I graduated in the late 1980s when Australia went into the recession ‘we had to have’. There was a lot of work (short term positions) if you wanted it. I thrived in this environment as I made connections, freelanced and found work in a number of roles that allowed me to experience different areas of design.

I was one of the early adopters of the Apple Macintosh Computer. My first real job was at the Australian Jewish Newspaper where I managed the introduction of the Macintosh into the traditional typesetting area. During this time I was working in the newspaper, navigating the old and the new. True to the times, this job lasted nine months. Luckily because I was proficient technologically at a time where digital design was still very new, I was able to walk into a job the next day and commence work in a more tradition graphic design studio, where I worked in brand strategy and identity design. From there I have continued my work in publishing, magazine design and creative direction. From the outset, my roles always involved management or creative direction and so, working in a variety of areas and freelancing I was able to attain a level of seniority in design relatively quickly.

Returning to education was a natural progression for me where I could use my creative direction skills and forge connections between education and industry. I taught Graphic Design at the University of Melbourne into the Education program. Loving the absurd, I answered an advertisement in 1998 calling for a Senior Graphic Designer developing educational aids for the Media Centre at the University of South Pacific, Fiji.

The rest is quite literally history – politics influenced my return to Australia. When the Fiji coup occurred in 2000, I returned to complete my Masters in Multimedia Design at Swinburne University of Technology. That same year I commenced working at Swinburne and continue to do so, dividing my time between Swinburne Online and the on campus Honours program.