Identity
I have an eye for good design, but I’m not a strong visual artist. I can’t draw from observation, and my dexterity is limited. What I do well is composition. I take existing elements, fonts, icons, photos, and arrange them in a way that works. I think of myself as a composition designer. I’m not perfect, but I’ve improved at using visual elements to communicate an idea or tell a story. When I first got into digital art, I cared more about aesthetics than function. Some of my best-looking work came out of my time at TAFE. These days, I prioritise function, utility, and ideas. I still aim to make things look good, but within my limits and always in service of the message. My go-to tool is Adobe Fireworks. It’s long been discontinued, but I still use it.
I studied digital art at TAFE in 2002 and finished first in my cohort. Back then I designed more from instinct and produced some interesting work. A lot of it has been lost over time, but what remains is on display in my poster collection, available through the links.
Recently I’ve returned to drawing, starting with birds. I trace, digitise, and then build something from them. From there, I sometimes run the images through Sora to refine or reinterpret them, with mixed results.
I’ve also revisited older work from my TAFE days, including Photoshop collages, and experimented with reworking them through Sora. When I created my first image-based books, I used my design skills to combine text and images in a visually engaging and often humorous way. Some of those pieces have since been reworked into posters.
While I don’t consider myself a traditional artist, and I’m somewhat sceptical of aesthetics as a form of knowledge or judgement, I still value making things that communicate clearly and hold attention.