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!

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“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.

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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.”