Design & Visual Communication and Creative Industries

A selection of works completed by SAE Design and Creative Industries students in 25T2

Welcome to the Design & Visual Communication and Creative Industries online student showcase.

This site features exemplary projects created by students within the Design and Creative Industries course and curated by SAE lecturers. These featured works are representative of the high calibre of work achieved by our students.

Many of these projects show finished creative work, while some display theory, critical thinking and vital business presentation skills.

DDX323 Creative futures

DDX220 Design Thinking

DDX218 Design in Sound & Motion

DDX215 Type in Design

DDX219 Social Media Marketing & Content Creation

DDX173 User Centred Design

DDX181 Design Studio 1

CIE152 Project Design & the Entrepreneur

DDX174 Design for Print Media

CIE111 Project Design & the Entrepreneur

DIM111 Scholarly Perspectives in Design

DDX171 Fundamentals of Image Making

DDX170 Principles of Design

DDX323 Creative futures

Mia Cummings

My name is Mia Cummings, I am 20 years old located in Melbourne, Victoria and am currently studying a Bachelor of Graphic Design and Visual Communication. In this project I explored a preferable future in which fungi is involved in the creation of clothing alongside natural materials such as bamboo, hemp and organic cotton to help reduce clothing waste. I created the brand 'Fun Guy Fashion' which is a children's clothing brand that incorporates fungi into its textile makeup which allows the clothing items to decompose once they are sent to landfill, therefore reducing the amount of textile waste in Australian landfills. 'Fun Guy Fashion' provides a sustainable solution for the rapid turnover of children's clothing while still providing growing children with functional yet aesthetically pleasing clothing items.

Allie Hutchen

My concept imagines a future where public signage respects more-than-human hearing, creating awareness zones that protect acoustically sensitive species like whales, frogs, and bats. These signs serve as both warnings and educational infographics, inspired by familiar wildlife park signage but adapted to include speculative elements such as visualised sound data and animal-specific frequencies. The audience includes hikers, visitors, beachgoers, or anyone moving through natural spaces and positioning the signs in coastal, rural, or forested zones impacted by sound.

DDX220 Design Thinking

Eliza Bennet

This project was developed to highlight the growing concern of glass-reinforced plastics (GRP) entering our oceans, and the subsequent risks they pose to marine life and human health. I chose to create an interactive infographic to enhance viewer engagement and encourage active learning. Despite my limited experience with Figma, I utilised its prototyping capabilities to bring the concept to life in a clear and compelling way. Through this design, I aim to inform and provoke thought, while offering a visually engaging exploration of GRP pollution in our food chain. Thank you for taking the time to view my work!

Ebony Collins

I’m Ebony, a graphic design student and mixed media artist who loves using visual storytelling to communicate concepts and important issues.

This project, Light Pollution and the Insect Apocalypse, is a visual exploration of how artificial light at night (ALAN) is rapidly impacting insect populations and the ecosystems they support. I wanted to create something that not only shares scientific facts but also feels visually immersive and pulls you into the urgency of the problem.

I was drawn to this topic because it’s an environmental crisis that often goes unnoticed. People are aware of deforestation, pollution, and climate change, but not light pollution, pertaining to insects specifically. During my prototyping, I found that a lot of my feedback included surprised reactions about how this issue had never been heard of or spoken about. Insects are vital to ecosystems, and their decline creates a chain reaction that affects birds, bats, amphibians, fish, and even human food systems.

The design style is inspired by digital pixel art and neon signage, reflecting the electric theme. I wanted the piece to visually show the same artificial glow that threatens insect life and create a contrast between the aesthetically pleasing visuals and the seriousness of the message. Having hand-drawn the delicate insects and other elements, I created a natural feel to the work; other than being completely digital, it echoes the coexisting beauty of nature and it’s importance.

My goal with this work is to make the issue feel immediate and accessible. I included clear facts and actionable solutions so that the viewer doesn’t just leave informed but also empowered to make changes in their environment. Whether it’s as simple as turning off unnecessary lights or switching to insect-friendly LEDs, every small action can help.

Julian Wright

Outside of SAE, Jules is known as the musician Deepstar and also operates as a sound engineer, known for notable projects within US & UK Hip Hop scenes Such as Eto x Jai Black - Abyss Dwellas and AKD & Deepstar - Universal Language. He also operates the label Divine Matter Records and is establishing himself as a multimedia specialist across design, film, games and new forms of AI entertainment.

For this project of creating an infographic, I wanted to work with video animation as it offered compelling opportunities to draw the viewer through the information in the order I desired, build narrative, produce moments of impact and tap into the senses through vision and sound while covering content in ways that might trigger the imagination or further thought after watching.

The goal was to draw the general public's attention to the most transformational technological shift in human history, artificial intelligence, and trigger opinions and engagement. It’s a high stakes matter often spoken about from a technical perspective that can mean little to many unless put in context or visually expressed. The animation sought to deliver multiple key pieces of information on the topic and not specifically lead the viewer to any desired opinion other than, whatever you believe we should be discussing it and be part of decisions that reshape our society on this scale rather than leaving those decisions to big tech and government as their motives will differ from the desires of citizens. While it does attempt to produce an emotional response throughout, there are counterbalancing concepts to give a broad view of the implications of the data being shared, while staying true to the tone of the articles used as sources. My personal views on AI are quite optimistic, perhaps more so than you might imagine from the content but the importance of spreading this information so people can make up their own minds and be part of the discussion was the objective.

DDX218 Design in Sound & Motion

This project explores world building from the point of view of a prop designer and the range of assets graphic designers can produce for film and television. Starting from a short scene description, students design a range of props for the "world" in which their scene is set. Their design work aims to create a cohesive visual world, establishing the film or tv story's time period and place. They consider mood, atmosphere, genre, styling and colour in the creation of design props such as signage, letters, packaging and other scene props.

Julia Shikova

I am a first-year Bachelor of Design student, interested in illustration, animation, and typography. I take my inspiration from both historical and contemporary artists. Art never stands still and is always moving forward, for me, creativity is a way of self-expression. I hope to become a guru in After Effects and one day create a short film inspired by folk tales.

The props produced for this project are set in the futuristic village named Via Aemilia. In spite of technological advancements in the year 3020, the city remains under strict control by tyrannical rulers. Taking inspiration from the production design from the films the Fifth Element and the Matrix, Julia has created a set of props that could be typically found in the medicine cabinet in the year 3020. She utilised Adobe Illustrators 3D tools to create some of her props to great effect.

Nadene Adbulkader

Hello! I’m a final year Bachelor of Design and Visual Communication student with a passion for branding, motion graphics, and storytelling. My work blends creativity with strategy, aiming to create engaging designs that connect with audiences. I’m inspired by bold visuals, playful concepts, and the challenge of bringing ideas to life across different mediums.

These props are set in a dystopian city on Earth in the year 3020 where the world is controlled by a powerful tech-based government that tracks and controls people using advanced surveillance, AI systems, and propaganda. The story focuses on a group of rebels fighting against this system, using digital tools and underground networks to survive and resist.

This project took inspiration from the production design from the films The Minority Report and the Truman Show. Two out of the props included a dystopian cereal box called Nutriloops (straight out of 1984) and a set of holograms that created for this project. Yes, you read that correctly, I took to creating a contraption out of recycled materials lying around my kitchen to create REAL holograms for this project.

David Gough

Hey, I’m David. I’m in my second year of a Bachelor of Design and Visual Communication. I’ve always loved the creativity behind movie posters and smart logo design. I’m keen to dive into animation too — it’s always been a bit of a dream of mine.

These props are set in a fictional murder mustery called ‘The Final Set’ that takes place in the year 2025 in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district at EchoVault, a secret nightclub hidden beneath a graffiti covered bunker, a real underground party venue where people come to escape the outside world. However the music comes to a stop when DJ Dieter, a famous and controversial tech mogul, is found dead on the dancefloor. The only clue left behind? A blood-streaked USB bracelet labelled REVERB_001.

This project ddrew inspiration for from the films Tron and Star Wars, including a sign for the night club, logo design, a vodka bottle label, a poster for DJ Dieter and a security lanyard.

DDX215 Type in Design

Sophia Simmons

In the magazine design project, we were asked to research and decide upon our own magazine concept to lay out. The final work consisted of cover designs and spreads from articles and images curated by students.

DDX219 Social Media Marketing & Content Creation

In this project, varied types of social media are investigated and used to create a range of interactions with audiences. Social media platforms are investigated and this is used to create a social media marketing strategy for a selected creative project, artist or business.

Tilly Vidoto

I’m currently in Trimester Four, mainly focusing on graphic design. In visual communication, I especially love working on branding and social media design. I’m passionate about all things creative from whether it’s planning my calendar or gym routine in the most aesthetic way possible, or sewing handmade gifts for friends and family.

Julian Wright

As a musician, I‘ve long created all my own artwork and marketing materials but felt hindered by lack of knowledge. Through exploring design at SAE, I’ve formed a true love for the foundational knowledge and principles of design and how they apply in everything no matter the medium. I have vision now where I only had instinct before. I also love how working through different different designs becomes a learning journey that teaches you new facts about the world and opens your mind, forever building on your creative ideation.

Hugo Lloyd

As a Music Student at SAE, I wanted to use this project as an opportunity to understand how I could market my newly formed band ‘Point Nemø’. My first step was to establish a goal that I wanted to achieve from this campaign - to build a loyal audience online and increase our brand’s visibility as this would help to directly benefit our online presence and potentially increase the engagement on the music we release.

Early in the project, I conducted a survey to understand our target audience and determine what social media platforms to focus on. Based on the feedback from the survey it became evident that Instagram and YouTube should be my priority for growth. From there, I developed a content strategy later on in the project tailored to my chosen platforms.

A major insight that I gained from this project was the value of visual branding and consistency. Given the genre my band works in - Indie-Pop / Indie-Folk - I created a mood board and colour palette inspired by the natural landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Even after completing this project this aesthetic has defined the look and feel of our social media and has become central to our identity as a brand.

Moving forward from this project, I have begun to implement the foundations of my work and have successfully reached new audiences across various platforms. This project was incredibly rewarding to complete as it laid the groundwork for developing my band’s online presence and identity.

Nadene Adbulkader

I’m Nadene Abdulkader, a Sydney-based design and communications student focused on branding, digital strategy, and audience engagement. I’m someone who becomes completely obsessed (in the best way) when I care about a project; I pour everything into it when it’s something or someone I genuinely connect with.

This project gave me the creative freedom to do exactly that. It wasn’t just an assignment, it was something I fell in love with building. I’m passionate about turning insights into ideas that feel real, personal, and purpose-driven, and Night Sweet Thing gave me the perfect space to explore that.

Night Sweet Thing – Building a Brand Beyond the Influencer

This project explores how to evolve Night Sweet Thing, a sleepwear and lifestyle brand by content creator Bridey Drake, into a standalone digital presence; one that retains her warmth and relatability but operates independently of her personal content.

My goal was to untangle the blurred lines between Bridey’s identity and her business, and develop a platform-specific strategy that would clarify brand messaging, highlight product offerings, and connect with multiple segments of her audience. I began by auditing current social channels and identifying a key tension: while the brand benefitted from Bridey’s strong community, many followers, particularly new ones, were unclear on what Night Sweet Thing actually sold.

To address this, I built a strategy around separation, clarity, and consistency. This involved defining visual and tonal guidelines, mapping content pillars, and crafting a TikTok and Instagram-first strategy informed by audience data, survey responses, and ethical considerations especially around marketing to minors. The solution was to balance promotional content with emotionally resonant storytelling, behind-the-scenes transparency, and candid, chaotic humour. A key insight was that authenticity performs better than perfection, and relatability often drives stronger engagement than polish.

What I’m most proud of is the way the strategy preserves the soft, cheeky tone that makes Night Sweet Thing feel human, while introducing structure that supports growth, scalability, and long-term brand identity. This campaign doesn’t just market pyjamas; it markets rest as a form of self-love, community as a business asset, and imperfection as something to be celebrated.

This project showcases the power of social media to build meaningful relationships, not just reach. It’s a reflection of where branding is heading: less billboard, more bestie.

Zee James

My Social Media Analysis and Marketing Strategy project aimed to explore marketing strategies and online presence in a niche online community, namely the vocal synth community. Using a close friend and online cover artist as my client, I analysed their pre-existing brand and online identity as well as extensive research into online platforms and elements of marketing such as content pillars to conceive a detailed marketing strategy that could be reimagined and reapplied to a variety of social media platforms to enhance their engagement with the community and increase their follower base. Having the freedom to choose a community close and personal to me helped me fully engross myself in the importance of social media presence and brand image, which I ultimately tried to reflect in my marketing strategy project.

DDX173 User Centred Design

Elle Baldock

After working in a few different fields in the creative industry, I do find what’s most interesting about graphic design is the emphasis on communication. Most other art forms can be more or less subjective, but with GD, you have to make sure the audience can connect the dots. I find it’s trickier than art in a lot of ways, but I like that challenge.

Sali Dalampasig

Sali Dalampasig is currently in the third and final trimester of her design course. Throughout her studies, she has found enjoyment in many areas, but what she’s loved most is designing with UX and UI in mind—particularly during projects like her Thirroul Library interface prototype and a B-Corp concept developed in another unit.

A fun fact about Sali: in her senior year of high school, she folded 1,000 origami cranes and hid them around the school, all for a single wish.

Cyrus Poncho Haddadi-Zuniga

I’m in my final year of studying for my Diploma in Graphic Design, with just one more trimester to go. What excites me most about graphic design is the variety of creative outcomes it offers—whether it’s typography, website design, logos, illustration, or layout work in InDesign. Each project is a journey, and I enjoy looking back at how the process evolves to create that final result. For me, design is as much about the path taken as it is about the destination.

Outside of design, I’m a big fan of anime and am currently watching Banana Fish. I also enjoy listening to anime soundtracks, following my favorite artist Russ, and playing football (soccer) in my spare time.

Kaitlin Morrison

Katie is currently in Stage 2 of her Bachelor of Music in Adelaide. She explores graphic design to develop assets for her music businesses. Playing with available tools and applying her strong attention to detail, Katie enjoys creating captivating visuals and synchronised audiovisual media assets. Katie is a dedicated junglist, DJing and producing Drum and Bass and other bass music under the alias Amorositie.

DDX181 Design Studio 1

Abigail Morcom

Hi! I’m in my final trimester of the Diploma of Graphic Design and absolutely love all things brand design. I’m a creative at heart, and when I’m not designing, you’ll probably find me painting, making pottery, sewing, snapping photos, or trying out new recipes. I’m all about blending creativity with purpose, and I enjoy bringing ideas to life in fun and meaningful ways.

This project explores the creation of a visual identity for a personal care B-Corp brand. It includes designing a logo, developing a brand story, and applying the identity across key brand assets such as a style guide, business card, and letterhead. The design is informed by research into ethical and environmental considerations, alongside user insights and genre analysis, to ensure the final outcome feels purposeful, aligned, and audience-focused.

Tiffany New

Hello! I am a Bachelor of Creative Industries student focusing on Graphic Design. I am interested in designing for print and social media, and as a lover of live music, I really enjoy making music-related posters. Although this project is quite the opposite, I am often inspired by punk and grunge design but I also love print design from 90s and 2000s magazines and have plenty of examples taking over my Pinterest boards. I love solving challenges through graphic design and can't wait to keep learning everything I can.

In this project I needed to imagine a brand offering a product for insect-friendly gardens, after looking into the industry and finding common ethical concerns and issues relating to pollinators the idea of "Polli" was created. This is a brand selling wildflower seed kits to families and it aims to stand out from other gardening and sustainability brands. To do this I've employed a colour palette inspired by wildflowers and adjusted to be more appealing to children, designed a fun, modern, logo that is reflective of the worlds most important pollinators, bees, and made other intentional choices in regards to typography, illustration and imagery all laid out in a brand style guide and rationalised with a full process document.

CIE152 Project Design & the Entrepreneur

In this project, we investigate an entreprenuer who aligns with our own future aspirations and analyse their journey. Creating a compelling video presentation that showcases our research findings and personal insights, we explain the entrepreneur's path and how this relates to our own future vision.

Joshua Steffensen

Creating a compelling video presentation that showcases our research findings and personal insights on an inspirational entrepreneur, explaining the entrepreneur's path and how this relates to our own future vision. In this video, I examine the entreprenuerial qualities of film-maker, James Wan. James Wan is an Australian writer, director and producer, who gained attention by creating modern horror films, before founding his own production company.

Jamieson Hunter

In this project, we investigate an entreprenuer who aligns with our own future aspirations and analyse their journey. This video discusses interdisciplanary, creative polymath, Pharrel Williams. He stands as an inspiration in the creative industry for his contributions to music, fashion and philanthropy.

DDX174 Design for Print Media

Nic Wyld

A creative since childhood, now a budding Graphic Artist and Designer. Pursuing a lifelong dream of a career in art and design. I love drawing/sketching, painting with watercolours, being in nature, reading, walks with my husband and staffy, and have a new found love for lino printing, something I haven’t done since Year 7 art class with Miss Miller. I'm all about good energy and positive vibes and doing more of what makes me happy and brings me peace. I think we should take more time to stop, breathe, and find the magic – it’s right there in the little things we often overlook.

I created InDesign grid systems, including bleed and crop marks. I arranged my design elements in a visually clean, clear and readable layout, allowing for adequate negative space. I used scale, variations of the sans serif font, Univers, and colour to create visual hierarchy, and incorporated text that was left-aligned with a ragged right edge, reminiscent of the Swiss Style. The scale of the image and use of vibrant colour is visually energetic, the white text contrasting nicely against the image.

I created an A3 tour poster, a train station billboard, and t-shirt design using InDesign for an imagined tour, The Relevant Tour, by P!NK, incorporating the analogue element of lino print and tape manipulated in Photoshop. Typing the word Irrelevant in the stamped letter print style font, PF Fuel Decay, crossing out the IR with tape, like one would tape someone’s mouth closed to silence them, referenced P!NK stating that no one is irrelevant, nobody can take her voice away. P!NK’s iconic hair and trademark open mouth snarl or shouting expression inspired me to find a side profile which I used to create a sketch that I transferred to lino and cut away to create my lino print.

Joshua Hiatt

This poster is my attempt to let jazz speak through geometry. Inspired by Swiss modernism’s precision (its grids, clean lines, and purposeful order) I sought to give structure to something as fluid and unpredictable as music.

I began with research into mid-century Swiss posters, then built a grid to anchor the composition, ensuring clarity and balance. The result is a design that communicates essential information with precision, while subtly evoking the energy and spontaneity of live performance.

Kisten Wall

This Blue Note Jazz Festival project blends the precision of Swiss typographic style with the energy of live jazz. Both designs were built using a modular grid that provides structure for asymmetrical layouts and a diagonal type that conveys rhythm and movement while maintaining clarity.

Typography, set entirely in variations of Univers, forms the backbone of the design. Bold extended headings. light condensed details, and italicised accents create hierarchy and guide the eye through the composition. A minimal palette of dark navy, brass, gold, yellow gold, and cream reinforces clarity and focuses attention on the type. A stylised vector illustration of a jazz singer adds human warmth without overwhelming the layout.

The project balances discipline and creativity, showing how timeless Swiss design principles can be adapted to capture the energy and soul of a contemporary music festival.

CIE111 Project Design & the Entrepreneur

Rei Ware

Rei Ware is a student digital artist and aspiring storyteller. They have a mixed background experimenting with a variety of arts, from creating multiple amateur animatics, joining several high school theatrical productions and performing as a live singer in a school rock band for a few years. They're primarily focused on digital art, working in Clip Studio Paint and Ibis Paint to create character portraits and scenes. Currently they infrequently update a hobbyist youtube channel with digital art content, and are mainly focused on improving their artistic abilities through study. Ultimately no matter what field they find themself in, they're looking to tell vivid and engaging stories.

"Design My DnD Guy Last Minute With Me :D” is a gentle but guided effort to reprioritize and quietly celebrate the joy in the process of making art as the media landscape is becoming increasingly saturated with the instant gratification of unregulated AI art. With the AI industry exploding as the legal system and regulations struggle to catch up (Zhou, 2023, p. 482), many would-be creatives are growing more and more disinterested in an “industry” with no place for them, and discouraged to even try art of any kind to begin with (Stueart, 2025). My work is reaching back out to a community of artists and would-be artists during a turbulent and unsure time, and inviting them to continue to see the reason in creating for yourself. To show the joy it offers, and to connect with others over a shared interest and passion in art.

Yakoba Vanderpuije

Touch Grass is a visual exploration of the overwhelming and disorienting effects of life in the digital age. Where social media once offered escape, it now consumes our attention, dulls our senses, and disconnects us from reality. We find ourselves trapped in a world we helped create — craving reality, yet addicted to the dream.

I aimed for a dreamy, haze-like visual style to evoke the trance-like state induced by social media. Blending soft, surreal tones with abundant naturalistic scenes and looping edits symbolise the growing disconnect between the digital and physical worlds.

Soundtrack: "PRIDE" by Kendrick Lamar

DIM111 Scholarly Perspectives in Design

Jamie Sara

Project 1 involved a brief exploration of two design movements, a deeper academic analysis of a selected work from one of those movements, and a reflective statement on its broader impact on design. The primary goal was to sharpen our critical thinking, academic writing, and our ability to build well-supported arguments using credible sources and proper citation.

Through this process, I discovered a strength in organizing ideas and integrating information from a range of reputable sources. While I found the vibrant energy of Latin Album Cover Art visually compelling, it was the Dada movement that truly captured my interest. Its provocative ideologies and subversive approach felt especially relevant given today’s global climate. I see potential in applying Dada’s anti-war, anti-establishment ethos, and Hannah Höch’s photomontage technique, to contemporary design.

Contemporay visual response to Ernst's "The Chinese Nightingale, (1920), using collage to comment on current global events.

Megan Beatty

The project for DIM 111.1 involved researching the main exponents, characteristics and overall cultural context of 2 design movements and creating a deep dive on an artist and work, outlining how a chosen work related to the movement chosen, leaning into my passions of Pop Art and Surrealism, and growing my knowledge base made this content heavy project more enjoyable.

Combining that research with imagery from the movements, I created my layout design in Adobe InDesign, incorporating Pop Art, Surrealism and the Deep Dive titled 'Surrealism meets Dali' around his work Metamorphosis of Narcissus 1937.

Kai Di Candilo

In this project, we were encouraged to write two short overviews of two different design movements, and one deeper dive into one of these that interested us the most. In these overviews we examined the design movement’s cultural context, aesthetics, mediums, and practitioners. I chose to research Dada and Propaganda art as these two movements interested me with their impact on designers as a whole. I found this project enjoyable to research, assemble and complete with the aid of a study buddy system I implemented. Being an online student can be isolating at times, and with this group I found a small community in which to share my passion for design and help each other out. Overall, the artists and designers I examined fascinated and inspired me which resulted in a comprehensive project outcome.

This is a visual response to a visual analysis of "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" by John Heartfield, 1929. This takes concepts from the Heartfield piece and recontextualises to modern issues.

Zakiya Fisher

Hi, I'm Zakiya or Zak, and I’m currently studying Graphic Design. My background is in animal and creature art both in traditional and digital formats.

For my Perspective on Design class our first project was a research based one. It involved looking into two art movements: I chose Pop Art and Japanese Modernism. The artwork I chose to dig deeper into was “Asia’s first subway begins operation between Ueno and Asakusa” by Hisui Suguira. It was so interesting to learn about the cultural and historical context of the piece and the project really helped me to improve my writing and critical thinking skills.

For our second project, we built on our knowledge from the first project and chose a different artwork from the other movement, in my case Pop Art. The piece I chose to write about and then visually respond to was “Drowning Girl” by Roy Lichtenstein. This artwork was fascinating to me and I enjoyed breaking down all the visual elements and symbolism to then incorporate them into my own artwork. My visual response piece “It Feels Like Drowning” was similar stylistically but with a modern context and message behind it.

Visual response to Lichtenstein's "Drowning Girl" (1963), contextualised in contemporary times.

Mara Schiavetti

This graphic design diploma course has elevated my understanding of art and design; it is a mirror of the soul and the psychology of a nation, expressed through the subconscious. The research skills I have acquired in art and design history have been essential to fully understanding the influence on our everyday lives.

The task for this trimester was to analyse two graphic design movements. I chose Dada and the New York School. During research into the historical context of each movement, I discovered that the catalyst for both was political upheaval in wartime, and that their art and design, in times of uncertainty, created a worldwide paradigm shift within the design culture. I knew a little about Dada, with its nonsensical, deconstructed design, or non-design concept, it was compelling, but it was not until I did a deep dive that I connected its influence to the New York School movement. They both had a similar ethos of challenging the status quo.

Although the approach to the artwork differed, they both sought to create a new visual dialogue. The Dadaist intention was to disarm and dismantle the bourgeoisie with confusion and disorganization. The New York School approach was to stimulate and wake up our senses with simple and emotive iconography. Ultimately, the New York School had longevity and can be identified in today’s commercial advertising, whereas Dada had a lifespan of a decade.

Emma Slavich

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication", a contemporary visual response to Lucian Bernhard's "Stiller" (1908), updating the stylish advertisement to a post-Covid world where comfort is key.

This project utilises the bold lettering (type), central, focal image (shape), icon of a croc shoe, rich colours, limited colour palette, white space and asymmetrical balance to create a modern tribute to the Bernhard poster.

DDX171 Fundamentals of Image Making

Brooke Neuckel

I have enjoyed playing around with different layouts and characters and eventually moving on to digitsing it. I found the self portrait really fun, with the freedom to choose your own artist style to draw inspiration from.

Jessie Miller

I’m a games student, branching into level design from the Sydney Campus, currently studying in my last trimester. She/Her.

Overall, my work is an experiment in high contrast, in both illustrative style and genre. Currently, in preparation for the latter half of this project, I am rendering this scene in colour, using my distinct linework as a base.

My body of work, titled The Great ‘Fall’, is a two-page noir themed comic created in Photoshop that blends the gritty aesthetic of detective fiction with the whimsy of classic nursery rhymes and fairytales. The project brief required choosing a well-known existing fictional character or narrative, and illustrating a unique story within that world while emulating a particular artist’s technique. Alongside this, it required an illustrated self portrait created in a similar style. I used stark black-and-white contrast, heavy shadows, and period-specific costume design to reflect typical noir aesthetics, juxtaposed with the surreal introduction of nursery characters and magical elements.

The narrative reimagines the tale of Humpty Dumpty as a crime scene investigation. My work draws direct inspiration from Telltale Games' The Wolf Among Us, a world where fairytale characters coexist, with a theme of noir and fantasy genre blending. It is a combination of the structure of noir, with its emphasis on logic, justice, and fatalism, colliding with the chaotic, consequence-free world of fairytales. In doing so, The Great ‘Fall’ plays with audience expectation, inviting them to laugh, question, and ultimately wonder what lies at the top of that beanstalk.

Holly Hershman

Holly Hershman is a writer and daydreamer who has lived past lives as a lawyer, political adviser, environmental manager and teacher. She loves to bake, read and hike with her family and bearded wheaten terrier. Now she is bringing a middle grade fiction script to life as a graphic novel.

These illustrations represent the first few pages of an original graphic novel which is a fantasy filled adventure middle grade work. It explores the themes of friendship and the environment closely through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy Joey who becomes lost on a family beach holiday. After racing his brother to a lighthouse atop a cliff and falling, Joey wakes and follows his unusual looking rescuer. This marks the beginning of his adventure in the forest which involves a series of challenges before he can return home. The illustrations shared are part of the opening sequence which involves leaving the beach, going to the lighthouse, and being rescued by an octopus. This chapter is titled ‘The Lighthouse’.

I have written the script and as I am learning how to express the images I see in my head, I am composing the images on the page.

Jamie Sara

As this was my first experience working with digital art, I thoroughly enjoyed diving into Project 1. The open-ended nature of the assignment gave me the creative freedom to choose my own story and illustration style. I selected a scene from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, and immediately thought of Corpse Bride as a visual reference. This connection led me to explore Tim Burton’s distinctive aesthetic, and I began researching digital artists who emulate his style to gather inspiration.

One of the highlights of the project was creating a self-portrait as part of the digital study. Experimenting with different brush tools and developing my rendering skills in Photoshop was both fun and rewarding. I’m especially excited to continue bringing my story to life through colour and detailed rendering in the next stages of the project.

DDX170 Principles of Design

Andrea Yu Klu Koh

Art Nouveau, an art movement spanning from 1890-1910, was born with the intention to embrace modern art forms and move past the materialistic, rigid society. A large emphasis on decorative art styles, imagery of nature, flowers and women were used to express themes of femininity and escapism. I heavily resonate with the sentiment that it is only human to desire escapism as life will always be riddled with complications.

My introduction to the movement was through Alphonse Mucha, a renowned painter, graphic artist and illustrator from the time. I was instantly captivated by his works, there is an undeniable nostalgia and dreamlike warmth from every piece. To encapsulate that feeling, I chose to use a lotus for my design as it represents tranquility and purity, concepts that society both craves yet takes advantage of. Mucha's 'The Flower' series was a large inspiration, each portrait emotionally and visually reflects the flower portrayed. I put particular attention on using muted dreamy colours, symmetry and creating a graceful, delicate design to mirror a lotus' almost ethereal form. Despite decades passing, the art and messages conveyed during the movement remain timeless in its influence.

Zakiya Fisher

My name is Zakiya, I'm currently studying Graphic Design because I’ve always had a passion for art. It felt like it would be a great opportunity to combine my future career with my love of art and design.

For the first design project we had to create a motif based on a natural element and inspired by a particular movement. I chose the nasturtium flower, it had a great colour and interesting shape and pattern that I felt would translate well as a motif. The creation process was really enjoyable, I loved getting feedback from my peers, and breaking down the elements of the Arts and Craft movement so that I could implement them in my design. I’m so very proud of the end result, I love the composition and the colours I chose.

Kai Di Candilo

I’m studying my first trimester for a Bachelor in Graphic Design and Visual Communication in Boorloo (Perth), WA.

Overall, I enjoyed learning how to use Adobe Illustrator and researching the Art Deco movement. I found the whole process very rewarding and look forward to learning more in the future.

For this project, we were encouraged to design a motif inspired by an organic object and a design movement. I chose a plant from my backyard and the Art Deco movement, specifically the designer known as Erté. I drew thumbnail sketches of the plant and broke it down into basic shapes before redrawing again until I settled on a concept. I completed the motif in Adobe Illustrator, adding an arch and some dots between the petals. I presented my final motif and pattern three different ways; black on white, white on black, and colour.

Jamie Sara

As an empath, my designs bear energy from my soul, and my work tends to hold an emotional tone that is often conveyed in an abstract manner. As a nature lover and ocean baby at heart, this design draws from a natural but royal colour palette.

My motif was inspired by the organic forms, flowing lines and intricate designs found in the Art Nouveu style. Leaning away from plant-like forms, and into another realm of nature, I chose a shell to be the foundation of my motif. Creating a unique design with reflection, repetition and the sinuous lines of the shell, which are elongated into circular points to resemble the glass beading popular in Margret Macdonald Mackintosh’s work. The aim of this design is to evoke a sense of grace and natural elegance.

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