seemed the obvious course of action for Carnemolla, who wanted to experience overseas design first hand. Also, having an English mother and a father of Italian heritage, she felt a strong pull to discover her European roots.
Living and working in London did the trick, reviving her love for her work and refreshing her designs. “I felt new again and could prove myself as a designer in new fields.”
During her time overseas she freelanced in many different areas, from industrial design consultancies and advertising companies to packaging and architectural firms. Her favourite project was designing a chain of pizzerias throughout Europe, creating everything from the lighting and furniture design through to the design of the pizza boxes and signage.
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By the time she came home to Sydney 18 months later, she was ready to take
her career into overdrive. At 33, she is currently the resident industrial designer for sheet metal fabricator CSM.
After initially toying with the idea of becoming an architect, she decided on industrial design, unperturbed by the industry’s male domination. “At the time not many girls were doing it at all. It seemed like a real challenge.”
Ultimately, it was Carnemolla’s strong family role models which attracted her to pursue this career. Her father is a car mechanic and tinkering in his garage in her formative years gave her a taste for engineering and physics. So being part of a busy industrial factory feels completely natural to her. “There is something that is really home for me
in that environment,” she says. Her aunt, Valmai Waites, a talented former fashion designer who made clothes for Princess Margaret in the 1950s, gave her a love
of art and design.
Carnemolla completed her masters degree when she returned to Australia, her study aided by a research grant from CSM. She explains that grants are rare in the manufacturing industry; most companies are not prepared to invest money where there isn’t an immediate financial benefit. But she says CSM took a longer-term view, allowing her to “push boundaries” in design. Her expertise is regularly called on to give expert witness reports for court cases. She has analysed everything from baby prams to chip fryers and ovens.
However, after three years at CSM, she wanted to prove herself in the fast-paced world of design consultancy and joined one of the biggest industrial design firms in Australia, Sydney-based KWA Design. “You might be working on a medical product at the same time as you are working on street furniture for Sydney City Council. It is very conceptual, very artistic and very interpretive.”
But long hours and the intense pressure of consultancy work, as well as her desire to return to an in-house designer role, led her to move back to CSM. Much of her role there involves communication across all parts of the business, from product development through to the marketing material.
“I employ my sales and marketing knowledge and then I can go to the factory and use my engineering skills. It kind of crosses all bases for me.”
Initially she found the male-dominated factory floor “terrifying”. “They were from a whole different culture to me.” She felt the need to pump up her Aussie “Strine”
a few notches, as well as pare down her dress code to “nothing too quirky”.
Now there is a mutual respect between her and the workers on the factory floor.
Carnemolla attributes much of CSM’s forward-thinking to its management, particularly the group’s managing director, Peter Letton, who also offered her flexible working hours. “He has been very supportive of me as a designer, as a woman and a mother.”
This allows her to work on her own jewellery and furniture designs; setting up a design business is her ultimate goal. Rejoining CSM meant working with her husband Glen, who heads up the sales and marketing team at the firm. Suddenly, he became one of her superiors and Carnemolla confesses it was a situation that took a period of adjustment.
“We both had to re-establish our roles at work and home. It was tricky at first.” One positive side, she says, is if he places tight deadlines on design projects, then he knows who will be asked to step in as babysitter for their one-year-old daughter, Ella.
BY: Megan Foley
This article first appeared in Vive – the magazine for Women Who Mean Business. To subscribe to VIVE go to: http://online.pol.com.au
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