Dean Gordon

Tell us a bit about yourself and your creative path.

I am a designer, developer, artist and musician living in Melbourne. My creative path hasn't been the straightest of journeys. After VCE I completed a Certificate IV in Multimedia at Holmesglen TAFE, and I thought programming at University was the logical next step - however failing miserably at a Computer Science degree caused me to step back and rethink. I spent eighteen months travelling and working in the UK and Europe; it was during this time I accidentally fell into my first design job, working for a digital agency in London. The position was advertised as a data entry role, and turned out to be entering vehicle spec and resizing images for the new Mercedes Benz UK website. Three weeks later the task was complete, however I was asked to stay on and work with the team as a designer. Upon returning to Australia I was unsuccessful in my application to University, so I returned to Holmesglen to complete a six month design course. This provided me with a body of work and along with my thirst for knowledge I was accepted into Monash University's Bachelor of Design. Throughout my degree I had a number of in-house design roles for companies in the retail sector, and in my final year I completed an internship at a publishing agency who went on to employ me as a freelance designer on a regular basis.

What are you working on now?

Currently I am working for a boutique communications agency, working on all manner of projects in print, digital and even the occasional television campaign. I also freelance after hours. Outside of paid work, I'm the President of AGDA's VIC student council. The Council coordinates a variety of events targeted primarily at students and graduates, although I think they are great for people at any stage of their creative careers. I also belong to The Short List, a collective comprised of fellow Monash University graduates. We produce individual responses to an assigned brief, and recently we have exhibited at No Vacancy and Supergraph design fair. It is really interesting to see how the briefs are interpreted by the collectives members.

What would you love to be working on?

Being in the early stages of my career, I'm enjoying trying new things and finding new creative avenues. Branding is a branch of design that I particularly enjoy, and I find it very rewarding to work with companies in creating a public face they can be proud of. I'm looking forward to exploring this path further as my career progresses.

You were a part of TDK’s THREESOME exhibition! Who did you team up with? What did you get out of the experience?

Threesome was a really fun project. I worked with Nick Hallam from Positive Posters and then Monash student Domenico Mazza. We chose to keep our designs secret until the final piece was put together, but with a phrase like 'Don't Chase Waterfalls' how can you go wrong? Pasting up the three metre high final piece was less than stealthy, but we got there, complete with a QR code linking directly to TLC's classic tune on YouTube. It was a great opportunity to collaborate with some talented designers, and also pick up some new skillz in brewing wheat paste and installing oversized pasteups.