I have always been drawn to art and visual communication. As a neurodiverse person, I experience the world differently. My story doesn’t read like most graphic design graduates. It is more twisty and full of adventure.
Going to the library for me as a kid was all about finding the books with the best images. I grew up thumbing through National Geographic, watching David Attenborough documentaries, and reading books through photos.
This fueled my wanderlust for travel, adventure, and saving animals. After a couple of years of travelling, I ventured into the world of science as an adult student. I was hoping that I could be paid to see gorillas in the wild, take photos of far-away animals and environments and get the job that everyone said you would get by having a Bachelor of Science qualification.
The job I wanted was to save the whales. So, a Postgraduate Diploma in Marine Science was next. This is when I realised that the whales were doing okay; it was the fish that needed help. So, I became a fisheries observer. I travelled to New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on commercial trawlers and longliners on and off for eight years, and I travelled to the Ross Sea for two months. This took me to far-away places, provided a heap of adventure and I was paid to count, watch and photograph whales, and albatrosses, and see the weird and wonderful creatures from the deep ocean.
During one of my last trips, my downtime was filled with watching The Blue Planet. Reminded of my childhood dream of working as a photographer for National Geographic, I decided to dry my feet off for the summer and see if I could make it so.
As it turned out, my feet stayed wet for another 10 years as a pool lifeguard and supervisor. During this time, I completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Science Communication and experienced two trips of a lifetime to Vienna to help with the European Geosciences Union – General Assembly (EGU-GA) as a media assistant.
This is when graphic design entered my life and about the time that I discovered that I am dyslexic. The world came into focus. Now I understood why I couldn't read all those science journals, why I couldn’t write those long reports, and why I had loved all those visuals as a kid.
Of all the courses, papers and learning I have undertaken, graphic design and exhibition design have been hands-down the most fun, rewarding and liberating for me. My skill set now also includes Adobe Creative Cloud, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, book design, web code/design, and exhibition design.
My true power is in seeing things others do not, solving problems, working with others to get the job done, and finding comfort outside of the box.
This portfolio will grow as I find and add more of my work.
My bucket list still contains a trip to see the mountain gorillas in the wild.