Jane by Design is a teen drama, but it’s not all about teens. The main character, Jane Quimby, is a high school student who applies for an internship in a design studio only to be hired as an executive assistant. Even though she knows they believe she is an adult, she takes the job. It’s a dream for Jane, who is not a popular girl but has a lot of style.
Jane lives with her brother who is the baseball coach at the high school. He is trying to woo the guidance counselor. In the meantime, Jane’s best friend Billy, one of her unpopular buddies, takes up with the most snooty and popular girl in the school. And Jane captures the interest of Nick Fadden (played by Matt Atkinson), the handsome school jock.
While Jane juggles high school with high fashion, she has to keep them completely separate. The only person who knows about her double life is Billy and he helps her maneuver through the maze she has set up for herself.
A Special Message to Suite101 Readers from Matt Atkinson
Because Suite 101 (and I) took part in the design challenge, we were granted a personal message from one of the cast. I asked Matt if he was athletic in high school like his character of Nick Fadden, and which character in the show was he most like in school.
He sent a video, but since we cannot play it online, I have transcribed it for all you readers and fans of Matt Atkinson, Nick Fadden, and Jane by Design. Here is his message to all the Suite101 readers.
“Hey, Suite 101. I’m Matt Atkinson from Jane by Design. Thank you so much for playing the Jane by Design Style Challenge. You wanted to know if (I am) like my character and which character in the show was I most like in school.
“I was athletic, like Nick Fadden. I wasn’t a star athlete, popular guy, but I played a lot of sports. I played baseball for twelve years, I swam for ten years, I ran cross country. I played pretty much every sport that you can play besides, maybe tennis, and I still did that with friends. So I was very athletic because I just loved to play sports. I guess I’m like Nick Fadden in that way.
’But what character was I most like in school was probably more like Billy, because I wasn’t really a popular guy and I had a lot of friends and I would do anything for my friends. And I was into rock music and I probably wore clothes more like Billy would wear and things like that. So that’s probably who I was closer to in that way. But I’d still say that me and Nick Fadden have similarities - we’ll use that when we do the show.
“Thanks again for playing and don’t miss all new episodes of Jane by Design, Tuesdays at 9, 8 central, only on ABC Family.”
