Layla Ocampo

Hello there! I’m Layla - a Communication Designer passionate about creating bold, meaningful, and joy-filled work. My approach balances simplicity with impact, using bright colour, expressive illustration, and thoughtful layout to craft designs that feel both empowering and approachable.

I draw inspiration from culture, food, and everyday moments, translating them into visuals with personality and purpose. Whether it’s brand identity, publication, or campaign design, I aim to tell stories that connect - turning ideas into experiences that spark emotion and leave a lasting impression. Every element in my work is guided by intention. Colour, form, and composition are never accidental - they serve the story at the heart of the design. My process blends creativity with strategy, creating outcomes that are visually striking yet grounded in meaning.

Outside of design, you’ll find me vintage shopping, discovering new eats, or at a wine bar convincing friends that yerba maté is the ultimate caffeine fix. At my core, I’m driven to design with purpose - to create visuals that celebrate people, stories, and connection, and to use design as a tool for storytelling that empowers and inspires.

The Peoples Place

The Peoples Place reimagines the 2023-24 State Library Victoria annual report as a people‑first publication, shifting away from corporate formality to highlight community, inclusivity, and belonging. Inspired by the library’s role as a cultural hub and safe space, the design embraces playful vector illustrations and a bold, vibrant palette to create an inviting, story‑driven document that celebrates the people at its heart. Balancing professionalism with warmth, the publication positions SLV as a welcoming institution, expresses its values through a fresh, accessible identity, and fosters belonging by making the report feel like a place for everyone.

My Maté

Yerba Maté Australia introduces a bold rebrand that bridges South American heritage with contemporary café culture across Australia and New Zealand. The identity features organic patterns, energetic colour palettes, and a duo‑maté cup character logo, embodying energy, friendliness, and mateship. Rooted in the rituals of sharing maté, the brand positions the beverage as both a cultural connector and a modern lifestyle choice. By balancing authenticity with approachability, the rebrand builds a strong, recognisable identity that highlights tradition while appealing to an eco‑friendly conscious audience, encouraging community and shared experience around maté as a sustainable alternative to coffee and tea.

Flow of Empowerment

Flow of Empowerment is a social campaign for Libra that challenges menstrual stigma and inspires period pride among Australians aged 12-30. With bold visuals, inclusive language, and a multi‑platform presence, the campaign reframes menstruation as natural and empowering. The design approach draws on social responsibility, using storytelling and strategic media to spark dialogue and strengthen health literacy. By encouraging open conversations in schools, workplaces, and communities, the campaign builds confidence and normalises cycles. Accessible resources across digital and physical touchpoints ensure the message resonates widely, positioning menstruation as a shared experience and a source of empowerment.

In My Skin

In My Skin rebrands The Very Good Bra into a sustainable intimates label that empowers women to feel confident in lingerie and in their own bodies. The name reflects both the organic materials worn close to the skin and the pride of feeling comfortable in one’s own skin. A brandmark featuring a female form entwined with a leaf communicates sustainability, inclusivity, and empowerment. Neutral tones, clean typography, and minimal styling resolve the challenge of making eco‑friendly design modern, affordable, and desirable, creating a contemporary identity that balances quality with accessibility and resonates across generations.

Monothematic Publication

The Cultural Politics of Gender Performance is a monothematic publication interpreting Benzi Zhang’s essay on fe/male impersonation and homosexuality in Chinese society. The design explores fluidity, resistance, and cultural tension through bold typography, duotone imagery, and dynamic layouts. By setting structured grids against layered collages, the publication mirrors the clash between tradition and emerging identities. This visual strategy positions gender performance as a form of resistance, amplifying voices of empowerment while highlighting the tension between cultural norms and modern expression. The result is a provocative, engaging document that invites readers to reflect on identity, performance, and cultural politics.

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.