Recent Work History

  • design & creative director / company director

    2009 - current taffydesign.com

    • creating and developing brand visual identities for a large variety of clients from large corporations to start up small businesses

    • creative direction, art direction, graphic design, web design and copywriting for creative briefs within the digital and print space

    • communicating with clients to effectively deliver on their needs – clients ranging from company directors, senior marketing and communication managers, PR managers, start up company owners and hotel managers

    • engaging, managing and working collaboratively with freelance designers, photographers and copywriters to fulfil needs of creative briefs

    • managing budgets, timelines, briefs and deliverables for clients

    • managing the company finances including bookeeping, taxation preparation, invoicing, budgets, bill payments, salaries, record keeping, spreadsheets and reporting

    • mentoring a young graphic designer

  • editorial manager / office manager

    2002 - 2009 The Sydney Magazine, Sydney Morning Herald, Fairfax Publications

    • working along side senior editors, designers and marketing and sales teams to create print magazine content and advertising

    • meeting, greeting and coordinating high profile people involved in stories and photoshoots, often collecting them to personally escort them to photoshoot locations and ensuring their comfort

    • producing photoshoots – from collaborating on concepts to sourcing, budgets and managing photographers, stylists, hair & makeup artists, locations, talent and props as well managing the shoots and stakeholders

    • designing advertorials and mockups to assist sales and marketing teams

    • coordinating advertising client (trade) gifts and promotions

    • invoicing and payments, tracking budgets, forecasts and schedules

    • daily office tasks including liasing with contributors and subscribers, meeting coordination, magazine subscriptions

    • coordinating freelance staff

MY CREATIVE HISTORY

  • Bachelor of Fine Arts (not complete) : SCHOOL OF ART, UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA, HOBART
    2022

    Advanced Diploma Visual Communications: DESIGN CENTRE, ENMORE TAFE NSW
    2013

  • From a very young age my four siblings and I were encouraged to “go outside and play”. This daily encouragement (some would say demand by a mum desperate to get her kids out of her hair) helped solidify a life of exploration and imagination.

    Outdoors consisted of made up games with the neighbourhood kids, that always included an element of construction of equipment to suit the game. Jumps for the bikes, or circuits for the rollerskating or obstacle courses for fitness and strength races. Or simply a big game of cricket.

    Indoors is where my real creativity was born.

    Given some sewing lessons from my grandmother, if I wanted a new outfit for a doll or for myself, I made it. I would first draw up a fanciful fashionable outfit, then figure out how to make it. Often cutting the fabric without a pattern and just winging it until it was right.

    Then came an obsession with puppets. I spent every bit of pocket money at the local craft shop and created quite an elaborate set of puppets - all of which were part of a big circus troupe. There was the ring leader, the clowns, the opera singer and a few dancers. Not to mention the animals and the background diorama for them to perform in.

    For Christmas and birthdays my sisters and I would spend many hours making all kinds of decorations and cards.

    As I grew into my teens I was sewing outfits like crazy, spending more time sewing than doing any kind of homework for school.

    Interior design was my next obsession and I spent all my hard earned cash from working at a pizza delivery to fund new furniture for my room, more fabrics and vintage pieces and I would paint my own wallpapers and posters and lampshades to suit whatever style I was into that month.

    Into adult life I’ve created craft groups, hosted cocktail and card making nights and spent many weekends and nights with nieces and nephews drawing and creating.

    One year I spent visiting sick and dying kids at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Randwick with my sister where we would roam around talking to kids and their parents armed with a box of paper and scissors teaching them kirigami - the Japanese art of paper folding and cutting. It was a very rewarding time and so well received as a break from the heartache of their hospital lives that the parents would often be in tears of gratitude.

    Now apart from my design career, I am always finding new avenues of creativity to explore. Most recently is my ceramics practice, but I’m always drawing or designing something new, photographing something and coming up with new ideas to nourish my creative soul.