Meet Ayra: Ayra is studying Deakin’s Visual Communication Design course and came to Deakin via a pathway from Deakin College. In addition to the improved technical design skills and client experience, one key thing she’ll take away from Deakin into her future is how much confidence in herself as a designer she has gained.
Most of the assessments I’ve done are similar to what a real-life design brief would be in the design industry, which will definitely help prepare me for when I get a job as a graphic designer.
What made you interested in your particular course?
Ayra: Before, graphic design was just my hobby making fan edits of pop culture stuff. Then my interest developed further as I designed a couple of posters, banners, brochures and such in high school. I fell in love with making those type of things and wanted to improve my design skills, so that was my focus when searching for a course in that area. What I liked about the Visual Communication Design course it teaches not only print design but also branding, digital photography, illustration, and typography. Gaining multiple skills would help my overall designs.
Tell us about your experience of Deakin’s teaching staff.
Ayra: The lecturers I’ve had have been engaging and encouraging to us and often made sure they were available to guide us in our studies. They would supply us additional resources that would help us further develop our designs. I remember in my 1st year we were recommended to check out Lynda, which is a site that provides short lectures/tutorials, from a couple of teachers and that was how I learned digital illustration that I now integrate into my designs. They would also give us insight to what it’s like working in the design industry and gave great advice on our careers. One of my teachers helped me in getting into an internship in my 3rd year which I’m so grateful for the experience.
Tell us about where you’ve experienced practical or applied learning.
Ayra: In our Collaborative Design class, this is where we were put into groups to work on a real client project. My design skills were really utilized in this project and additionally I really improved my communication skills since I was working with a team for the whole semester having meetings so often, and where we had to professionally communicate with our client as well. This project has helped me in gaining confidence in myself as a graphic designer.
What’s one thing you’ve learnt or explored in your course that you didn’t expect?
Ayra: When working on the client project, we were tasked to make our designs accessible to colour blindness and dyslexic individuals which I haven’t really tried doing or thought of in my previous works. Learning about accessible design really changed the way I approached my future designs because as a designer inclusivity is important.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of your course at Deakin?
Ayra: I’m open to learning a lot, so learning multiple skills throughout my course has helped me pick a direction I want to take in my career. I think graphic designers can be flexible in choosing a career, like one can focus on print designs, or focus on photography and editing. Having these set of skills will also broaden my search for a job.
Another aspect is also gaining confidence in myself as a designer. I struggled on thinking my designs weren’t good enough so I would continue to learn and practice, and showing my designs to a real client in that group client project was so validating.
Have you undertaken any Work Integrated Learning activities, such as internships, as part of your course?
Ayra: Yes, I did an online group internship with two other Deakin students from Geelong for Open Food Network/Fawkner Commons. This was actually a result from the client project in Collaborative Design unit. The client wanted to continue working with us, and Jen (our supervisor) took us in. This gave me an insight to what it was like collaborating with an organization and how freelancing would be like.
How would you describe the learning environment and culture at Deakin?
Ayra: The learning environments are really good. There are lots of outdoor seating areas which I’ve done my work a couple of times just to get fresh air. I’ve frequently been to the library for some of my research and design work. There’s this design studio I always have class at every semester, that’s really interesting because there’s a table in the middle which encourages us to engage with each other. I also like how the classrooms aren’t too big that I don’t feel intimidated by.
I did join the Deakin Visual Arts Society in 2020. It was super fun meeting people with the same interests as me and bonded over the activities we did.
What would you say to someone considering study at Deakin?
Ayra: I would say based on my experience the Deakin’s staff are very helpful in any concerns you have, and the teachers are also insightful on the industry. The unit outlines are very organized and everything’s planned out which helped me in my time management skills allowing me to balance study and leisure. The online site as well is easy to navigate with all the resources you need there.
Is there anything you’d like to add about Deakin that we haven’t covered?
Ayra: During the time COVID-19 lockdown happened here in Melbourne in 2020, I was impressed by how Deakin quickly adapted our studies from on-campus class to online class. In my case, this barely interfered with the due dates for assessments. The lecturers reassured us they were there to help us if we were struggling since it was a big hit for everyone.
What I liked about the Visual Communication Design course is that it teaches not only print design but also branding, digital photography, illustration, and typography.
Photo: Industry expert Zaidee Jackson with Ayra Clarke in class in 2021.
Ayra is studying Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual Communication Design)*
*new course title Bachelor of Design (Visual Communication).