Sophie McElgunn

Sophie is a multidisciplinary designer based in Melbourne / Naarm. Guided by an instinctive curiosity, she sees beyond what something is to imagine what it might become. Story and connection are the heart of her work and she loves making things by hand, noticing the details others might overlook.

Each project unfolds through experimentation and play, carefully crafted and infused with sincerity.

Off-screen, she loves curating her room, as her housemate notes, “like it’s her job”.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

The novel’s protagonist Aomame, a professional assassin entangled with a cult in a parallel version of the year 1984, is a killer with a heart. They target cruel and violent men, their trauma disguised as justice. Hands symbolise violence, faith, and comfort. Baking paper blurs the boundary between worlds, evoking a distant, dreamlike atmosphere.

The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

To bring Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat into the present, I added witty, modern commentary focused on mental health. The story is annotated by a contemporary psychiatrist, treating Poe’s narrator as a patient to reframe and better understand their behavior. Handwritten notes and drawings grow increasingly chaotic, mirroring the narrator’s mental decline.

Letters Home

A hand stitched accordion book of letters sent to the author’s home, unraveling heartbreak in a non-linear arc from despair to hope. The minimal cover reflects the idea that beneath a calm facade, people can be unexpectedly messy.

Serenity Studio Pilates

This branding strategy emphasised the brands most significant values: mindfulness, inclusivity, and balance. Taking inspiration from meditation poses, balancing rocks, and the navigational history of rock cairns, these simple yet striking organic shapes make it a memorable solution.

State Library of Victoria

Publication design for the State Library of Victoria’s 2023–2024 Annual Report, built on the concept of the library as Victoria’s centre of knowledge. The front page features a golden circular focal point, symbolising this “centre,” a macro shot of the library’s tactile indicators on the floor.

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.