Tiarna Bett

Hi, I’m Tiarna Bett. I create work that’s conceptual, experimental, and intentional. I see design as a way to shape connection and foster growth, community, and shared experience.

For me, creativity is deeply tied to curiosity. I’m driven by a constant desire to learn, whether that’s exploring new tools and methods, studying languages (currently Japanese), or picking up new crafts like silversmithing. I see learning as the foundation of my practice; each new skill or experience becomes fuel for creative growth and connection. I believe that curiosity and experience are what allow us to create work that feels both distinct and deeply human.

To me the most critical components of design are passion, intention and a pursuit of knowledge. My personal work often explores the experimental, but I like to balance that with a more grounded, considered approach in my broader practice.

Outside of design, I’m drawn to fashion, curation, art direction, and I’m rarely without a good coffee. I'm really interested in film, media, and critical theory, and love a little cosy sitcom. I enjoy travelling, exploring new places, and connecting with people, and spent time living in Japan and the UK which taught me how much I enjoy and thrive in new environments. I’m always looking to learn, share ideas, and have meaningful conversations with other creatives.

Virtually Nothing Monothematic Publication

This project is a perfect-bound book that distorts nature to conjure the uncanny pulse of cyberspace, unsettling reading patterns and inviting critical reflection.

Speak Up Conceptual Annual Report

This publication is a conceptual approach to an annual report for the State Library of Victoria. The concept for this publication emphasises the library as a meeting ground of ideology, a melting pot for ideas and social change. This publication experiments with a 1990s Swiss Grit style to evoke the library’s role in fostering autonomy, intellectual exploration, and personal growth.

Lost In Sound Festival

This project was a multidisciplinary design outcome incorporating publication, OOH, motion, merchandising, and web design. Based on a fictional festival held in London, the project’s graphic treatment centers on the flow state pivotal to both RnB, jazz, and lost-wax casting. Texture and typography are used to emphasise this state.

Herland Relaunch

This publication is a perfect-bound book with a die cut dust jacket which works to reimagine Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland. Using french folds to conceal expressive type and imagery the publication embodies the dichotomy of the two societies. The die cut shapes articulate the varying instance of the men. Using form this publication echo women’s voices and presence which manifests under the texts surface.

OFF2

This campaign focuses on treating Southern Cross Station's air pollution issue while simultaneously educating the public on the potential of algae based (and bio integrated) design. The campaign consists of three core components the first being a small-scale prototype of a functional algae bioreactor, signage and a website.

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.