Xavier Seccombe

Communication Design

Hello! I’m Xavier, and I’m a designer from Melbourne.

My passion is to find new ways to strike an emotional cord with my audience from my photography, and to use it to fuel exciting branding campaigns. I also love to delve into new technologies being released into the design industry so I can stay ahead of the curve.

Studying at Swinburne gave me the opportunity to explore various design fields like communication design, photo media and motion design. I love collaborating with other designers and working on real world briefs.

Another area I have delved into, is motion graphics and video production. I have always had a passion for movies, and the main inspiration for my photography has come from studying cinemaphotography in films and noting down the lighting setups of each scene. When it comes to motion graphics, in these current times with tik Tok reels and YouTube shorts, creating engaging 15-30 second content is massively important to attract young audiences.

Life is about connections and experiences, and if I can find ways to utilise design so that it resonates with a diverse range of people, connecting them through the power of visual storytelling, then that is one of the things that makes me incredibly proud to be a designer.

Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb Advert

Viktor & Rolf is a Dutch avant-garde luxury fashion brand. They launched the successful Spicebomb fragrance which is described as a herbal explosion. The brief asked for a new poster and billboard design for Viktor & Rolf’s Spicebomb.

All elements were shot in camera and composited together. Elements of chilli, leaves, pepper, Paprika, lemon and grapefruit were captured and placed in frame to communicate the sensory detonation that is this fragrance. Furthermore, New branding for a bath bomb and tester cologne packaging were created.

From The Ocean Seafood Magazine

This brief asked for a food magazine cover and an image to be posted on social media. Seafood was chosen and a squid ink pasta dish with prawns and marinara were photographed for the cover.

To bring more attention to the dish, the plate and cutlery were removed and chalked in. This created an interesting black and black look giving a classy aesthetic. The social media image accompanying the magazine, is a simple striped down version using prawns. It was shot in front of a video of a fireplace to create a cosey ambience.

Victor Harbor Viking Festival

The theme of this assignment was visual storytelling, where the Viking legend of Loki was chosen and photography relating to the myth were captured with a combination of natural and sometimes artificial light. A majority of the images were edited to black and white to create a timeless feeling as even though the myth is centuries old, it still finds relevance in cultures today. After the photography was complete, an event needed to be chosen to promote the imagery. The Victor Harbor South Australia Viking Festival is an annual event, and the photos were used to create promotional material. For the brief, 2024 would revolve around the Viking God Loki.

James Squire Ad Campaign

James Squire is an Australian brewery which develop quality beer and ciders. The brief was to create a fresh branding campaign for the company.

Photography was captured in rural Victoria in natural backdrops that communicate to the viewer the quality and pure nature of the beverage. The branding also promotes a laid back peaceful lifestyle in the Australian bush. The branding applications are a brochure, social media posts, website design and videos of motion graphics applied to billboards.

The Circle Book Cover Redesign

The Circle is a dystopian novel written by Dave Eggers. The story delves into the dark side of technology and social media. The brief asked for a redesign and creation of 3 book covers relating to the themes of the novel. This is accompanied by social media posts, a Netflix page and poster ads etc.

In this novel, people are forced to conform to a strict societal standard and are shunned as soon as they stray out of the norm. People are constantly observed, and privacy becomes non-existent. These poster designs show how people cannot be themselves, and the result is that there’s no uniqueness, and people mimic each other in order to fit in.

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.