Award-winning designers off to Big Apple
Date posted: 25 Oct 2011
Jack Mussett, BDes(Com Des)(Hons) 2009
Dan Evans, BDes(Com Des)(Hons) 2009
Chris Murphy, BDes(Comm Design) 2009
Just three years after graduating from Swinburne’s esteemed design school, Motherbird design studio trio Jack Mussett, Dan Evans and Chris Murphy are hanging out with former ‘Young Gun’ New-York designer and art director, Deanne Cheuk.
The formal mentoring opportunity sprang from the close knit Melbourne-based design team winning the visual communication category of the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards in 2010.
The three twentysomethings met in high school. They registered Motherbird while studying the Bachelor of Design (Communication Design), starting out in a mate’s studio office in South Melbourne with big dreams.
The emerging communication design studio specialised in mainly print-based art direction, branding, print design, environmental signage, photography, illustration and digital design.
“Posters are a vibrant living medium,” Mussett said. “We are trained in print. There’s almost a push back to real stuff like posters. People are using the old methods; stamping, pressing, hand-embossing, building models with their hands and then photographing them. It’s a revolt against the digital age.”
Their edgy, creative talents with posters have since won them work at ABC3, Warner Music, Ferrier Hodgson, Medibank Private and Film Victoria. This has enabled them to move into a beautiful art deco office building in Flinders Lane.
Before the trio flew out for their adventure in the Big Apple to shadow Cheuk, Mussett paid tribute to Swinburne and their tutors and lecturers for helping to teach them how to think creatively about projects.
"Tony Ward and Nicki Wragg were key figures in shaping the way I thought,” Mussett said. “Tony and I would have these conversations every Friday that went round and round and eventually tied into the project. This really developed my lateral thinking. Nicki had amazing dedication to both design and her students, and it was always a pleasure to work with her."
The trio are now looking to build on some initial mentoring from Cheuk, and be exposed to New York’s incredibly diverse art and design culture.
“She’s already been really helpful. Now we are going over to hang out and see what her working life is like and ‘do’ New York,’’ Mussett said.
Motherbird is already looking beyond Australian shores with their voluntary design work backing up an international freedom of speech project, Positive Posters, founded by fellow Swinburne alumnus Nick Hallam.
“Posters go up in spaces that would otherwise be commercial. It’s taking commercial space and turning it into freedom of speech. It looks fantastic,” he said.
Perhaps Motherbird will both be enriched by NY, and leave something of their own creativity on its design scene.
To see some of Motherbird’s designs, go to: www.motherbird.com.au
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