Digital Media Design

I am originally from the coastal town of Port Macquarie so a lot of the inspiration for my artwork comes from my surfing lifestyle.

I've always loved art, but at high school several of my (non-art) teachers warned me that design is a competitive industry. The truth is yes, design is indeed competitive but I have remained optimistic and already have great work opportunities halfway through my study.

My overall love of art is a constant source of inspiration, but I am also really interested in copywriting. If I can get an audience to laugh or engage whilst imparting an important message or idea, I am content.

I believe in the concept that "everything is interesting" for designers, though I'm not sure if it's a gift or a curse. A designer's way of thinking is impossible to switch off.

I often find myself scoping out typography in shop signs, analysing messages on billboards and paying more attention to how a commercial has been delivered than to the television program I am watching.

If I can get an audience to laugh or engage whilst imparting an important message or idea, I am content.

I think one my most fun and successful projects so far during the Digital Media Design was creating a "how to" video. I decided to film an instructional video on how to pick up women – except the host was an intoxicated bricklayer who was literally picking up women and throwing them over his shoulder. It was a little bit cheeky and controversial and gained many laughs. At Billy Blue we are always encouraged to think differently, which really appeals to me.

I completed a degree in Pharmacology but wasn't convinced that pharmaceuticals was my thing. Throughout my science degree, I coded and designed websites and print media in my spare time, getting both paid and unpaid work. I would stay up to ridiculous hours most nights designing even the smallest of things. I slowly began to realise that even though I liked the scientific path I was on, the passion was just not there. Eventually I asked myself the question, Why not design? Since then I have never looked back.

My passion for design comes from the fact that we can produce something completely new and personal but share it with the public. We can make something so mundane into something incredible.

My main interest in digital media is 3D design – it's actually a bit of an obsession.

I think I have watched all the Pixar movies at least once; no matter what I am working on, I have a movie running on another screen and whenever my attention wavers I glance across and am always presented with an amazing visual that inspires me to continue working. The art of motion opens an infinite number of options to explore.

Just watching how everyday things, such as people, animals and even wind move, gives me ideas to put into my productions.

Recently I made a small informatic to try to get young people in Sydney to ride their bikes. I could have produced it with a large amount of dry statistics stating the benefits of riding but I realised that my target audience would be bored senseless with that approach, regardless how cool or contemporary I made the design. So instead I created a character, Terry, who is a bicycle; through interacting with him, the viewer is able to make a real connection with the issues involved and therefore be affected more profoundly by its message.