Liam Nguyen

Communication Design

My name is Liam Nguyen, I was born and raised in Brisbane but lived a majority of my life here in Melbourne. I was introduced to design towards my last few years of high school and continued to focus on that here at my studies at the Swinburne University of Technology. Prior to this final year being enrolled in the Bachelor of Communication Design, I have undertaken the Diploma and Advanced Diploma of Graphic Design here at Swinburne as part of their Pathway option. The benefit of this was being able to have a taste of the various areas of design from the ubiquitous and booming field of UX/UI all the way to Packaging. Apart from the intrinsic shift into online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest challenges for me during my studies would be transitioning from the Diploma, Advanced Diploma and then the Bachelor. The different styles of teaching and gradually increasing expectations took a while to acclimate to, but each year the course more closely emulated the real world industry. In terms of design, some of the challenges for me were getting out my comfort zone, such as using serif fonts more and experimenting with illustrating. Some of my favourite aspects of design include, publication, branding and learning about how it correlates to business.

Capstone Communication Project - INVIGORATE Advertising

Publication Design - Monothematic Publication

Capstone Communication Project - INVIGORATE Branding

Design for Production - Classic Reboot

Acknowledgement of Country

The School of Design and Architecture respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners and knowledge-keepers of the lands, waters and sky that surround us, where we work, learn, create, communicate and make place. We recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded and this always was and will always be Wurundjeri Country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who continue to make a better world through design.

We extend our acknowledgement to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, alumni, real-life clients, and knowledge keepers, who have contributed to our own education diversity and growth. We will continue to ensure that staff and students respectfully honour ancestral connection to Country and Place in everything that they do.

We are dedicated to the notion of design to make a better world and we acknowledge that making tools, shaping place, sharing stories, making meaning, wayfinding and collaborating have long been and continue to be both central and integral to First Peoples' cultures. We recognize that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultural contributions have continued relevance to design practice and commit to: reconciling ancestries of design and contemporary practice as well as pursuing culturally and professionally appropriate ways to engage with a diverse population of colleagues, industries and clients. In a time of treaty-making and voice we understand that there are overlaps between caring for Country and the sustainable production of goods, services, experiences, products and buildings.

Guided by the principles of respect, reconciliation, and reciprocity we undertake to indigenising and decolonising design practice by dismantling colonial structures and challenging biases that have marginalised Indigenous voices and design.

As students of SoDA you will be given opportunities to both engage with and educate yourself in Indigenous creative practices and cultural protocols through a lens of inclusivity, diversity, respect, mutual understanding, inter-cultural dialogue in all aspects of design practice. Indigenous people have been telling stories, making tools, and connecting to Country through visual media, placemaking and place marking for more than 60,000 years and these practices are part of an ongoing, evolving and live tradition.