Hear straight from our graduates.

Shillington has been the stepping stone to my professional and personal growth.

Learning Experience Designer at Standards Australia

Karen Liang

Why did you decide to study at Shillington? What were you up to beforehand?

Before I studied at Shillington I was working at Commonwealth Bank and in my second year of completing a Bachelor of Commerce at Macquarie University. I didn’t see myself working in this field long-term and wanted to do something more creative—it was a big risk but I’m forever grateful I put myself first and did it!

I did a lot of research on what graphic design courses were out there and knew I didn’t want to be studying for a few years—this led me to Shillington! All their reviews were consistently amazing!

Did you have any design experience going into the course? Or was everything new to you?

I knew absolutely nothing about design and doubted I was even creative, but I was always drawn to packaging and branding wherever I went.

What was your favourite brief you worked on during the course? Tell us your process!

Creating an identity for a new accounting software! I was doing everything by the book, trying to come up with concepts but for the first time, I felt like I was making no progress. Then, it was like a lightbulb moment, the entire concept, branding and logo appeared. I realised I was complicating things and all I needed to do was take a break and refocus on the purpose of this software—that’s how “Sprout” started.

This was my favourite brief because this is where I learnt the most important lesson about the creative process—take a break, you can’t rush this.

How have the last two years as a designer been? Tell us your story from graduation to today.

For the first year, I was always going to interviews and completed internships and design trials at studios. I struggled to land a job at first, but this is where I learnt the most—it gave me the motivation to believe in myself and continue to work harder. Then, I finally landed a job at Standards Australia as a Graphic Designer and have since transitioned into a Learning Experience Designer.

I freelance on the side from time to time and am currently working on multiple personal creative projects! I went from having no creative experience to screen printing my designs onto t-shirts, designing merchandise, websites, EDMs and logos and pursuing photography.

Shillington has been the stepping stone to my professional and personal growth.

What would you say to someone who is skeptical about studying at Shillington? Any tips?

Reading about Shillington teachers and looking through their work helped me make a decision because that was the level of creativity I wanted to achieve. It may seem pricey but the knowledge you walk away with is priceless because it will form the fundamentals of your career. My tip is to enjoy every moment and talk to your teachers, because you will miss it once you graduate!

Check out Karen’s website and follow her on Instagram to stay up to date with her work.