Max Whiting

Communication Design

Hi, I'm Max Whiting, and I like telling stories. Sometimes, I write them and go to lengths to build up my characters to make you laugh or cry—the other times, it's from behind a camera. A quick snap, a selective eye, and then I have something to say.

Design, for me, is another mode of storytelling. It connects my eyes to my hands and my voice to an image. I have always been more fond of the pictures in a book, partially because the words were more than six letters, but mainly because it's where my eye and heart took me. Today, I make the same stories in branding, publication, and packaging.

Outside work, I like to travel, and travelling isn't cheap. So, most of the time, you'll find me pitched behind a bar, pouring you a scrumptious pinot noir. I'm lucky enough to live in Geelong, which has a small community of wine enthusiasts from whom I'm enthralled to learn.

Design is not my passion but an opportunity to challenge expectations of visual language, push the boundaries of storytelling and expand the nexus of creative thought. I have a love for seeing and a drive to change how things are seen.

Busk Kush

The Art Direction for Bush Kush is a vibrant celebration of good times with a touch of irreverence. Embracing the brand’s larrikin spirit, the design concept takes an illustrative approach that ensures the brand doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The Last Days of Detroit

“The Last Days of Detroit: Motorcars, Motown, and the Collapse of an Industrial Giant” is a visual tour through Mark Binelli’s intimate relationship with the city that chronicles Detroit’s slow decay through the years.

Analogue Academy Film

The Art Direction for Analogue Academy’s specialty film packages is a visual exploration that elevates the brand’s identity through distinctive product offerings. Each package is titled to capture the essence of the film stocks, creating a cohesive and visually striking extension of the Analogue Academy brand.

Oktoberfest Oz

Branded identity for the City of Greater Geelong’s Oktoberfest Oz, capitalising on the event’s spirit for entertainment, employing a visual language that is equally vibrant.

Analogue Academy

Open sign for Analogue Academy. Despite being transparent, its visual intrigue adds to the brand’s narrative as merely being a medium to look through and display the outstanding work of Geelong creatives.

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.