Anaïs Lobmeyer is a Melbourne-based brand designer and founder whose path into design began in theatre. Originally directing large-scale performances in France as a teenager, Anaïs discovered graphic design while studying applied arts and realised it offered the same sense of storytelling — just through visuals rather than stage production. After working in design agencies in Paris, she moved to Australia and launched her studio, Release The Zebra, where she now focuses on branding and campaign design for cultural and creative organisations. In this interview, Anaïs reflects on nonlinear careers, creative courage, and why storytelling remains the most powerful tool in design.
Can you tell us a little about your first few steps in your career. Was there a moment or experience when you realised this was what you'd do as a career?
To answer that, I need to rewind a little.
As a child, I was endlessly multi-passionate. I was constantly exploring different worlds, and for a while, I thought that becoming an actress would be the answer. On stage, I could be anything: a pilot one day, an art teacher the next. It felt like the perfect container for all my curiosity.
In my teenage years, a producer saw one of my performances and reached out. We started working on a short film together, and soon after he was commissioned to direct a large-scale sound and light show. I began assisting him and a few years later, at just 19, I was directing a cast of 50 actors myself. I was managing costumes, painting scenery, building an hour-long performance with very limited resources. It was intense, exhausting, and completely exhilarating. That was the first time I understood what it meant to build an entire world from scratch.
I wasn’t accepted into theatre school, which at the time felt like a massive setback. Instead, I enrolled in applied arts and that’s where I discovered graphic design, a discipline I hadn’t even known existed. And it clicked. It gave me the same sense of storytelling I loved in theatre, but through visuals.
After completing my bachelor’s degree, I took a gap year in New Zealand, where I began freelancing for the first time. I struggled to find opportunities with no work experience in design, so when I returned to France, I pursued a Master’s degree in Visual Communication at Intuit.Lab that gave me both a qualification and real-world experience. I began with a 4-month internship working in luxury cosmetics advertising before moving into my last year of apprenticeship in corporate branding.
That’s when I realised branding was where I wanted to go deeper. I loved the strategic layer behind the aesthetics — the way identity, narrative, and experience come together.
After a few years working in design agencies in Paris, Australia was calling and I gave expatriation another go. After two years living in Melbourne, I finally launched Release The Zebra in 2021. I initially worked with both service and product-based brands. But very quickly, it became clear that what truly excited me was creating branding and campaign art for cultural and creative organisations (festivals, museums, theatre companies, opera houses). So I intentionally niched into that sector. It allowed me to reconnect with my first passion while using everything I had learned as a designer.
In many ways, I didn’t leave the stage, I just changed mediums.
What lessons from your career have most shaped your style and approach?
Constraints sharpen creativity
At Dragon Rouge, someone once said: “The more time you have to complete a project, the longer it will take.” At first, I found it frustrating because everything felt rushed. But over time, I realised it was kind of true. Constraints create focus. Today, I work with structured timelines that protect both the quality of the work and my mental health. Without boundaries, I could refine something endlessly. Defining what “done” looks like has been essential for building a sustainable practice.
Clarity comes from action
In theatre, the producer I’ve worked with saw leadership potential in me long before I did. I would never have stepped into a director role at 19 if I had waited to “feel ready.” Imposter syndrome would have won. But creatives are resourceful. Sometimes confidence doesn’t come first, action does. You step in, you figure it out, and you grow into the role. That mindset still guides me today. If something excites and scares me a little, that’s usually a sign I should explore it.
Busy isn’t the same as productive
For a long time, I equated working hard with moving forward. But being busy doesn’t always mean you’re building something meaningful. I had to learn the difference between working in the business and working on the business. Today, I intentionally dedicate time to business strategy and systems, not just delivery. Being more strategic than reactive. Without that shift, it’s easy to be stuck into the feast-and-famine cycle.
Take time to reflect and celebrate, even the small wins.
When I left my job to go solo, the founder I worked with reminded me to celebrate even the small milestones. As an overachiever, I'm always focused on the next goal so I have to consciously remind myself of this. Progress compounds quietly, and if you only ever look ahead, you miss how far you've come. Taking time to reflect on what worked, what didn't, and what to carry forward, builds resilience for the long run.
Tell us about the core values or philosophies that guide your creative practice.
Celebrating diversity
Being an expat has shaped the way I see the world. Stepping outside your native culture forces you to question assumptions, stay curious, and find connections across different contexts. I believe the richness of different voices and experiences makes design stronger. Diversity, in all its forms, is a creative advantage.
Optimistic by design
I’m a life lover, a glass-half-full kind of person, and a firm believer that creativity can make things better. Optimism isn’t naïve, it allows me to approach every brief with energy, possibility, and a sense of play.
Collaboration over hierarchy
The best creative work happens in environments built on trust, transparency, and mutual respect. I see clients as partners. Open dialogue leads to stronger ideas, and stronger ideas lead to braver, more distinctive outcomes.
Loving a challenge
Whether it's an ambitious campaign or running a marathon, I'm motivated by growth. Every challenge is an invitation to experiment, rethink, and push further. Nothing is too bold, too big, or too weird. That's usually where the magic lives.
Setting the bar high
As Charles Eames said: 'The details are not the details. They make the design.' Every project I take on receives the same level of intention and craft because that's what separates good from memorable.
What needs to change, so emerging and under-represented creative professionals have more opportunity, are seen and heard?
The entry bar is broken. Too often, junior roles require two or three years of experience which raises an obvious question: how are graduates supposed to get that experience if no one will hire them without it?
Schools need to bridge the gap between academic training and real practice. That means bringing industry voices into the classroom, creating genuine opportunities for students to engage with the realities of the market, and building paid internships and apprenticeships into curricula. Not as optional extras, but as core parts of the experience. Students who graduate with real-world time behind them are in a completely different position to those who don't.
And for those of us further along: open doors. Make introductions. Share knowledge. Recommend people. Mentor. The creative community thrives when it's generous and we have more power to pass opportunity on than we sometimes realise. Talent develops with opportunity, not exhaustion.
How important is it that creative professionals find their unique voice?
It’s essential. Technical skills are no longer the differentiator. Software can be learned, and AI can generate visuals. What cannot be automated is perspective. In an oversaturated market, your voice is your competitive edge. Your story, your quirks, your cultural references, that’s what makes your work recognisable.
Branding principles apply to personal branding too. Why do we choose one brand over another offering the same product? Because of identity, emotion, and narrative. The same applies to creatives. So explore what makes you YOU. Follow the curiosities that don’t always make logical sense. Start the passion projects that excite you, even if they seem niche or “too much.” Those experiments often become your signature. Your individuality isn’t something to tone down, it’s the strategy.
Looking ahead, what do you think are the key factors that will influence change for creative professionals?
How much does your city influence your work?
How much does your culture influence your work?
My European background naturally influenced my vision of design. Growing up in France near the Swiss border, Swiss design principles seeped in early: grids, structure, clarity, and precision. Even though my aesthetic isn’t minimalist, that foundation is embedded in the way I think and create. I’m highly process-driven and organised; even if my office looks chaotic, there’s always a system behind it.
French poster culture has also played a significant role in shaping my visual sensibility. I've long admired Raymond Savignac for his ability to combine humour, simplicity, and bold colour into something that is both immediate and enduring.
I’ve also always been drawn to the Memphis Group. Its unapologetic rejection of convention challenged the idea that good design had to be serious or exclusive. In a world that increasingly leans toward neutrality and sameness, I feel compelled to bring energy, optimism, and vibrancy back into my work.
Tell us some of your favourite, creative professionals and inspiring places in your city!
With over 8,000 festivals and events each year, Melbourne is often called Australia’s event capital, so there’s always something feeding your creativity here!
One of my absolute favourites is the Melbourne Fringe Festival. It creates space for bold, experimental and underrepresented voices. I’ve been volunteering since 2022, and every year I leave feeling creatively recharged. Last year, I saw someone dressed as an alien handing out flyers for his show "B48Y: Crash Lands on Earth!". Pure curiosity led me there and it turned out to be my favourite performance of the season (shoutout to Lukas Meintjes). An extraterrestrial clown trying to learn how to be human? Completely absurd, and unexpectedly moving. It's exactly the kind of art I find most inspiring, hence my dream to design their campaign one day.
I’m also inspired by Melbourne’s design markets such as The Makers & Shakers, Finders Keepers, and The Big Design Market. They showcase incredible local makers and creatives like LoopLab, Pete Cromer and Kitiya Palaskas. Wandering through those stalls on a Sunday morning is my idea of creative therapy.
I also love immersive, narrative-driven venues like Storyville and spaces created by Funlab such as Holey Moley and Hijinx Hotel. I’m fascinated by how they use interior design as storytelling. Hijinx Hotel, for example, feels like a collision between Wes Anderson’s symmetrical universe and the colourful chaos of Willy Wonka’s factory.
If there’s a common thread across all of this, it’s colour and playfulness. But inspiration can also be quieter: wandering through the National Gallery of Victoria, running past Luna Park, or simply having a coffee on Smith Street.
What should emerging creative professionals keep in mind as they begin their design career?
Be resilient
Rejection is part of the journey. Sometimes you don’t enter through the main entrance, you take the side door. Early in my freelance career, I worked with dream organisations on smaller, production-heavy tasks. I knew I was capable of more, but patience was key. Once trust was built, more meaningful opportunities followed, and I eventually led creative campaigns from scratch. There is no overnight success. Stay consistent, stay curious and keep showing up.
Community is essential.
Freelancing can feel isolating, but surrounding yourself with people who understand your reality makes a huge difference, emotionally and professionally. I believe in collaboration over competition. Go to events. Meet people. Talk about your work. Opportunities often grow from conversations, not just portfolios.
Create the work you want to be hired for
Self-initiated projects are powerful. If your portfolio doesn’t yet reflect the kind of work you want to do, create it. They showcase your point of view, your ambition, and your creative direction. There are so many brief generators and challenges available, use them as a playground.
Be proactive
Clients won’t magically appear the moment you publish your website. Send the email. Follow up. Put yourself forward. Waiting to be discovered isn’t a strategy, creating your own momentum is.
And finally, learn to say no.
Sometimes saying no creates space for a bigger yes. It took me time to understand this. When a project feels misaligned or something in your gut says “this isn’t right,” listen to it. Every time I ignored that instinct, I regretted it. Setting boundaries isn’t being difficult, it’s protecting your work, your energy, and your mental health. The right clients will respect that.