“Don’t stress! The design world is not scary, we all love design and love to see new designers grow and succeed.”

— JAMES PRITCHARD

Tell us a little about your experiences since. Where have you worked? Where do you work now?

After TAFE I worked as a CX Designer at Scitech, designing exhibits and experiences. I then moved in to design facilitation with Skills of the Modern Age where I would help businesses to realise the power of design thinking. In 2022 I moved to RAC where I am a Senior User Experience Designer.

How did you get your first graphic design job?

I just applied for it! I found the job on Seek and applied for it, got the interview and then got the job. Design was a career change for me so I had an advantage in there being a previous career behind me but I was still a green designer. I think I got the job because I was genuinely interested in the organisation and what it does and I showed that field of design was in the career direction I wanted to create for myself.

What advice would you give to Graphic Design students studying at NM TAFE right now?

Don't stress! The design world is not scary, we all love design and love to see new designers grow and succeed. You don't have to be the best at everything, just see where you interests fall and find your niche.

Your creativity is not in your ability to use a pencil or be a photoshop pro...it is in how you think and how you approach problems!It needs to level up how it communicates the value of design. It needs to get better at being innovative, pushing new technologies, being more human centred in its approach to design problems. It needs to understand that design is far more than visual solutions, websites and apps. It needs to start delivering, there is still a lot of design theatre in Perth.

What is post-pandemic Perth design in need of most?

Being adaptable and be able to make sense out of ambiguity. Be a good story teller and sell the value of your work and design in general. Be tenacious in seeking the best solution for the brief you are working on. Be innovative and don't stop iterating on the ideas you come up with.

Your creative brain and your approach to problem solving are the most important tools you have. Recognise when you are running up against the creative block, not being effective, burning out and have ways to disconnect and rest.

What do you think are the most important qualities in a graphic designer?

Human centred design practices and design thinking are becoming common across many different jobs and industries. Many workplaces (even well outside of design) use agile project management practices, have product owners, scrum masters, kanban boards and work in sprints.

Experiential design is a growing field, applying creative problem solving and design think practices to physical experiences, spaces and events.

Any further comments that may assist with our course and curriculum development?

The administration of design is something incredibly boring but very real... organising workshops, attending meetings, talking to stakeholders, kanban boards, sprint tasking and managing time etc are all real parts of the design process. Ongoing industry engagement will help students to get a taste.

It would be good to see students putting more weight on their research and exploration of different solutions. Research skills and exploring lots of solutions are handy skills for many career paths.