Keni Patel

Communication Design

Hi! My name is Keni and I am a passionate creative who specializes in photography, design and advertising. I have gained experience working as a freelance graphic designer on a packaging design and branding brief for a startup company in the beauty industry. For the past two years, I have worked in a hospitality role which has allowed me to develop people skills and implement them into my work. I have developed transferable skills in content creation, image and video editing, social media, adverting and branding, through working on university projects. I am a people person and love to work in collaborative team environments. I possess an extensive skillset extending to the adobe creative suite, adobe marketing cloud, Microsoft Office and some Google Analytics and Web Design software. I have a passion for finding creative solutions to unique problems, whether this is a photography, advertising or design brief.

Are you ADHD Aware? - 2023

For this brief I was assigned to create an awareness campaign for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in women. There is a medical bias against women in ADHD research and diagnosis, and I addressed that through designing different mediums such as public transport signage, billboard, interactive posters, social media posts and stories, text animations and merchandise. Different mediums were designed so that the campaign has a wide outreach of the target audience. The campaign includes illustrations of diverse women to address lack of representation and bias against women of color in the medical industry. I created a campaign identity through use of color, illustrations, and typography.

From Where I Stand - 2020

This photography book was created to combine a semester’s worth of photographs taken using different prompts such as light, color, composition, aperture, and shutter speed. This brief was assigned to me during lockdown, and it allowed me to explore my neighborhood of Glenferrie, Hawthorn. The photobook creates an abstract collage of complimentary photos, including design elements such as color swatches and quotes.

Lush - 2020

This brief required exploration of raster orientated image making techniques to design three splash pages at pixel dimensions appropriate for a table computer (iPad). The three splash pages were required to be united thematically with a chosen theme from a supplied list. I chose the theme ‘Lush’. I photographed diverse imagery, including elements of the nature such as flowers and plants. I visualized the theme by editing together photographs of humans with the nature. This intention was to show how humans have souls that are luscious and beautiful and how we are connected to nature. A design style with the use of similar elements, colors and type was used across the three different splash pages to tie them together as a set.

Monochromatic Fashion Portraits - 2021

The project brief required for me to capture three portrait images built around a concept of my choice. Each image had a different lighting prompt: harsh light in studio, soft light in studio and natural light on location. I picked monochromatic fashion as the concept for my portrait shoot. The colors I shot with were pink, purple, and yellow. I picked clothes, backdrops, and props of all the same color for each portrait shot prompt and captured images in the different lighting setups. The final portraits showcase a fun exploration of monoaromatic fashion.

Treasures - 2023

This project brief required me to create a magazine cover and spreads, showcasing three different people with their ‘treasures’. The treasures didn’t have to be valuables, they could be a possession of great sentimental value. I had to take portrait shots of the owners with their treasures and write a story about it. I photographed the people with their treasures in their homes so that their personality shows through their environment and adds more meaning to the photos. I used colors from the photos in the magazine design layout to tie together the images and the text.

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.