Alyssa Payad

Hello! I’m Alyssa Payad — an artsy idea wrangler and graduating Communication Design (Honours) student based in Western Victoria. I had the privilege of working with Edison Agency, a strategy-led branding and packaging studio in St Kilda, where I contributed to brand identity systems, campaign design, and social content. Within a fast-paced creative environment, I developed a deeper understanding of structured workflows, corporate demands, studio culture and the importance of staying connected within the design community.

With a passion for illustration, branding, art direction and strategy, my practice sits at the intersection of rigorous process and hands-on experimentation. In today's digital-dominant, AI-emerging landscape, I believe in reasserting the value of traditional techniques — embracing tactility, imperfection and charisma that we crave, through which only human creativity can bring. Openly integrating both analogue and digital techniques, I aim to create work built on strategic foundations, client empathy and imaginative expression that compels and connects people together.

When I'm not designing, you'll find me doodling wonky characters, indulging the outdoors or hidden Melbourne gems, or recharging in my generously plant-filled room. Fueled by diverse experiences, I’m eager to learn, tackle creative challenges, and contribute to projects and teams that cultivate meaningful designs.

Looking Glass (2024)

A conceptual visual reinterpretation of Alice in Wonderland for a coloured contact lens brand, reimagining cosmetic conventions with upside-down perspectives, vivid palettes, and pristine aesthetics.

The Good Machine (2024)

A bold rebrand of In Other Good News with Edison Agency, amplifying the social enterprise's positioning of delivering GOOD products, services and initatives, generating revenue and creating positive community impact.

Talking Drums of Africa (2025)

A typographic interpretation of Lokele drum language responding to ISTD, honouring linguistic traditions, historical transparency, and the communities of the former Belgian Congo for an upcoming Musée du Quai Branly exhibition.

Connect Me (2023)

A social campaign highlighting the impact of social isolation, promoting open communication and meaningful connections through inclusive visuals, supportive language, and vibrant, uplifting design.

Wildcare Tasmania 2022

A warm rebrand for Tasmanian Land Conservancy, reflecting its mission to protect Tasmania’s ecosystems and biodiversity through a visual language grounded in empathy and care for the planet.

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.