Say hello to new CWC president Amber Bonney

Amber Bonney wears many hats. As well as being the force behind her creative studio Edison Agency , she is a mother, wife, sister, strategic, designer, artist, writer, planner, mentor and mediator. Amber now adds the role of CWC President to that list. Prior to accepting the role , she was on the AGDA Victoria Council and spearheaded the development of their Professional Mentorship program. We chat with Amber on work, life, and the things in between.

Tell us about yourself

I was born and bred in Melbourne, a girl of the mid 70’s who is now resenting my slow metabolism and thickening waistline and enjoying my sparkling wine more than ever! I have 3 children aged 16, 14 and 4 and my husband and I have a blended ‘modern’ family so life’s pretty full-on… hence my love of sparkling wine! I come from a large family of 5 girls so life has always been big and hectic and I learnt early only how to hustle through life to get my needs met. As the middle child I have always been self-driven and independent and have developed strong mediation skills which have been useful as a business owner.

What do you do?

I am the founder of The Edison Agency, a strategic brand and design consultancy with offices in Melbourne and Sydney. We use strategy and design to help businesses make positive change. My role is Managing Director and Head of Strategy and I am responsible for the executive creative direction of all major brand projects. Over the past 22 years, I am proud to have been influential in helping iconic Australian and international brands maintain relevancy, define their purpose and vision, and connect with their audiences in a more meaningful way.

How did you get into this industry?

I’m a communication designer by trade, an Alumni of Swinburne University, and have been blessed with a single minded career focus all my life. My father introduced me to the industry through his career in the marketing and packaging industry. Since the time I was 14 and went to my first University Open day, I knew this was what I wanted to do.

When you get to know me, you will understand why people refer to me sometimes as “a bull at a gate”. My mind moves quickly (great for creative strategy and thinking on ones feet) but it can be mentally and physically exhausting so I do try to manage my overactive brain with regular mindfulness practices using my phone app (I appreciate the irony) and of course the odd vino! I’m naturally intuitive which helps me forge strong and lasting personal and business relationships, some of my current clients are people I’ve worked with for over 15 years. 

What does a typical work day look like for you?

I like to schedule my time and live and die by my diary! My day is spent straddling client meetings, internal planning of projects, financial planning, and working closely with both our Group Account Director, Design Director and CFO. We are a small team of 10, so about 10% of my time would also be dedicated to making decisions and planning around people and culture.

Typically when we have a large meaty project starting I am consumed by research and strategy phases – I tend to be more involved in the first half of a project to establish the vision and creative precedence and then required less as the project evolves. I have a highly skilled team of people propping me up!

What is the most important aspect of your job?

I am inspired by the potential design has to transform people, culture and business. Knowing that our work is helping make positive change for our clients is uber rewarding. Also, I am a sucker for complex design challenges. When I’m working on something difficult, I completely immerse myself in that business, brand, problem and deconstruct it until I can see and understand all the inputs and components. Only when I’ve done this can I put it back together and develop a strategic solution. I am obsessed with understanding “why” and go to enormous lengths as part of the research phase to really get under the skin of a brand or problem.

What have been some of the biggest challenges in your career?  

I’m a proud feminist and I’m intolerant of the chauvinism our industry (and culture in general) is still accepting but I do see change and have high hopes for the world my daughter will grow up in. I’m a firm believer that it takes women banding together in support and advocacy of one another to truly make change. We are powerful, clever and innately resilient and this is why I believe in organisations like Creative Women’s Circle to shape the way women interact with each other, and within their industries.

What do you do in your ‘down time’ (and do you have a guilty pleasure)?

I spend most of my down time with my children down in coastal Victoria where I live. I am re-energized by the beach and am looking forward to summer where I can swim, play lawn bowls and make pina-coladas at home (guilty pleasure). My husband and I are both passionate mid-century design enthusiasts and we spent allot of time reading books, magazine and watching architecture and design-based TV series.

Best creative memory?

Seeing the first ad I designed in the weekend newspaper – think it was back in 1998! I think I still have it somewhere.

What would you tell your younger self?

You teach people how to treat you. Don’t accept sub-standard behaviour as it creates a pattern that’s hard to break. This is an important message for young women especially in the face of male dominated environments and with the rise of domestic violence issues.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to break into the industry you are in?

Be brave. Take risks. Don’t be afraid to ask the “dumb” questions. Find a mentor. Research every potential employer, every client, every project – always be prepared and understand the “why” in every design challenge.

The one page marketing plan every creative needs

Very few creatives go into their field with a solid business or marketing plan. Most creatives ‘fall into’ their profession from dabbling in a skill as a passion or a side project that eventually organically evolves.

If this is you, well done on making a career out of your passion! But if you’ve got the ability to generate a higher income by charging more, attracting more clients, automating some of your processes or monetising elements of your business, why wouldn’t you?

Don’t be put off thinking you need a complex 10-page document outlining every little detail and strategy. Nobody’s got time for that. I like to keep it simple, so instead let me introduce you to the 1-Page Marketing Plan.

The one page marketing plan

It’s exactly what it sounds like - a clear understanding of what you’re offering, to who, and how you’ll get it in front of them, summarised on one page. This means you can stick it on your wall or somewhere prominent and easily remind yourself with a glance what you should be focused on.

Who it’s for

In short, anyone selling a service or product. For those of you who work under your own name, make no mistake - you are a business. If you’re not already thinking this way, this is a fundamental shift in mindset you need to make first.

If you work for someone else, this is still relevant to you too. Your employer sees value in you that they’re willing to pay for, and having a plan around how to maximise this value can be hugely beneficial for your career.

Let’s dive in with an example of one for a completely made up business running art workshops for kids:

Above: An example one page marketing plan. Download a free template PDF

As you can see, it’s made up of 10 simple boxes for you to fill out:

Product/Service

This is about what you’re selling in the simplest form. Keep it short and sharp, with only a few words maximum.

Audience

Who’s actually paying for your product or service? This might be different to who your product or service is for. In the example above, the service is for kids, but the audience is actually their parents because they’re the ones paying.

Pain Points

If you can pinpoint the deeper reasons why your audience is seeking out your product or services, you’re onto a winner. This will help you write benefit-focused copy that speaks directly to the problem they have.

Value Proposition/s

What is it that makes you and/or your business truly different? What sets you or your product apart? You might have a significant amount of experience in your field, or your product is handcrafted locally. Whatever makes your product or service special, put it here.

Influencers

I’m not talking about Instagram influencers here, although they could factor in. Consider who might influence your buyer’s decision. In the example, teachers and the kids participating in the workshops would be strong influencers on whether their parents enrol them or not.

Key Message

Think of it this way: if you were chatting to someone while ordering a coffee, what’s the one thing you’d want them to walk away knowing about what you offer? Keep this short and sweet - our human brains simply can’t retain too much information so if it’s long-winded, people don’t remember anything at all.

Free Channels

Write down every free channel you can think of that you could reach your audience or their influencers through - both online and offline. Now go back and highlight the ‘quick wins’ that are likely to have the biggest impact.

Paid Channels

This is the same as the free channels box except, you guessed it, paid. This will often refer to advertising, but it could also be things like competitions (because giving away product costs you money) or paid partnerships and collaborations. Be specific here - instead of ‘Instagram’ you might write ‘a collaborative competition with brands X and Y on Instagram’. Come up with as many ideas as you can, then highlight the channels likely to have the biggest impact.

Cost

Time is money, so consider both the financial and time implications of focusing on the free and paid channels you’ve listed. Consider whether this is something you can truly commit to.

Goal/ROI/Success Metric

How are you going to measure whether all this time, effort and potentially money has paid off? By writing a SMART goal in here of course! This could be anything from a particular number of bookings, sales, a specific return on investment (ROI) or adding people to your email list.

Whatever makes sense for you, write a maximum of three here and make sure they’re specific and timebound. I recommend not looking more than three months into the future to keep you focused

I strongly recommend reviewing this at least once every few months to keep you focused on one thing at a time. For example, your goal initially might be to increase subscribers on your email list, and the rest of the page is also focused on this. Then the following month might focus on converting a percentage of these subscribers into customers or clients.
Most of all, this is designed to be completely flexible so I encourage you to download the empty template and find what works for you.

Courtney Goes is a Melbourne-based digital marketing and brand consultant with experience across a range of industries in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Since leaving the corporate world in 2016, she’s been on a mission to help women make smarter marketing decisions to elevate their businesses and personal brands through simple, effective strategies. Working mostly with creatives, freelancers, and female-owned startups and small businesses, she provides clarity, structure and accountability to get real, tangible results. She has also launched Marketing Emporium, a resource hub designed to provide simple and straightforward marketing advice. Contact her at courtneygoes.com.

Why desire and motivation pull us in different directions

3 min read

"Our lives are defined by opportunities. Even the ones we miss."

F.Scott Fitzgerald, 1922.

Every new year I promise myself that I will get in shape. My vision is toned and tight, tanned skin and an ability to lift my body weight effortlessly. I go to the gym, I do yoga, I eat well, drink heaps of water. For a few weeks I’m moving towards my goal and starting to feel and see results. My mood improves, I feel confident, capable and strong. And then… out of the blue, I start skipping classes as I meet my own destructive personality habits and inhibitors.

In her book, Write; 10 Days to Overcome Writer’s Block. Period.  Karen E. Peterson suggests that this blockage is due to the struggle between the left and right hemispheres of the brain leading to an ultimate toddler tantrum show-down. While “the ‘just-do-it’ left hand side of the brain is logical, language-based, and adult-like, the ‘just-say-no’ right side of the brain is dominant for emotion, negative memories and sensory output.”

In the moment of deciding whether or not to go to the gym, I can logically understand that going will make me feel good because it will help me move towards my vision and goals, but in that moment, my right brain wants to feel less pressure, take the easy route and have a good time. Wine and cheese in front of the telly? Oh yes, Emily, you know me so well. Right-brain wins. I lose.

The Divided Self 

“I am dragged along by a strange new force.

Desire and reason are pulling in different directions.

I see the right way and approve it, but follow the wrong.”

Ovid, 43 B.C. – 17 A.D

In The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom, Jonathan Haidt explains what he calls “the divided self” quoting Roman poet Ovid to define the difference between logical and emotional thinking. Haidt goes further than left and right brain dualism, believing that the brain is divided by four parts; Mind vs. Body, and Left vs. Right, Old vs. New, Controlled vs. Automatic, thus likening the self as a “committee whose members have been thrown together to do a job, but who often find themselves working at cross-purposes [contributing] to our experiences of temptation, weakness and inner conflict.”

This idea of a divided self is not new; Plato split the body into soul and mind; Freud divided the mind into three parts; the ego, superego, and id. The common theme among philosophers is that our multi-dimensional personalities work best when working together, instead of in conflict which each other. So how do we get our divided selves working together to achieve the things we want?

 Motivation and Drive

"We do things because they're interesting. 
We do things because we like them, because they're inherently gratifying."

Pink, 2010

Daniel Pink, in his book, Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us, artfully surmises why we engage in some tasks, and not others. It’s interesting to note that motivation is often created after we start a new behaviour, not the other way around. Taking a single step towards achieving your goals and vision is a great start. By actively going to the gym, taking that initial action, I was on my way.

To maintain drive and momentum:

1.    Set yourself realistic and achievable goals, but be kind to yourself if you don’t nail them on the first attempt. Be a personal coach, not a dictatorial punisher. Positive self-talk is really important – be kind and patient with yourself.

2.    Scheduling is important. If I don’t have dedicated time that’s in my calendar, there’s a higher chance my inner toddler will want to sit on the floor and avoid it.

3.    Procrastination is an avoidance mechanism which helps us find alternatives to fill in time and entertain ourselves. Procrastination is fine, so long as it has a time stamp and doesn’t interfere with your non-negotiable scheduling.

4.    Give yourself mini-deadlines to review your achievements and acknowledge your loses.

5.    It can take a while to develop a new habit, so don’t give up after a few weeks. The literature suggests it can take 10 – 16 weeks, so keep up the momentum.

6.    Be aware that motivation may come and go. Ride the wave and stay connected with your desire. This will fuel your motivation when you’re feeling challenged.

7.    Life doesn’t have to full of tasks, give yourself pockets of time to play or do nothing. You’ll feel less guilty taking time out if you’ve actively made the decision to keep periods of time free and open to fill at your will.

References and further reading:

De Botton, A (2001). The Consolations of Philosophy. Penguin Books: London, UK.

Fitzgerald, F.S (1922).  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Colliers Magazine: USA.

Haidt, J (2006). The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. Basic Books: New York, USA.

Ovid, 43 B.C. – 17 A.D. (1989) Metamorphoses. Spring Publications: Dallas, Texas.

Peterson, K. E (2006). Write; 10 Days to Overcome Writer’s Block. Period. Adams Media: Avon, USA.

Pink, D. (2010) Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us. RSA Animation [Online] Accessed 09/06/2014 from, http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=SG&hl=en-GB&v=u6XAPnuFjJc

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Emily Wills is the creative director of surface pattern design studio, SURFACE 1°22. In her various manifestations, she has worked as a fashion designer, illustrator, curator, arts educator and printed textile designer. Emily founded the SURFACE 1°22 Design School in Melbourne, offering hands-on workshops and short courses in surface and textile design. Find out more on the SURFACE 1°22 Design School Facebook or Instagram.

Creativity is just simple math. Here are the formulas to prove it.

Mathematics can indeed be defined as the general science of pattern and structure. Because art also involves patterns and structures, art and math relate to each other in many natural ways.” (Farsi and Craft, 2005)

Creativity can be defined as an ability to create new ideas by combining one or more existing ideas. Like adding, building and connecting - sounds a lot like simple arithmetic to me. The more I looked at this, I discovered that Creativity has some fundamental similarities with Mathematics. Both areas require creative thinking and problem-solving processes such as addition, subtraction and multiplication. Reckon you’re not that good at math? Turns out, you are more than likely engaging in maths in your creative practice…

Addition and subtraction

It may be reductive thinking, but I propose that there is a unifying connection between Addition and Subtraction as they can be considered the same process working in opposite directions. Addition works to group objects, ideas and thoughts together. The old Fashematics website (see end of post for link) was a hilarious example of reverse addition; the contributor looked at images of fashion couture and worked backwards to suggest their original inspiration from unrelated, and often innocuous objects.  

Similarly, a mash-up demonstrates how music producers cut two parts of two separate songs apart, then stitch them back together to create something new. Simple subtraction and addition. The concept of mash-up moves from music to art through collage where cut and paste uses subtraction to isolate and fragment one image into singular parts, and then reassemble these pieces into new compositions by pasting seemingly unrelated objects back together again.

Multiplication and repetition

Multiplication can be defined as the repeated process of addition. While for me, multiplication dredges up memories of learning my times tables, repetition is used by artists and designers to create a sense of movement or point of interest. Repetition, and the act of repeating, creates new rhythmic patterns and places emphasis on a word, image or sound. Repetition of a beat, lyrics or the arrangement of notes can create a catchy hook.

Art and creativity are simple math  

Creative Thinking requires an ability to see and recognize patterns, the fundamental ability of mathematicians who “start with some basic rules, then make any moves that fit those rules—which includes inventing additional rules and finding new connections between old rules.” (AAAS, 1990). It is not surprising therefore to find that each artist, author or mathematician is building and multiplying knowledge based on existing concepts and theories. These high functioning cognitive skills show a balance between right and left brain thinking; the ability to come up with complex solutions for multiple outcomes.

Clever, aren’t we…?

References/further reading on creativity and mathematics:

• http://fashematics.com/

• American  Association  for the Advancement  of Science. (1990). The  Nature  of Mathematics. https://www.aaas.org/programs/project-2061

• Farsi, C. and Craft, D. (2005). Mathematics and the Arts. University of Colorado, Boulder & Lakewood. http://staff.washington.edu/rockne/math-art.pdf

• Gavosto, E.A. and O’Donnell, L.E. (2012) Learning with Technology: Similarities in Mathematics & Writing. University Press of Kansas.http://math.uoc.gr/~ictm2/Proceedings/pap431.pdf

• Haren,  F. (2004).  The  Idea Book.  Interesting  Books: Stockholm,  Sweden.

• Turner, M. and Fauconnier, G (2002) The Way We Think. Conceptual Blending and the Mind's Hidden Complexities. Basic Books: New York

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Emily Wills is the creative director of surface pattern design studio, SURFACE 1°22. In her various manifestations, she has worked as a fashion designer, illustrator, curator, arts educator and printed textile designer. Emily founded the SURFACE 1°22 Design School in Melbourne, offering hands-on workshops and short courses in surface and textile design. Find out more on the SURFACE 1°22 Design School Facebook or Instagram.

Establishing your creative niche in a crowded marketplace: why the world still needs you

We’ve all been there.  Watching wistfully from the sidelines at our competitors’ online followings, high-profile customers and sales, or all-round enviable lifestyles as we mildly indulge in cyberstalking them (social media reflects reality, right?).  Then it hits: retreating into a cloud of paralytic inferiority, we wonder why we ever believed in achieving something similar. Surely, there can’t be space for us in a crowded marketplace already served so well?

The good news is that we are not alone in feeling this way – but what will define our careers is whether we stay in this place, or choose to move through it.  The bad news: in case we were hoping to copycat our way along, true and lasting success is all about authenticity, and will require us to dig a little deeper. It’s time we challenged ourselves to release the need to seek attention or to ‘stand out’ in preference of pursuing something more meaningful and lasting – after which, the rest will follow more easily.

Some reasons why you can have confidence to proceed with a genuinely valid product or service, even when the market seems saturated:

• It’s a big world out there, with plenty of potential customers;

• If others are succeeding in your sphere, it proves that there is an audience for it;

• Popular products will always need more than one supplier to keep up with demand;

• Variety is the spice of life! Just because someone (or many others) are doing very similar things, doesn’t mean your product or service isn’t valid.  After all, don’t you listen to music by a variety of musicians, buy clothing from different stores, and drink coffee from many cafés?

Next steps - where should you begin when cultivating a unique identity (ie. branding) for yourself as part of establishing your niche?

1. Know yourself better! Successful creatives have a strong sense of identity and purpose, and truly understand what makes them tick.  Customers and audiences intuitively gravitate to them. What motivates you in this sphere? Far beyond the token ‘finding fame and fortune’ is where the truth lies.  Does your work make you feel incredibly alive, or perhaps express a deep conviction for social justice? Does it allow you to invest in your community, or support working parents? Whatever it is, be brutally honest and know that this purpose must shine through;

2. Allow the most authentic version of yourself to be seen – loud and proud! It’s completely terrifying, but this is where the magic happens. As the saying goes, ‘if you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.’ It is so important to properly establish the groundwork for a distinct branding that people can engage with, believe in and share with others.  Many of us tend to draw the line at this level of public vulnerability and only pursue goals until we can cover our tracks if/when it doesn’t work out. This is one situation, however, where it’s all or nothing;

3. Deeply consider the role of your audience: who they are, what they value, and how you can serve them in a way that aligns with your fundamental purpose.  Authentically honouring the needs of your audience also gives them permission to be the best versions of themselves – and you will see the results.

In consideration of your audience’s needs, can you add value (before they are even your customers)?

You could try:

• offering regular professional insights via email newsletters, a podcast or social media;

• delivering pop-up events or workshops;

• building a community of like-minded people to champion a cause strongly aligned with your product or service;

• situating yourself as a leader in your sphere by inviting colleagues to come together, sharing common concerns and driving initiatives to support your industry or region.

Delivering this level of consistent connection is the key to building your core tribe, and steadily accelerating your career. Treat this relationship with the utmost respect: if customers can get similar products or services elsewhere, they will choose to support you because of the bond you have built and what you continue to offer them. Ensure that potential collaborations or changes in direction remain aligned with this audience (unless you are trying to build a new one). 

As a final note on the true nature of competition with colleagues, I think it’s time we left behind notions of ‘us versus them’. We are all in this together, and innovation within the creative industries is hindered by our fragmented communities and general insecurities. This is particularly evident in Australia, where we are also relatively isolated from the rest of the world. Time spent glancing sideways or undermining each other is time taken from developing the best versions of ourselves and succeeding – which ultimately benefits everyone.

Drawing from diverse backgrounds in health, science and the public art gallery sector, Liesl Harvey’s passion lies where the creative industries intersect with business and audience development. She explores a variety of relevant topics and shares inspiration from around the globe via her Instagram account, @thedailyculturepreneur.

How to stay "Instasafe" as a creative

Photo via Pexels

I love Instagram. It lets me communicate to the world what I'm about (nourishing food, natural light and comfortable shoes wherever possible, and preventative health in life, law and business!), and has allowed me to connect with so many like-minded clients through my page @thelawyerslunchbox.

And I know many of my clients loving using it for their own businesses.

But we all need to make sure we stay legally safe on Instagram. This means not falling foul of Insta's terms and conditions, using the right images and not saying or doing anything illegal.

Here are some tips...

Types of images

Instagram has the right to remove, edit, block, and monitor accounts containing content that Instagram determines violates their terms of use.

To avoid problems, you must not post violent, nude, discriminatory, unlawful, infringing, hateful, pornographic or sexually suggestive photos. This term is interpreted sensibly, for example if your business is in fashion, intimate apparel, swimwear, music, celebrity, modelling etc, photos may be quite sexual without causing any trouble. But nudity, or pornographic inference (even if digitally-created), will not be okay. Use common sense when thinking about what Instagram and its diverse audience may find offensive. Nudity in photos of drawings, paintings and sculptures will be acceptable, as will photos of mastectomy scarring and breastfeeding women.

If your business is related to children or you like to share photos of your own family, be mindful of the broad audience that they may be open to. Photos of nude or partially nude children may be removed, even if they seem innocent and are being shared with the best intention. Instagram’s aim here is to ensure that they don’t fall into the wrong hands.

Copyright

You can only use images that do not infringe others’ intellectual property rights. If you are posting authentic images created by you or your business (such as your own photos, photoshoots, illustrations, videos, or graphics) then this is not an issue. But if you want to post an image found online, then you must be vigilant. There are millions of high-quality graphics and photos online available for free commercial use. Many websites curate images in the public domain, and you are free to use them in any way. In most cases, you do not have to provide attribution. But check the terms of the site to make sure. If attribution is
required, check what format.

It is best to assume every image you find online is copyrighted – a copyright notice is not legally required as notification of copyright, so the absence of a © or watermark isn’t a sign that no copyright exists. If an image is covered by copyright, the copyright holder may agree to some uses but not others. You must check this before using the image.

If you alter a copyrighted image, it does not relieve you from potential liability. If you repeatedly infringe other people’s intellectual property rights, Instagram will disable your account.

On Instagram, you are liable for what you upload. This means you are legally responsible for copyright violations even if you hire a social media professional who chose and used the offending image. It is important to ask your social media manager where they source their images from. You should contractually ensure that if an image they use is found to violate copyright and you are required to pay, that they will indemnify you.

Music is covered in the same way as images, and you are not allowed to use music that you don’t own the rights to, for any commercial or non-personal use. This includes music in videos uploaded to your feed as well as Instagram lives and IGTV, and can extend to music playing in the background of videos.

Photo via Pexels

What you can legally say

Don't copy any other person's written work in your Instagram posts. This may infringe their copyright.

And don't post unwanted comments, likes or other forms of commercial or harassing communication (spam) to Instagram users. This includes repeatedly contacting people for commercial purposes without their consent.

Further, online cyber bullying is a crime in Australia. You must not threaten, harass, or offend someone, stalk someone, access others’ Instagram accounts without permission or defame someone on Instagram.

How to deal with trolls

A troll is a member of an online community who deliberately tries to disrupt that community by posting inflammatory content.

How should you deal with trolls commenting on your business page?

• Use Instagram’s built-in reporting option. Instagram will quickly remove content that does not meet community guidelines.

• Unfollow or block the person who posted the comment. And delete the trolls’ comment on your post.

• Sometimes ignoring a troll is best. If they are looking for a reaction, they may lose interest when you give them nothing.

• If the troll is a customer with a complaint, take notice and try to help. Humour can be used to effectively engage unhappy customers and turn them into advocates for your business. Acknowledge yet make light of the situation, and apologise for the customer’s experience.

• If the troll is spreading rumours or misinformation, address the issue head-on and retaliate with the truth.

• If the troll points out a mistake, look into it, make the proper corrections and admit that you were wrong.

Instagram has the right to modify or terminate your account for any reason, without notice,
and at any time. So stay the right side of their terms and the law.

Jessica Kerr is the director of Sinclair + May. Jessica set up Sinclair + May with a view to do law differently and make legal services accessible for small businesses. Sinclair + May operate on a fixed fee basis and offer retainer services for their clients. Sinclair + May is a female-led, boutique commercial law firm and work extensively with the creative industry. You can follow Jessica on instagram @thelawyerslunchbox for useful legal tips and see more about Sinclair + May at www.sinclairmay.com.au.

Interview: Jane Connory, a champion for women in graphic design

In spring, tourists drive down Jane Connory’s street in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs to see the cherry blossoms bloom.

Inside her home, the walls are covered in art, including Guerrilla Girls' manifestos—an indication of Jane’s determination to increase visibility for women in Australian graphic design. On Jane’s desk sit treasured books about women in art and design such as Paula Sher and Guerrilla Girl Donna Kaz. From Jane’s uncluttered workspace she has views over tree-lined streets and neat rooftops.

Graphic design heroes

In addition to her role as the head of communications at the Design Institute of Australia (DIA), Jane interviews women in design for the program Broad Designs, broadcast on Joy FM, and is currently undertaking a Ph.D. at Monash University entitled, ‘Invisible: Women of Australian Graphic Design.’

In May 2017, at the Women in Design conference in Launceston, Jane launched the AfFEMation website to make her research available online. The website’s tag line—‘Making heroes of women in Australian graphic design’—states her intention to document the stories of women in design and highlight their contributions to the industry.

‘I am defining my conversation around not success, but significant contributions,’ said Jane. This means being recognised by industry peers but not necessarily having a large profile. Included in her research are interviews with designers including Jessie Stanley, Sue Allnutt, Kat Macleod and Chloe Quigley. Of particular note, Sue Allnutt has shown that women can run successful design businesses, have families and work nine to five. Fittingly, Sue is about to retire and hand the business over to her daughter.

Jane’s research highlights not only the work of women in design but also the importance of networking to sustain a thriving design practice within Australia. As shown on her website, all of the interviewees are in some way connected to one another. In such a small pool as Australia, the benefits of supporting one another instead of competing are evident.

A career in design

In the mid 1990s, Jane completed a graphic design degree at Monash and went straight into art direction in an ad agency. ‘The legacy of the “Madmen” era was still there,’ said Jane. With her strong belief in achieving success through merit and hard work, Jane was surprised to see that barriers still existed for women in advertising. ‘It was like hitting a brick wall,’ she said.

After working in agencies here in Australia, Jane worked in London and was frustrated to find a similar culture there. She found the expectations of long work hours incompatible with having a family, so she chose to redirect her career path. ‘I left and went into education as a career because I could schedule my time around pick ups and drop offs,’ she said.

Equipped with skills ranging from illustration to graphic design and branding, Jane worked in TAFE and higher education for nearly fifteen years. ‘It’s still a majority of women doing these design degrees and they still look to the industry and they still don’t see female mentors or role models. It was starting to weigh on my conscience,’ she said. Jane decided that she could contribute to changing the design industry culture and began her Ph.D. ‘I can do something about this and this is really important. These histories can’t just disappear,’ she said.

Jane has left her career in design education for the moment to focus on her role at the Design Institute of Australia whilst completing her PhD.

Jane Connory

Creating a legacy

Jane’s motivation in her work is to, as she explained, ‘Provide some sort of resource as a legacy for this next generation of women flooding the industry so they can figure out how they want to do it.’

With in-house design studios making a resurgence, Jane sees the value of design not purely for design itself, but as a way of thinking that can be applied across organisations to solve problems and innovate.

‘I think we have to be careful about how we define what a designer does because it shouldn’t be narrowed,’ said Jane. ‘Broadening that scope for women, especially, can leave those options a little bit more open about how you want to do it.’

In her previous role as a senior lecturer at Billy Blue College of Design, Jane would begin the first lecture by playing a recording of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘You Can Go Your Own Way,’ reminding new students that there are options within the design industry. ‘I always say to students, “What are your other passions in life? Is it music? Is it theatre? Look for in-house studios within those businesses.”’

Identifying mentors for young designers

Throughout Jane’s twenty-year career within design and education she has seen the importance of developing a framework to write inclusive history. She hopes that her research will help young designers find mentors and create networks to build their careers.

Jane’s advice to young women wanting to pursue a career in design is, 'Be resilient and stick at it if that’s what you want to do. It’s not easy. There are a lot of people doing it. Look for mentors; they’re out there. Find one and help them to help you up.’

For more about Jane’s work, visit affemation.com or follow her on Instagram (@invisibleinaus/)

Jenni Mazaraki is an artist, designer, writer and podcaster who helps women tell their stories. She is currently working on her first novel, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Deborah Cass Prize. You can see more of Jenni’s work at localstoryspace.com or on Instagram (@localstoryspace) or Facebook.

Photos by Jenni Mazaraki