Rachel Watt

Hey! I'm Rachel. Thanks for stopping by!

I'm the creative behind Sinside Studio, a freelance design endeavour catering to members of alternative subcultures. I'm also a passionate Communication Design graduate, looking to utilise my creative vision in a way that combines people, purpose and planet. When I'm not putting pen to paper, I'm an avid participant in Melbourne's heavy music scene and an invested nature lover strongly influenced by the abstract forms of the natural world - from both of which I draw my passion in life and desire to create.

With a strong background in illustration and branding, I believe that compelling visual communication is the most effective way to incite behavioural change - and my ultimate goal is to harness the power of design to encourage and empower people to leave the world better than they found it.

I'm a logic-driven problem solver, powered by a relentless drive to improve - both internally with my skills, and externally in finding and improving outdated systems in the world around me. And if I'm able to contribute to a more sustainable, healthy and hopeful future in doing so, I'll consider my career a fantastic success.

DYNAMINK - Packaging Surface Design

An illustrative answer to a brief offering free thematic reign of creative surface design. One package in a set of three, the Dynamink range appeals to tattoo culture in its application of traditional tattoo illustration styles. This package showcases traditional Japanese tattoo motifs and style, pairing well with the UV reactive 'glowing' ink that marries traditional art with the neon nightlife of modern Japan.

LOOPTEX - Branded Stationery

The foundations of the Looptex brand values and mission are reflected in the conservative usage of visual contrast, abstraction and fabric-based forms in both the logo and overall aesthetic. A blend of stoicism and flow, the textile recycling brand's core stationery conveys seriousness, pragmatism, and quiet ambition. With the addition of a sewing kit into the brand's leave-behind, the brand asserts a memorable dominance in the minds of consumers and investors alike.

DARKBLOOM - Brandmark

Designed to meet the needs of a gothic-themed florist, Darkbloom's logomark combines floral motifs and blackletter typography to create an elegantly illustrative representation of the brand's unique offerings.

CECROPIA - Notebook Cover

The original brief for this project requested a series of three illustrative notebook covers be produced entirely within Adobe Illustrator, as a demonstration of proficiency in thematic congruence and digital vector art production. All three notebooks featured original artwork of notable moth species, framed in faux-wooden windows as though the viewer were observing through glass. This particular notebook showcases a Cecropia moth - North America's largest native moth.

RBGV - Annual Report Publication

A visual reimagining of key financial information provided from the Royal Botanic Gardens of Victoria's 2017-18 Annual Report. The brief required careful selection and considered visual representation of these financial figures, and other key stakeholder information for the gardens, in a way that marries visual stimulation and ease of navigation with the core values of the organisation.

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.