Best of 2024: What inspired you this year

Throughout the year, we’ve been telling the stories of our students, grads and teachers. One question we always ask: What’s inspiring you right now?

We’ve gathered some of their best inspo from 2024. From music, to documentaries, to illustrations - some wild, some beautiful, some tasty, but all wonderful in their own way. It's been great to see how we all seek inspiration for our design practice in different ways. Some through our eyes, some through our ears. We hope you can find some inspiration in here too.

Gabby Vincente

@gabby_vincente

"I’ve been a fan of Kensuke Koike’s work for years. Watching him slice, trim, and reassemble old photographs into something completely wild and new is truly captivating. I love witnessing the craft and process behind each piece; it’s fascinating to see how they unfold, and I’m always surprised by the finished results. His work inspires me to see things from different angles and reminds me that rearranging visuals can create entirely new contexts and meanings. And his creativity motivates me to experiment with my own design projects, as I have a deep fondness for nostalgia and old photographs."

Simon Wiltshire

@simondangerwiltshire

"I recently re-watched one of my all-time favourite movies - Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It’s about this 80-something year old sushi chef in Japan who yearns to achieve sushi perfection in his tiny restaurant underneath Shinujku Station in Tokyo. In the movie Jiro makes the distinction of not doing what you love, but rather loving what you do, whatever that may be. He lives by the shokunin philosophy of striving for perfection through practice, repetition, and incremental improvement. If that doesn’t pump your little graphic design tyre nothing will."

Orion Currier

@oh_rye_n

"Thylacine is a French musician and composer. I went to one of his concerts for the first time this year and was absolutely flabbergasted by the performance. He would do a live set with an entire orchestra, also playing some instruments himself and adding them to the mix.

I think it transposes really well to the way we can design nowadays, sometimes mixing all kinds of media (3D, craft, AI, photography, illustration) can create an astonishing piece of work."

Jumanah Abualkhair

@jumanah.design

"I can’t help but feel inspired by postage stamps and how they embody history, design, and culture all within the constraints of a small, frail piece of paper. There are so many creative stamp designs out there, but what blows my mind is how these designs have been touched by time and people—regardless of geographic location or people’s socioeconomic status."

Janvee Thakur

@janvee.th

"I’ve always found cinematography and videography quite interesting. I have been watching some creators who put snippets of their work on social media. Sonya Akulshina is one such creator, who describes her art as something that is real and not real at the same time.

Her work consists of small moments from life that are not a part of her film, but could be. People watching can be fascinating and to turn that into a medium for others to reflect, sympathise, or just simply enjoy is something that inspires me."

David Scott

@_dvdscott

"Last year I came across an artist and designer from my local area called Stuart Langley and I’ve been obsessed with his work ever since. He creates art to be experienced IRL and it often appears really joyful at first glance, but if you dig deeper it has a bit of a bite to it for balance. He’s even created his own ghost train about the horrors of everyday life which blew my mind."

Julia Zou

@juliawzou

"Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of audiobooks (currently The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion) that I can listen to while I work or when I’m doing chores around the house. I also love picking up books on my shelf for artistic inspiration, everything from comics (one of my favorites is a risograph printed one called Electrocat & Lightning Dog) to children’s books (I have a signed copy of Jessica Hische’s Tomorrow I’ll Be Brave, which has the most beautiful lettering!) It’s easy to get caught up in your design work, but I find it so important to look to other creative sources because you never know when inspiration will strike!"

Marssaié Francis

@marssaie

"I’m currently captivated by 3D art, with a particular focus on concept spaces. I love how these designers seamlessly blend functional and fantasy, making these concepts feel completely plausible. It's a delightful harmony of playfulness in design which feels refreshing. I believe the spaces we inhabit significantly influence our mood and overall well-being. I’m so inspired by this area that I am becoming acquainted with Blender to see what I can create in this new space."

Damien Gleye

@damocreativity

"Khruangbin's Live at Sydney Opera House has been on repeat over the past few weeks. I’ve heard their music described in a few different ways before, but my favourite is that “it’s like being inside of a lava lamp”. If you haven’t heard their music before, do yourself a favour and chuck it on in the background, it’s a good vibe and gets the creative juices flowing!"

Amy Bridge

@amybridgecreative

"I recently travelled to Mexico, and the vibrant colours and rich culture left a lasting impression on me. A highlight of the trip was visiting Frida Kahlo's house, which was both eye-opening and beautiful. My personal design work typically features bold and contrasting colours, as these are what I am naturally drawn to. Seeing such colours used in real-life architecture and design has reignited my excitement to create fun and vibrant designs again. I had an idea for a branding project a year ago, and this trip to Mexico has inspired me to revisit it with fresh, new ideas."