Daphne Ferabend

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Hi there! I'm Daph, a designer and writer of whimsy.

I’m a Melbournian, born and raised, with South African and New Zealand heritage and a love for The Lord of the Rings films. Thus, I draw my inspiration from a vibrant variety of artists and a curious collection of fantastical films.

As a screenwriting and graphic design graduate, I’m passionate about spurring imagination and aim to create immersive experiences, utilising both illustration and copywriting, to tell a compelling and cohesive story. I’m currently working towards publishing my own fantastical tales, from silly webcomics to light-hearted novellas.

The projects I enjoy is surface design, especially creating decals and patterns for packaging and publication, extending the brand’s personality so it can emotionally connect and resonate with its customers. The project I’m most proud of is my WAX STAMP Packaging, as it combines concise copywriting with imaginative illustrations, creating a delightful design that’s easy to navigate for information.

I love getting hands on with art, from hand-drawn sketches to painted experiments, as there is a uniqueness that analogue art brings to a highly digitized world.

MELB'IN URB'IN EXHIBITION Campaign Concept

Visit Victoria aims to inspire tourists to visit, thus, I proposed a marketing strategy that would make Melbourne memorable via an outdoor exhibition, involving a mural for six key locales that are accessible along Swanston St. and St Kilda Road. I utilised a mixture of skills including photography, painting, and a combination of hand & digital illustration, to conjure a whimsical wonder that celebrates the eccentricity and eclecticism of our Melbournian life.

TOAD WAX STAMP Packaging Design

Wise Women requires packaging for their animal wax stamps, based on the classic familiars of witches, i.e. cats, owls, and toads. To immerse customers into their old-timey hand-made crafts, I hand illustrated cursive and lino-stamped inspired decals, transforming a mundane box into a quaint curio.

FOXREEL Brand Design

Foxreel requires a brand refresh to promote their film festival. To distinguish itself from the moody brand space, I digitally illustrated a vibrant and playful logo design, embracing a complimentary colour scheme synonymous with cinematic lighting and an art deco inspired layout reminiscent of vintage theatres.

TRANSFORMATION OF ROCKS Publication Design

Melbourne Museum requires a brochure that engages attendees about geology. Since the tactile exhibition already caters to children, the challenge was creating a sophisticated design that intrigues an adult audience. I decided to form patterns by rock stamping to depict the rock cycle from erosion to eruption, creating an elegant souvenir.

CONNECTiON Photo Book

I aimed to translate the intangible feeling of ‘connection’ into a tangible curation. I achieved this via a photobook that juxtaposes the theme of connection with isolation, allowing me to finally articulate that – “Connection feels like you can see, but are blind to what surrounds you. Isolation feels like you are blind, but can see all that surround you.”

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.