Catherine Stirling

Communication Design (Honours)

Hi, I am Catherine! I am an enthusiastic, self-motivated, committed and strategic designer interested in human-centred design. I am fascinated by design's ability to connect and communicate with different audiences, leading to tangible real-world impact. My strengths lie in my versatility and tenacity, as I constantly challenge myself to push boundaries and improve my skills across various areas such as animation, web design, 3D rendering, photography, and publication design. I have also worked as a junior designer at branding and corporate communications design agency Twelve Creative, where my design thinking and technical skills have contributed to various brand and corporate projects.

Melbourne to (non)place

'Melbourne to (non)place’ examines the impact of the non-place phenomenon in Melbourne and its effect on human experience. The self-authored publication follows a week in the life of an anonymous, ‘average’ city worker as they move between non-places such as Crown Casino and the Eastern Freeway. Written in the first person in the form of a diary, the publication reveals the worker’s internal thoughts and experiences in response to the lack of texture and standardisation of everyday life in 21st-century Melbourne.

lumi

lumi is a low-calorie soda brand that contains collagen, which promotes luminous skin, hair and nails. The brand specifically targets Gen Z and Millennial women who often spend their discretionary income on haircare and skincare products to achieve their wellness goals. The brand language is sophisticated and dreamy, designed to engage with the target audience's idealised notion of beauty, highlighting that lumi is not just an ordinary soda brand. It is a special one that significantly enhances one's health and appearance.

NGV Friday Nights: Baba Yaga

The project's brief required that I adapt the Slavic fairytale of the evil Baba Yaga and protagonist Vasilisa the Beautiful into a NGV Friday Nights event during 2022's Halloween month. I photographed nine unique images to create billboard advertisements, a storybook, tote bags and a wine bottle for purchase at the NGV design store during the event.

You Are Your Data

You are Your Data is a research design project that presents a compelling visual argument warning Australians of the significant risks of advancing surveillance practices and the lack of sufficient legislative privacy protections. The design is an interactive website incorporating a bold and edgy visual style to evoke the dangerous, invasive and uncomfortable nature of CCTV and facial recognition technologies.

Frankston's Christmas Festival of Lights

Frankston City Council were seeking a re-branding of one of their most loved events, Frankston Christmas Festival of Lights. The client selected my design concept, as my fun illustrative direction encapsulated the family-friendly fun of the festival and utilised engaging characters that each represented the unique aspects of the event. I developed an extensive event brand build-out that showcased the event's Christmas activities,live music, food and dining experiences, fireworks display
and Frankston's iconic and lit-up 100-year-old Norfolk pine.

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.