23 questions!

From crafty and creative beginnings and a journey not short of it's ups and downs, Sarah shares a little bit of her story with us.

What sparked your passion for design?
I have always been an arty person. I used to read alot of children's books with amazing artwork which made me want to be an illustrator when I grew up. I think traveling at a young age had a lot to do with it, the art and the colours of other cultures had a big impact on me, I felt really inspired to be creative when I was living with my cousin Chris, an artist, in New Zealand - he encouraged me to just go for it!

How creative were you when you were a youngster?
Very! I was a hoarder, I used to collect all of the Easter egg wrappers form mine and all my family's eggs so that I could decoupage shoe boxes with them, and I'd keep all my crafty treasures in there, I also liked making jewellery with my 'Knitting Nancy" and making lavender bags for my grandmother's lavender by sewing scraps of fabric. My mother always said I was the happiest when she gave me a pad of coloured paper, some pencils and a glue stick; she wouldn't hear form me for hours!

Do you come from a creative family?
Yes, Mum and her sisters are very crafty, Mum could whip up an intricately knitted jumper in no time at all, and they weren't the scratchy acrylic ones that other people's nana's made. Mum's were soft and we actually wanted to wear them! My grandfather used to spin wool and my grandma would knit it all up into hats and scarfs and beanies and sell them at the markets. So I guess I come from a long line of creative people. Dad is a chef so his creativity lies in the kitchen, he is also a pretty snazzy dresser! My brothers are both pretty creative in they're own way; Sam is always creating new and exciting brews of beer and Marcellus in good at creating a mess!

Were they supportive of your choice too be a Designer?
Definitely.
 After
 I
 finished
 school 
in 
Newcastle,
 I
 moved 
to 
New
 Zealand 
to 
study 
travel
 and
 tourism
 at
 Auckland 
University
 of
 Technology. 
Although
 I
 enjoyed 
studying 
there, 
I 
was 
more 
interested
 in
 the 
cultural 
aspects 
of
 the 
course 
and 
chose 
subjects 
in 
Maori 
art
 and 
language. 
I
 decided 
to

abandon
 that 
degree 
and 
head 
back to
 Sydney 
to
 study 
graphic 
design.
 Both 
Mum 
and
 Dad 
thought
 this
 was
 the 
right
 choice 
for
 me
 and 
helped
 me 
–
 both 
mentally 
and 
financially
 – 
to
 make
t this
 happen.


What sort of education and training have you had?
I
 have 
a 
Bachelor
 of
 Design/
Graphics
 from 
the 
Sydney 
Graphics 
College

Who 
did
 you 
want
 to work
 for 
when
 you 
first
 entered
 the 
industry?

I
 asked
 one 
of
 my
 lecturers 
at
 design
 school
 who 
they
 thought 
I
 would
 end
 up 
working 
for 
when 
I 
finished 
school, 
and 
they 
thought 
I 
had 
strong 
layout 
skills 
and 
that 
I 
would 
end 
up 
working 
in 
publishing/magazines. 
I 
didn't 
really 
know 
what 
I 
wanted 
to 
do 
as 
long 
as 
I 
was 
getting 
paid 
to 
be creative, 
but 
working 
for 
a 
magazine 
did
 sound 
like 
something 
I 
wanted 
to 
get 
into 
and, 
funnily 
enough, 
I 
did!


Tell
 us 
about 
your 
first 
project 
and 
what 
do 
you 
feel 
about 
it 
now?

My 
first
 college 
project
 was
 an 
A3
 poster
 using 
typography
 to 
illustrate 
the 
concept
 of 
time. 
I remember 
thinking,
 “How 
the 
hell 
am 
I 
going 
to
 do 
this? 
Is
 this
 what
 graphic 
design 
is?
 This 
is
 confusing!” 
I
 ended
 up
 writing
 down 
everything
 I
 did 
in
 an
 entire
 day
 and 
typing
 it 
up 
in
 a
 tiny 
font 
then 
I
 did
 something 
clever
 with 
some
 white
 text
 pasted
 over
 the
 top
 of
 it,
 and
 got
 an 
A!
 I
 was 
really proud. 
The 
first paid 
project 
I
 worked 
on
 was
 a 
logo 
for 
my
 mother
 who 
had
 opened 
up
 a
 chain 
of 
$2
 shops. 
I 
hardly
 knew
 how
 to 
use 
Illustrator
 but
 I
 managed 
to 
produce 
something 
for
 her,
 I
 look
 at
 it

now 
and
 wish
 I 
didn't
 go
 so
 crazy 
on 
the
 colours!



What 
is 
your
 preferred
 software
 to 
work 
with
 and
 what
 has 
been 
the
 greatest
 advancement 
in 
technology 
over 
the 
past 
5 
years?
InDesign 
and 
I 
are 
very good
 friends, 
we 
hang 
out 
all
 the
 time!
 I
 would
 have
 to 
say 
the 
iPhone 
is 
the
 greatest 
advancement 
in 
technology 
lately.
 I
 am
 yet 
to 
own
 one
 but 
I
 am
assured
 as 
soon 
as 
I 
make
 InDesign
 CS5 
and 
there 
are
 some
 pretty
 cool
 new 
functions
 there
 as 
well.


Is 
digital
 technology 
going 
to 
eliminate
 the
 need 
for
 print?


No
 way. 
People
 say 
that
 the 
iPad 
will
 kill
 magazines
 and
 newspapers 
but
 you 
can't
 substitute
 the 
feel
 of a 
magazine
 with
 a 
nice
 paper
 stock 
on
 your 
fingers, 
or
 even 
the 
smell 
of 
a 
musty 
old 
library 
book.



Whose
 work 
do
 you 
really 
admire
 and 
why?

My 
talented 
friends 
and family.
 It’s 
easier 
to
 admire
 someone 
when
 you
 know 
where 
they have
 come 
from 
and 
the 
stories 
behind 
how
 they 
got 
there. 
In
 terms 
of
 design,
 though, 
I
 always 
love 
what
 the 
designers 
from 
Deuce 
Design
 in 
Sydney 
are
 up
 to!

Who
 has 
been 
the
 greatest
 person 
that
 you’ve
 ever 
had 
the 
pleasure 
of 
working
 with
 and
 what
 have 
they
 taught 
you?

Every 
single 
person 
I 
have 
worked
 with 
in 
my 
design 
career
 has
 taught
 me
 something,
 whether 
it 
be
 positive
 or
 negative. 
I
 have
 had
 some
 amazing 
art
 directors
 that
 have
 taught
 me
 all 
the
 tips 
and
 tricks 
to 
becoming 
the 
designer 
that
 I
 am
 today 
and
 then 
there
 have
 been
 the
 horrible
 colleagues who
 have
 taken 
me
 on
 a
 personal 
journey 
of
 patience
 and
 virtue!



How 
would 
you 
describe 
your 
work?

Colourful, playful,
 elegant...
ever
changing, 
evolving!


What 
are 
your
 plans 
for 
the future?

To
 keep 
learning
 and 
growing
 as a 
designer. 
I'd 
like 
to
 have 
my
 own
 business 
one
 day 
that
 incorporates 
all
 my 
favourite
 things.


What
 sort
 of 
company
 would 
you
 like 
to 
work 
with
 next?

I
 have 
been 
working
 in 
magazines 
for
 a while
 now, 
and
 I
 have 
really 
enjoyed
 it, 
but 
I
 think 
it’s 
time 
to
 branch
 out
 into
 other
 aspects 
of
 design 
before
 I
 am
 labelled 
as 
a 
publishing
 designer
 for 
the rest 
of
 my
career! 
I
 would
 love 
to 
work 
in
 a 
studio 
full
 of
f 
passionate
 people
 and
 great
 design.

What
 is 
your 
opinion
 of
 Australian 
design?

Even 
though 
we 
have
 all
 this
 amazing
 technology
 that 
makes 
the
 world 
more 
claustrophobic
 every day, 
I
 think 
that
 we
 are
 not
 as
 dominated 
by 
the
 rest
 of
 the 
world
 as
 we 
could 
be.
 We
 do 
our 
own
 thing.
 There 
is 
no 
such
 thing 
as 
stereotypical
 Australian
 design,
 it’s 
eclectic
 and
 evolving.


What
 is 
the 
best/worst 
thing 
about 
being 
a
 designer 
in 
Australia?

BEST
:
 Living 
and
 working 
in 
this 
fine 
land.

WORST
: 
Not 
living
 and
 working 
in
 a 
foreign
 land.


In 
your 
opinion,
 what
 is
 the 
greatest
 challenge
 the
 Australian 
design
 industry
 has
 to 
face 
in
 the
 near 
future?

The 
current
 economic 
climate
 is 
volatile,
 people 
are 
cutting 
out
 things
 they 
deem
 unnecessary Unfortunately 
this
 means 
that 
every
 industry
 is 
suffering. 
It’s 
up
 to 
designers 
to 
keep 
things fresh
 and 
exciting
 so
 that 
the
 clients
 keep
 coming
 back!


What 
is 
your 
creative 
outlet 
outside 
of 
design?

Travelling. 
I
 can’t 
live 
without 
it! 
I 
dabble 
in 
a
bi t
of
 knitting /crocheting /sewing
 and
 checking 
out
 what’s
 hot 
in
 fashion. 
I
 love 
to 
spend
 my 
Sundays 
cooking 
up 
a 
magnificent
 feast 
and 
I
 have 
just
 been 
roped 
into
 a
 social 
netball 
team 
that
 is
 quite
 fun 
(especially 
when 
we 
win)!


What 
is
 the 
best
 designed
 bar
 in
 Melbourne?

I
 am
 still
 new 
to
 Melbourne
 so 
I
 haven't
 had 
a
 chance 
to 
really
 explore
 properly
 yet. 
I
 do
 love 
Bimbo
 Deluxe
 with 
its
 $4
 pizzas 
although 
it’s
 so
 dark
 and
 I
 often 
wonder 
what’s 
lurking 
in 
the 
corners. 
I 
also like 
the 
Section
 8 
bar
 in
 Tattersalls 
Lane 
and 
the
 Rooftop 
Bar 
on
 top 
of
 the 
Curtin
 House 
in
 the 
city!


What
 are
 your
 top 
5 
websites 
at
 the
 moment?

etsy.com :
I
 am
 a
 shopaholic,
 what
 can
 I 
say?

threethousand.com.au 
:lets
 me 
know
 what’s 
going 
in
 my 
new
 city

frankie.com.au 
:
fulfils
 my 
cutesy 
quota

houseind.com
 :
delicious 
fonts 
I 
wish 
I
 could
 afford

messandnoise.com
 :keeps
 me 
up
 to 
date
 musically


What 
CD
 are
 you 
currently 
listening 
to
 and
 is 
it
 any 
good?
My 
boyfriend 
just
 made 
me 
a
 mix 
CD
 with
 R.
Stevie
 Moore,
 The
 Folk
 Implosion, 
Francis
 Plagne,
 Sore
 Eros,
 The 
Advisory 
Circle,
 Broadcast
 and
 Nico.
 It’s
 on
 repeat
:)

If 
I
 was 
a 
font,
 I’d 
be...?

I 
stupidly
 did 
one
 of
 those 
Facebook
 tests
 to
 see
 what 
font 
I 
would 
be 
recently, I
 got 
Comic
 Sans.
 I
 was
 truly
 offended. 
I
 am 
more
 of
 an
 Eames
 Thin 
Italic;
 it’s
 one
 of
 the 
House
 Industries 
fonts
 which
 are
 all
 yummy.


For more information regarding Sarah's availability, call us here at Artisan on 9514 1000, or email Mathew today!