James Chapman

Communication Design

Hello, my name is James Chapman. I am an upcoming graduate completing a Bachelor's in design, majoring in communication.

Throughout my academic studies, I have experienced practical project simulations, constraints and collaboration with peers expected in the design and publishing industry. These developed skills have improved my understanding of a client’s needs, developing my passion for the various detailed stages of experimentation towards a completed project.

I am experienced with a variety of design techniques, with an interest in publication design, hoping to advance in the industry and work at a printing and publishing studio. Design is a limitless area of potential to express myself and my ideas into tangible creations. Publication design brings these labours of creativity into physical form, a way to connect passion with businesses both local and international.

GATEFOLD ALBUM

For this project, I was encouraged to create an album cover design for a music genre of my preference. Basing my design around historic metal music, rustic textures, drained watercolour paint and rough paper stock were applied. Black painted cutouts were created to represent the child forced to be a soldier to respectfully represent the horrors of World War 1. These elements enhanced with digital editing, resulted in a darkly themed custom album cover design for the Sabaton song Great War.

SICK THEM, CLEAN ME

For this project, I developed a publication booklet based on the experience of isolating during the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme of my design revolved around the separation throughout 2020, portraying the panic while the world became unstable. This aesthetic was the foundation behind the publication’s drained emergency colouration, rough texture mixed with sickly coughing illustrations and locally captured photography and paint designs that represented paranoia and the fear of others.

SOVEREIGN HILL BROCHURE REDESIGN

My passion for Australian history drove me to unofficially redesign the brochure maps of Sovereign Hill. Creating a design that appealed to both tourists and student visitors, the original A4 publication became two separate folded structures, “The Gold Rush Adventure” and “Explore Sovereign Hill”, targeted towards different age groups. This branched off into complimentary designs simplified the large text quantity of its original stylisation. Creating pocket-sized publications allowed me to construct a captivating product that appealed to Sovereign Hill’s rustic Gold Rush identity.

Fit 4 All

For this project, I adapted an existing company into an improved separate brand identity. Basing my new company logo on ‘Planet Fitness’ and their company’s company slogan of providing exercise for everyone globally. The new design improved upon its competitor’s outdated design appeal of purple, black and white colourations signifying its identity. Applying a blue and orange colour style, the new design could be highly adaptable for commercial use. This piece remains adaptable and aesthetically pleasing in its representation of the industry.

TYPOGRAPHIC REVOLT

I felt passionate about designing an abstract publication design based on the typographic
designer Wolfgang Weingart’s alternative design lifestyle of the 20th century, which broke down conventional rules on how typography can create abstract imagery through positioning. This piece illustrates a rebellious ‘Typographic Revolt’, remaining faithful to Wolfgang’s vision while still independent, creating an abstract publication design.

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.