Leona Fietz

When did you fall in love with design and how did you get started?

My oldest sister Cassie is a graphic designer too – I remember flipping through her Monster Children magazines and getting kicked off her computer after hours of clicking away in Illustrator and InDesign – so it was always around! I enrolled in a Bachelor of Communication and Design on the Sunshine Coast, where I met The Paper Beast (my creative partner in crime) and Matthew Haynes - who later got me a internship at Creative Emporium where I was introduced to boutique printing and design.

Where do you gather inspiration, on and off the web?

My two staple type reference books are Scripts and Shadow type by Louise Fili & Steven Heller + Ellen Lupton's thinking with type. As I go on and explore different styles I'm finding myself let the meaning of the word inspire and inform the treatment.

I'm not someone who checks certain blogs regularly - though typeverything is my homepage Ha! I am always reading or listening to a interview on a favourite artist at the time online and gathering phrases I resonate with or find hilarious (Stephen Powers, Margaret Kilgallen, Geoff McFetridge, Chris Johanason, Grimes, Lena Dunham, Tavi Gevinson, War paint). Also the Asia Pacific Design Library would have to be my favourite place when I'm in need of a refresh!

Tell us about where you are today and what you love about your job!

For the last couple of years I have been building my own folio of mainly self initiated type pieces whilst working part time in an art supplies store. Now I'm attracting type based projects and more collaborations with other illustrators. I love how lettering lends itself to a more illustrative and hands on approach - I only deal with 26 letters but they are so versatile and can literally be made out of any medium! or with a range of writing instruments.

What advice would you give students starting out?

Be friendly – the degree of separation is next to none in creative circles – good and bad news spreads pretty fast – use your smile to your advantage! Go to ALL of the events – it will expose you to all kinds of people, creative roles, approaches and generally make you feel like you aren't the only one struggling! - band together in one way or another. Pursue your other interests and creative mediums outside of class and try to tie them into your work - put your personality into it. Go the extra mile with your projects and people, follow up, print it on the nicer stock – above all else; listen to your gut!