Amelia Bursztynski

My name is Amelia, and I have always loved how design can be used so diversely, from self expression to speaking out about important issues affecting the community.

I come from a household that celebrates creativity everyday in a lot of different ways, so it only felt natural to be drawn to a discipline that encapsulated illustration, photography, typography, publication and so much more.

I hope that my passions bring me to new and meaningful places, that I always find inspiration to fuel my creativity and I never stop caring about important issues in the design process.

Nature's Fear

This world's natural resources and vibrancy are slowly being sucked into a helpless and irreversible void. All any one person can do is watch it all happen while the people who make up the 1% have the biggest carbon footprint. This image is meant to invoke horror and helplessness.

Tallahassee

The inside of this gatefold belongs to a really important concept album to me. For the final outcome, I used thin lines and text to represent the fragility of the marriage between the two characters. Different visual motifs have been used throughout to signify the level of difficulty the couple has with "letting go" of one another, even to the point of harm (such as drowning or suffocation)

EXTRA

This poster is an asset of a silent disco that I named "EXTRA" in theme with extraterrestrial. The unknown elements of the inverted image is meant to conjure uncertainty in voyeurs. The self isolated subject finds companionship in the stars surrounding her, much like people in a silent disco. Each able to find connection over the noise cancelling headphones.

Viral Discourse

A publication I formed from the article "Twitter, incivility, and presidential communication: A theoretical incursion into spectacle and power" by L. Bratslavsky, N. Carpenter and J. Zompetti. Visually it acts as an angry manifesto, oozing the same hatred and resentment harboured by both the author and the infuriating topic.

Take A Turn

This billboard design was one of the outcomes for my Capstone Major Project. It was a pitch campaign to the Department of Transport for the implementation of IBerdrola's Turnstile Turbines. The simple yet sleek design is highly visible and easy to see at a glance. Minimalism is also popular with young people who might be considering getting their first cars.

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.