Over the years we have welcomed many designers on to our CST course from all walks of life.  Jilly Duffy Unwin is a real inspiration as you will read from her story and proves the course isn’t just for new graduates fresh out of university!

“I graduated from Manchester University in 1995 having completed a BA (Hons) Degree in Textiles/Fashion, specialising in printed textiles.

At this point all the design work I was creating relied on paints, paper and brushes! For me, there was no computers/CAD at this point of my design career. After many happy years of freelancing and two delightful kids later I decided I needed to get up to date with technology and was recommended through a friend in the industry that AVA was the way forward. 

At the point I embarked on the AVA training course in 2011 I had very little experience with computers and was very apprehensive about working with them and using any type of software. This soon changed once I began the course and had the excellent support of the team.

The AVA course I did was fantastic, really good value for money and I loved every minute of it. I found the software easy to understand and incredibly user friendly. The team were always ready to help and give support wherever they could.

I have since had more training in Separations which has furthered my career and opened up new opportunities.

I am very passionate about using AVA and the benefits it has had in terms of enhancing my design skills and providing many new career opportunities.

I am now Senior Designer at Linwood using all aspects of the AVA software on a daily basis.

AVA and the team have undoubtedly been the platform to my successful career. I am so grateful to all the wonderful team who still all these years later continue to give me the best support and advice.”