Top 5 Quotes from Georgia Perry

Last month Shillington Melbourne was lucky enough to meet Melbourne talent and lover of all things retro kitsch and colour, Georgia Perry. Georgia works with clients around the world, combining her unique style of illustration, graphic design and fine art to create beautiful and memorable visual solutions. Georgia also produces her own range of accessories and is best known for her recent personal project—a range of unique and colourful ‘celebrity’ enamel pins featuring pop culture icons like Yeezy and David Bowie.

“I’ve always loved illustration, but I feel I have a definite advantage over illustrators that can’t necessarily design or handle print production.”

Georgia shared her design journey with our #shillomel students—from her humble beginnings growing up in the small, red, dusty, outback town of Broken Hill to to setting up her own design practice and working as an illustrator. Anyone that’s followed Georgia’s career has seen how her work has varied in the last few years as she’s managed to successfully break into the world of commercial design by bridging art and craft elements.

“Stay inspired! Get away from the computer!”

“Draw your inspiration from everywhere—go to the local hardware store, international supermarkets, stationary shops, look down, look up, get outside and look at the world around you.”

Here are our top five quotes from Georgia’s guest lecture at Shillington Melbourne on how to keep things fresh and original: 

1. “Put yourself on the internet. So much of my work has come through people seeing my stuff on Pinterest and Instagram.”
2. “When hiring I think people look for personality. Set your own briefs and feature them in your folio. Self-initiated work allows more of your personality to shine through.”
3. “There’s definitely benefits to working in small design studios. I was able to soak up a lot of extra information that helped me make the transition to working alone.”
4. “Working for yourself is way harder but way better than anyone will ever tell you.”
5. “Graphic Design is so versatile! You can work across so many different mediums!”

We followed up the guest lecture with a small Q&A where Georgia shared some valuable advice. Her inventive ways to stay inspired and insights on how to go-it-alone and work for yourself really resonated with the students.

What’s your personal design process like? How do you tackle a brief?

GP: Stay away from the computer for as long as possible. Get a pen. Start with mind–mapping and word association, then to moodboards. I live for a moodboard!

You talked about some self-initiated briefs where you chased a client you really wanted to work for. How do go about that?

GP: Stalk them on the internet and then contact them! It’s as simple as that. If you’re nice and say you’re a big fan, most people will be into that.

A massive shout–out to Georgia Perry. It’s hard not to become a huge fan of her work—check out her portfolio for some multi–coloured inspiration to brighten your Monday. If you’re looking to add some flair to your wardrobe, Georgia’s enamel pins are available from her website.

Top image via The Design Files.