Maddie Vincent Gilmartin

Communication Design

Madeline is passionate about crafting unique visual experiences and elevating user interactions through thoughtful design. Her love for illustration and keen eye for detail help her transform complex ideas into visually compelling solutions. With a background in branding and web design, she brings creativity, empathy, and a strong commitment to accessible design into every project. Madeline is excited to step further into the world of UX and instructional design, driven by her desire to create engaging, inclusive user experiences. Eager to blend her skills in e-learning and animation, she looks forward to the journey ahead, where her creativity and passion for social justice will continue to guide her work.

Crafty

This project involved creating a mono-thematic publication that visually explores the themes from the academic text ‘Quiet Activism and the New Amateur’. My design focuses on the concept of ‘Power,’ emphasising the role of craft in empowering women. I aimed for an unapologetic and bold aesthetic, balanced with sophistication and femininity. The final publication employs quiltblock motifs and a carefully chosen colour palette to convey a feminist narrative, to celebrate creativity and agency in a striking and expressive way.

VSRG Branding

During my time at the Bureau, I created the brand identity for the Vehicle Safety Research Group (VSRG), a division of Monash University’s MUARC, focused on vehicle safety ratings. The branding process emphasised clarity and approachability, aligning with the group’s core values. I streamlined client presentations to enhance accessibility and understanding, facilitating productive feedback and efficient project progression. The final brand design delivered a modern, trustworthy visual identity that resonated with VSRG’s mission and needs.

Copper & Clove

For my final year project, I designed a comprehensive e-learning solution for ‘Copper & Clove’, a Thornbury cocktail bar struggling with high staff turnover and negative customer reviews. To tackle these challenges, I developed an interactive e-learning module focused on training staff in crafting the bar’s signature cocktails, enhancing their confidence and service skills. This solution was paired with a refreshed brand identity, including a cohesive logo suite, custom typography, and a vintage-inspired colour palette that reinforced the bar’s bold, sensory experience. The combination of effective training and consistent visual branding aimed to boost staff retention and elevate customer satisfaction.

Look Beyond The Truck

The ‘Look Beyond the Truck’ campaign was a collaborative road safety initiative commissioned by NRSPP, GEOTAB, and Monash University. Launched at the Brisbane Truck Show in May 2023, the campaign aimed to humanise truck drivers through authentic interviews and storytelling. As one of two graphic designers on the project, I played a key role in shaping the visual direction and developing the campaign’s tagline. My design contributions included fence panels, floor decals, digital illustrations, and interview materials.

Lily and the Lion

For this project, I reimagined ‘Lily and the Lion’, creating a mini publication with a custom enclosure and thematic paper ephemera. My design includes a floral sleeve, inner enclosure, standing folded theatre, belly band, and paper feather, all crafted to enhance the story’s aesthetic. Detailed production diagrams and specifications were provided for each element.

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.