Matthew Pool

About Me

From the days as a toddler painting on my parent’s brick walls. (Sorry mum and dad). To the designer ‘Matt with mustache’ today, I have always been a creative at heart. Illustration work that paints a story within design, crisp and thoughtful branding, and packaging that not only serves its purpose but also lives beyond the product it houses.

This is Matropolis.

Hello from behind the screen, Matt here!

My Background

I originate from Bairnsdale, Victoria and am now established in Camberwell in pursuit of study and a kick-start to my professional career as a graphic designer.

Now finishing as a bachelor’s student majoring in Communication Design at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn, I have branched forwards from my previous studies within both the Diploma and Advanced Diploma of Graphic Design.

My creative background comes from my illustrative work across an array of mediums practiced since I can remember. This has lead down the designers path where I now have a combined passion for the arts and design. From this I created a small business called Designs By M back in 2015. I grew my illustrative skills and sold original artworks, prints and other merchandise through word of mouth and creative retailers/galleries. This now is my freelance alias Matropolis.

This line of work has recently lead me to growing freelance work, creating apparel and lately attaining placement with Ruck Agency in Newtown, Geelong and with Stoke Design Co. in Ballarat Central.

My Design Philosophy

I am anything but ordinary.

I have a left of field approach.

I believe design is to be pushed and extracted from an abstract realm and be produced into a concept that truly matters. I look at a challenge, take a step back and handle the situation from an artist point-of-view refined to the designer’s eye.

My style is a bit of tongue and cheek, yet sophisticated and down-to-earth. I’m inspired by my experiences. From a Japan holiday to playing the N64, or observing the world around me, or art and empathy that comes with being human.

Untitled

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.