Logos 4 $$$ poster

The 2025 Melbourne Design Festival is approaching. Having worked on previous design festivals (including the inaugural 2004 event), the development of ideas and projects is familiar. However, skepticism remains regarding the emphasis on the "joy of making" when securing a viable income from creative work is increasingly difficult – particularly when aiming for artistic expression beyond commercial output.

The theme of "big change meets ironical" prompted a return, resulting in the hand-painting of this t-shirt last night, 15 May 2025, to celebrate the 2025 Melbourne Design Festival.

In 2008, the Global Financial Crisis inspired the creation of several posters and an annual Christmas campaign. The rapid loss of projects within a week significantly impacted team remuneration and family support, consequently altering my professional approach.

A creative career is ups and downs, and stabilising these variations into consistent upward progress is a continuous effort, especially given the proliferation of tools and resources encouraging widespread creative uptake.

The recent years, the emergence of new technologies, and a sluggish economy, have constituted a silent but significant decline, characterised by the loss of consistent, quality projects and widespread redundancies among creative professionals, then throw in the mix reaching 50, and the rightful rethink of male privilege. Modesty and focusing on personal creative and skill development is my way of getting on with it.

In the meantime, my thoughts go out to my peers and the young people entering the creative industry.

I am thinking of producing run of these tees – $49 each, reach out if you are interested.

Each poster is printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308 gsm · 100% cotton · white · matte finish · smooth texture. Carefully rolled and tube shipped to your door

Hand-signed and dated 15 May 2025 by Aa