Ilse Brookes

I have always been passionate about the art, craft and design worlds. My first degree, Fine Art Honors, gave me an understanding of mediums and deepened my appreciation of perspective, placement and aesthetics. I have worked with mediums such as copper plate etching, lithography, screen printing, oil painting, sculpture and photography. My second degree in Design Communication at Swinburne University, has given me so many skills that have inspired me to refine my skills, find my strengths and trust in my ability to take a brief and execute it from bare bones to fulfilling final outcomes. I am also a keen illustrator and this skill has only added to my design work outcomes. I almost always begin a brief with mark-making and drawing to explore the different possibilities and directions that the work could go. I also enjoy jumping into the world of Illustrator and Photoshop to take the work further.

Illy Pilly & Toppy Tat: Book Written & Illustrated, Packaging & Production

The Reluctant Dragon: Illustration, Packaging & Production

Polaillusion -3D virtual reality products: Packaging,Surface Graphics & Illustration

Annual Report- The Royal Botanic Gardens: Typography, Publication & Illustration

Feminism for the 99% Written by Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya and Nancy Fraser: Publication, Typography & Illustration

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.