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On his 20th anniversary at Monitor Audio Group, we sit down with Product Design Manager Matthew Sharp to discuss his two decades with the company.
Joined: 2004
Department: Product Design
Job Title: Product Design Manager
What initially drew you to join the company, and what has kept you here?
An advert in Design Week Magazine. I’d just finished a Degree in Industrial Design and Technology at Brunel University and had an interest in Hi-Fi and Audio. It gave me the opportunity to directly transfer what I loved doing across into the real world and create products. I love design, engineering and problem solving and it still gives me that opportunity to this day.
What’s one project you’re most proud of contributing to over the years?
I’ve several personal favourites, Climate 10 (my first project), Bronze BR, Radius HD Shadow Series, Installation Amps, Hyphn. However, Creator 4G would be the one I’m probably most proud of. I’d worked on a lot of Architectural projects over the years and had been heavily involved with the previous generation of CI in 2007, so had a lot of experience to draw on. It was at the time the largest/most expensive project the company had ever done redefining our Architectural offering and creating 19 new models.
How has your role evolved since you joined us?
When I started there was only one other Product Designer (Charles) in the company. I was just excited to have the opportunity to create something that made it to market. We then set about updating older products or bringing exciting new ones to the market. This meant we were developing and creating an in-house design identity, which we’ve continued to refine and evolve over the years. Along the way we’ve added to the team building a dedicated and passionate team with an incredible 100 years of audio experience within the Design team alone. They are a pleasure to manage, and give us an incredible industry advantage, allowing us to continue to produce even better products.
What’s a valuable lesson you’ve learned during your time here?
Design: the problem comes first.
What advice would you give your first-day self if you could go back?
Difficulties are just things to be overcome. Restriction is a gift to the creative. It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice.
If you could sum up your time here in one word, what would it be?
Progressive.