From Me

For the better part of the last seven years, my life has revolved around anything and everything creative. Outside of design I enjoy visiting fine art galleries, modern art museums, shooting street photography or mixing in clubs around Melbourne. A lot of my inspiration comes from music, sculpture, architecture and photography; anything that stimulates a certain sense, or persuades you to feel a certain emotion, I relish in. Wanting to understand why certain things induce certain emotions is what led me down the creative path from an early age.

High school was always an interesting experience for me, I found it challenging to enjoy subjects where I was unable to think for myself or create something new, however because of my sometimes unhealthy obsession for self-perfection, I always figured it was better to knuckle down and do the work as it was always a means to an end for me. The creative arts is where I felt comfortable and awake, it is where I could see endless opportunities and experiences to make an impact on the world laid before me.

After graduating with distinction from RMIT and being recognized by teachers and industry professionals as part of the top ten students in the cohort for the work I have completed, I feel as though I have never been more ready to finally begin my journey as a designer in a professional environment. Filled with eagerness, some naivety and a whole lot of passion for designing, I believe I am ready to begin my journey because I have reached a stage of no longer designing to display proficiency or pure aesthetics. I believe I have reached a turning point where I now understand what elements or design principles to use, and only using them if there is a reason to use them. Design and content should be a marriage.

In saying all of this however, I understand that I have so much to learn, which is great because I have been a student for the last 16 years of my life, and I believe it is more crucial now than ever before to maintain that student mindset, to learn as much as I can in order to sculpt myself as a professional designer in a professional studio setting.

There is nothing I love more than collaboration – being amongst likeminded creatives that understand the language you speak, I believe, creates more powerful and effective design outcomes then could ever be achieved alone.

I will be seeing you soon,

Cheers,

James D. Elliott