Spreadable Blog

Screenprinting; or how CRUMB taught me mistakes are visual treasure

Benji Crocker — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 21:44:01 GMT

In case you missed it, we recently published a portfolio piece for CRUMB — the hottest new cafe and patisserie in Lambton. In collaboration with Ben Richardson from Autumn Rooms, and Gareth Williams from Covered in Crumbs we developed a brand, marketing strategy and packaging design that is just as sweet as their pastries.

Exhausted from the greasy, multi-fingered and creatively bankrupt slop of the rise of AI, we saw this brand as an opportunity to reinvest in the other end of the spectrum. The totally human. The honest mistakes. The mess. Every piece of typography within the CRUMB brand was created with just a pencil and paper. In an era of stifling attempts to create perfection, there is joy and camaraderie in the unrefined.

Merchandising is hard. As a designer, it can be difficult to resolve the tension of creating things in a world already bursting at the seams with stuff. In a bold lateral move, Headjam chose again to invest in a less conventional idea—bring screen printing into the office!

Fitting out the creative space with a selection of tech from xTool, we developed a complete screen printing setup that utilises laser engraved screen mesh, and traditional heat pressing to create bespoke apparel and merchandise. A tantalising amount of control to say the least. Over a few days of smeared prints, jeans that will never look the same again, and very sore feet we developed the workflow and skills to begin screen printing small-run, up cycled apparel.

This combination of process and up cycled apparel creates a uniquely offbeat opportunity. Standing in front of a pile of old tees, there are endless ways to remix, blast over, play-off-of, edit, ignore, or highlight the existing (or just barely still existing) graphics. In a new kind of thinking, you stare at a shirt and wonder, does this 2000’s clipart pig give me CRUMB vibes? Is this Vinnie’s button up kind of giving that Melbourne festival vibe? Can I get CRUMB on this barely-there pashmina fabric?

Each garment is printed by hand. The hand sometimes makes mistakes, but CRUMB is all about the creative mistakes. Not enough ink and you get an interesting texture, too much ink and you get an even more interesting texture. Neglecting a first layer of white makes the print feel like its already been there for years—a strange vision of the future ‘up cycled, up cycled’ tee.

This simple idea at its core aims to resolve some of the discomfort the design industry has yet to confront—that we’re often making more things than people will ever want or need. Having screen printed the word CRUMB a hundred times over, there’s a glimpse of a different future. One where apparel acts as a cultural relic, layered with years of ideas and dreams, worn and mended and reprinted until the only purpose it could ever hope to fulfil is that of a rag.

Read more about CRUMB branding, or if you are curious about our screen printing process or have a project in mind get in touch.

Campaign Brief: New unbranded campaign via Headjam puts foster care needs front and centre

Headjam Design — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 21:31:12 GMT

Two local not-for-profit foster care agencies, CatholicCare Social Services Hunter-Manning and Allambi Care, have banded together in a new foster care campaign developed by Headjam, rolling out across the Hunter region.

The unbranded campaign aims to raise awareness about the critical shortage of carers in the region and urges the community to contact a foster care agency – any foster care agency – to provide a home for a child in need.

Read the full article at Campaign Brief.

Or read more about our Foster Care work in our Allambi Care case study.

Fragile as humans

Sarah Cook — Wed, 15 May 2024 03:15:24 GMT

Australian singer-songwriter, musician and all-time great human, Emily Barker, collaborated with Headjam recently on the album art, photography and music video for some new work.

In a recent interview, she was asked to talk about the cover art for her new album, Fragile as Humans. Emily said the following...

"For the first time, I was able to work with a creative agency, Headjam, based in New South Wales in Australia. I had a meeting with them–8 people, graphic designers, photographers, videographers–and they had my mini blurb about each song and the record. They asked me so many questions about the album, what films I love, what books I read, what art I enjoy, to get an idea of my personal aesthetic, I suppose.

The album cover comes from [a line on] the song “The Quiet Ways”, “budding branch on fallen tree,” and it’s partly inspired by [the line on] “Feathered Thing”, “I went to the burnt-out woods / A tourist with some damaged goods.” In Australia, just like many other parts of the world, we deal with fire. It’s that balance of hope and grief where a piece of wood has been burned but there’s green growing from it.

It was amazing to work with this team of professionals and not have to come up with ideas. They came back with this beautiful package, a video treatment for “Wild to Be Sharing”, and the graphics and photography of the album.

It feels like a strong continuation of the narrative. It feels really cohesive.

I love what they’ve come up with."

Read the full interview here.

Emily Barker - Wild to be Sharing This Moment (official music video)

We're looking forward to sharing the full case study with you soon. Until then, some of our other music work can be found here.

B&T Magazine: UNICEF hopes donation will stream in for Ukraine with gaming campaign, via Headjam

Headjam Design — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 03:47:24 GMT

UNICEF Australias has launched “Gamers4Action,” a campaign that allows the community and private sector to raise funds to help children and families affected by the Ukraine war, by gaming, streaming, or watching others play their favourite games.

Read the full article at B&T Magazine.

Or read the Headjam case study.

Spreadable Ep 011 - Speaking in Colour

Sarah Cook — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 06:25:38 GMT

Australia is not one country. There are 250 individual nations recognised by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, all with unique cultures that are location-specific. Speaking in Colour, an 100% Aboriginal owned organisation, connects people to culture. Headjam collaborated with them to deliver a brand to rival the world’s top cultural institutions.

If you’re new here, Headjam are a creative agency operating on Awabakal land – Newcastle, Australia. Spreadable is where we go behind the scenes on some of our projects to demystify the creative process. In this Spreadable episode, we talk to Speaking in Colour owner, Cherie Johnson, about her business and creating a brand inspired by 65 thousand years of Aboriginal history.

Looking for more? As well as these informal episodes that aim to demystify the creative process, we also create case studies that outline the brief, audience and challenge we were solving for each project. Click here for the Speaking in Colour case study.

This project was listed as a 2022 Finalist in the Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA), in the category of Design for Good – Social & Community.

Video transcript

Sarah: Hi, welcome to Spreadable. For those of you that are new here, this is Headjam, we're a creative agency running on Awabakal land in Newcastle, Australia. My name is Sarah. I'm the Chief Creative Officer here at Headjam. And today, we are doing a Spreadable episode, which is a deep dive into some of the creative projects that we've done in the past. We're talking with Speaking in Colour. And for those of you that are tuning in from overseas, Australia is not just one country, it's made up of 250 individual nations and each culture is location specific. And that's kind of why Speaking in Colour exists to connect people to culture.

Today, I'm speaking with Cherie, she's the owner of Speaking in Colour. she is many things: a mother, an artist, a fellow female business owner, a lecturer, a PhD candidate, an author, an Aboriginal rights activist. You're the one on the megaphone at those rallies. I've heard you. And all-round kick-ass human. The owner of Speaking in Colour, Cherie Johnson, welcome.

Do you want kick us off by telling us a little bit about yourself and why you started Speaking in Colour?

Cherie: Sure. Thank you for having me today. My name is Cherie Johnson. I was born in McLaren. So my family on my father's side, they're all Scottish, but on my mother's side, we've always identified as Aboriginal people. So, we're actually Gomeroi descendants. Because I was raised with my nan, my mom, I've always had a closer affinity with my Aboriginality, my Aboriginal side of the family. Not denying my Scottish side at all, because very evident in my world, but it's something that I've been really passionate about which led to my whole starting of Speaking in Colour. What's happening today has been…there's a need for education and I could see that. As a mother and as a creative myself, I felt that. I studied in education as a teacher. I also studied in the creative industries as an artist and a curator, and I always wanted to be able to amplify voice to make sense for my colleagues around me, but also for my family and for my young people coming through.

I'm a mum of a 15 and a 13-year-old and I just would like to do my part to make the world a better space so that they don't feel othered and they feel they belong.

So for me, I think starting Speaking in Colour was never a dream. It was a door that opened that I was brave to step into. I'm still being brave.

Sarah: Did you feel compelled?

Cherie: Yeah, I did. Like at some... Yeah, I did.

Sarah: Yeah. I think quite a few business owners often find themselves in that spot, you know, like it wasn't always a choice or a dream of, "Oh, wow. I can't wait to grow up and run a business." But it was more feeling compelled to do something that you always knew needed to be done.

Cherie: Yeah. I always worked in community and I always did work around amplifying voice. So when I was teaching and working with my colleagues who asked me questions of, "How do I implement Aboriginal perspectives into my day to day curriculum?” And as Australian teachers, it was a genuine question. And I was like, well, yeah, really good point. How do we help equipped people? How do we look at the education curriculum, support them through that? How do we help them engage with the young people? So, it kind of just birthed out of that idea. And then, you know, getting asked to go back and teach academically and there was opportunities for study. So yeah, it definitely was a, "Somebody needs to do something." And then I kind of looked around, "Why isn't somebody doing something more?" And then I thought, "Well, I could be that somebody, could I?" And then, we just kind of stepped into this space. But I did not expect it to be what it is today.

Sarah: Yeah. And that's interesting what you say about the Australian education system and teachers looking for answers there. Because I know from my personal experience, when I went to school, I learnt very little about Aboriginal culture. And you might be appalled, but not surprised to hear that. I don't remember having an Indigenous person come and talk to our school at all, ever.

As part of us working together Headjam did...a group from Headjam did the workshops that you run, and I learned way more in one hour than I ever did in the, you know, decade and a half that I went to school. So, it has... Have you heard... Has that also been your experience that a lot of... I mean, I think it's changing a bit now, but a lot... There's this big gap and there's big appetite.

Cherie: Definitely. So if I start with education and go into the corporate. So, what happens is as Australian teachers with an Australian Curriculum, the government saying, "Every program, every time implement Aboriginal perspectives." Not just to help young people who identify as Aboriginal Torres Strait to feel like they belong, but also to educate because this is our point of difference. I mean, how many people travel overseas to have cultural experiences?

Here in Australia, we're actually the oldest living civilization in the world.

Sarah: Yeah. Which is wild. Like 65,000 years, right?

Cherie: Yeah. 100%.

And actually, we don't even know.

Sarah: True.

Cherie: We actually don't even know. So the oldest man-made structure in the world is in New South Wales, Australia.

Sarah: That's wild.

Cherie: And it's the Brewarrina Fish Traps. I know. And the oldest human remains is also in New South Wales. Mungo men and Mungo women, and you can tell by the way that they've been laid ceremonially and how they've been buried. That gives reference to civilization, and ritual and culture. And I know I'm talking philosophy now, but it kind of makes you wonder, why hasn't Australia embraced Aboriginal people and culture? Because this is our point of difference and this could be huge for Australian public.

Sarah: Oh, absolutely.

Cherie: But people are awkward for all the reasons. So how do you help people move-

Sarah: I'm sure there's a lot of guilt there. Perhaps.

Cherie: So as human nature, our fight or flight.

Sarah: And like you say, it’s one of the oldest but it's also so recent, as well. Even when, you know, it's only 200 years ago that white people even came to Australia. And when you were running the workshop, and I think you say this about all your Aboriginal facilitators, you know, there's personal stories. And I think that helped as well. That was a really interesting connection point. Yeah, of course, they're personal stories, because it happens so recently. So yeah, very old, very new. Obviously, a need.

Cherie: I mean, it was only 40 years ago that we had the New South Wales land rights act that said in a court of law that Aboriginal people did have connection to country- country significant, country is of economic, spiritual and cultural benefit, need for community. And then 30 years ago, we had the Mabo decision, which said, you know, "Terra nullius." So Australia was formed under that term, terra nullius, which means land belonging to nobody. So it's that whole idea that Aboriginal people were either invisible, or subhuman or something. So like you said when people deep dive into that, they're like, "What does that even mean?"

Sarah: I know.

Cherie: So today, what's happening in the corporate world, is people are saying, "We want to be part of the change." But they're not sure how to be part of the change. So they're like, "Well, we want to do these RAPs or we want to do a employment strategy, or we would like to partner with community in a particular way." And my approach to that is what needs to be strategic? Why are you doing anything?

And what outcome do you want to achieve as a result of it? And then, how do we navigate that space? So I think being in education for so long, and then also, you know, I've been around a little while now and I've seen good, bad and otherwise. But it's how to navigate any business manage change, which is really interesting. And that's what we do.

Sarah: Yeah, that is interesting.

Cherie: It's good.

Sarah: I read a statistic that less than 1% of Australian businesses are run by Aboriginal people. So I had a question for you. How have you found running a business, not just as Aboriginal person, but as a woman?

Cherie: Uh, well-

Sarah: (laughs) Just to like, dive right in there. That has been gnarly for you? (laughs).

Cherie: It's gnarly. Gnarly is the right answer. I didn't want to be a business owner. I just wanted to be a human making a difference in this world and this has kind of evolved. What's happened in the indigenous business sector is it's the fastest growing sector in all of Australia which is phenomenal. The government has had a hand in that, so the government has said anybody receiving government funding, need to look at their procurement policy which is 3% of a business’s spend. Is there a way that they can investigate redirecting 3% of their spend to an Aboriginal business? Because Aboriginal businesses employ Aboriginal people. So the mindset behind what they're trying to achieve is, because if there's a breadwinner in a family, then you can break the cycle of disadvantage. We're talking housing, education, and health. So that's really important. However, we're on the cusp of growth, and it has been growing pains. Like, everybody's experience. So now we've got all these, from a ministerial perspective, you've got that we understand the impact that this can have on Australian society. And then you've got people who are business-ready, and then it's connecting the in-betweens to make sure there's ample supply chain and products coming through the businesses for these Aboriginal businesses. One, to keep afloat. Two, to keep capability in house. You know, you need to have good projects, to be able to employ good people. You know, all of these factors. So you don’t go into business light-hearted and if you think you can go in with the skillset that you had when you left high school then you're in for a rude shock. So I've just finished that AICD course and brilliant-

Sarah: What's AICD? Sorry.

Cherie: Oh it's the Australian Institute of Company Directors course.

Sarah: Okay. That sounds serious.

Cherie: It was a lot of reading. It was a big assignment and exam and I'm like, "Ah, oh my gosh. Thank god that's over." However, that's the biggest thing, right? You constantly have to be in the business delivering, working on your business. But for me personally, all of this is for my kids, to make the world a better place. So it's the whole, you know, you've got to do what you need to do for your clients, but not at the cost of my children. So for me starting a business was tricky. In the indigenous space often because I'm in a disruptive industry, people are wondering whether or not they need to have these products. They're also wondering if two dollars and two minutes is ample to be able to execute. Which often isn't the case. So for me it's that constant balance of, well why am I in the game? What is useful? What's beneficial? What's going bring about change? Without sacrificing my family at the same time. And that's the real conversation of business, isn't it really?

Sarah: It's a constant struggle, right? Like, I think, now that everybody's at work, you know, it feels like the way, obviously family is still important. We have a five-year-old at home. I mean, not at home right now. He is at school. (laughs)

Cherie: We love school. Yeah.

Sarah: Don't just, I don't just leave him at home and come to work. But you know. Like I don't think there's ever a time where you think, "Wow, everything just feels perfectly balanced." It's either you're sacrificing one thing to get on with something else or vice versa. And it's never...well, I've never found a rhythm where everything feels perfectly balanced and I, I actually don't think that's true. I don't think that there is balance. There's sanity but I don't know, I don't know if there's balance.

Cherie: Yeah, you need to be good in your soul with the decisions that you make. So someone once said to me, "As a woman, you can have everything. Just not at the same time."

Sarah: Yeah. Fair.

Cherie: So there's seasons in life. So for me I've made a conscious decision to only do x amount of projects because I have a 15 and 13 year old and I'm a single mom. And I, my daughter is a sass queen. She gives me some serious side eye. And my son needed help on his geography assignment up until 11:30 last night because I didn't get home from a gig until 9:30. You know, 101 parenting right here (laughs).

Sarah: Yeah, it's a lot, isn't it?

Cherie: But we got it printed and he got it submitted, you know? And it's just, yeah. So like I said to you before, Thursday night I'm meant to be at something else but I've decided I'm not going go because I want to be at home and have dinner with the kids. I've already sacrificed another night this week. So it's being okay with the decisions that you make so that's why you need to understand your why and where your values sit. Because someone's always going to be unhappy with you. But as long as it sits right in your soul.

Sarah: Yeah. And I think that's modern business, right? Like, we don't want to copy what's come before. We want a new way of doing life and business and that whole juggle.

Cherie: Yeah, definitely.

Sarah: I have a curly question for you.

Cherie: Ooh.

Sarah: Yep. So, Headjam is run by three white people.

Cherie: Oh yeah.

Sarah: Obviously we're working with an Aboriginal organisation. Tell us a little bit about why you chose to work with Headjam.

Cherie: Your values. I've seen your clients. And I was like, you know, I don't want to make anybody feel bad that might be listening to this, but I've gotten to the stage in business who I choose who I work with. Because I need to have that value alignment and you guys are really funky. And because we are in a disruptive space I needed to be aligned with a marketing company that understood our risk tolerance for being outside the box. But also equally being super clean and minimal and just neat and tidy. And because you help. So I looked at your previous work and you came recommended through somebody who I trusted. So for me, the fruit of your portfolio and your relationships was the reason.

Sarah: I think something that we really value is really doing the hard work to understand the business. So whether that's any business, you know, like, I think yours is a great co study. We did workshops, we really kind of dived in there. But that, that wasn't unique to working with you. I think that's something that we've found is one of the most important things of working with any business. So that's finding out what the business does, how they work, and then who they want to talk to and what their interested in.

Cherie: I knew that you guys were the right pick when Luke had said to me, "Tell me, let's tee up a time to talk about what you do." And I said, "Rather, why don't you bring your team to come and see what we do?" And we had that day, there was a couple of people in the room. And we had that strategy, kind of brainstorming, talking about the essence of the products that we deliver. And then by you guys having that experience I knew, well, if you heard that, you would hear what we're trying to achieve on a bigger scale. And you did and then I think you've identified the values really beautifully and seen the pace that we run at and yeah that was a really good approach. So I appreciated your listening and your leaning in. And really clearly from that you kind of laid down any pre... this is the biggest thing for me. Because we're in disrupt... like, people go, "Aw, you should be pigeonholed this way or that way." And especially as a female. You think, "Well actually, no." As a female-

Sarah: Don't you love it when people tell you how you should be? Fun, isn't it? (laughs)

Cherie: Yeah. Shouldn't you be at home? Should-

Sarah: That's a whole other podcast.

Cherie: (laughs) Shouldn't you be at home more with your chil- it's like, you know what?

My children are allowed to see success so that they expect that for themselves as well.

Sarah: Yep!

Cherie: But that, the biggest thing for me is knowing that you had, not you personally but your team, had took the approach of, "Let's remove our bias of, or our, our preconceived lens of what we think Speaking in Colour does or what Cherie does or what the, you know, 95% Aboriginal women-run business do." You were like, "Oh, okay. Let's run with this." And I, I really appreciated that and I found that to be refreshing. Because often I get dictated to. Not only as a female but as an Aboriginal person.

Yeah. "We we're happy to have your perspective, your diverse perspective at the table as long it looks and smells and feels like everybody else's perspective." And if you ask a curly question it might be ignored.

Sarah: Oh, fun.

Cherie: Well that happens regularly. And I kind of go, "Okay, thank you. Bye." (laughs) And we have to be that way otherwise it... yeah.

Sarah: Well no progress is really going to come out of that. Like, if they just give you a box of where you can operate and not interested in any real or radical or, I don't know, you know, that's, that's not going to push things forward. I felt like you really came to us with a big vision and a big vision for Speaking in Colour. And I thought we might talk a little bit about the brand and I've got some pictures of kind of where we started for the inspiration. It was about branding an institution that could rival other cultural institutions in the world. So it was looking at the big galleries, the museums, the universities. You know, I think sometimes the... what am I trying to say? Like, we definitely wanted to level it up. Like, it needed to be on this world class stage. Because like you say, being in a room with people, sometimes they say, "Oh, okay, we're doing the Aboriginal stuff but it's in this box over here." But no, this is world class culture. Like, we need to put you up there so. You know, I felt like you came to us with that vision.

Cherie: Loved it. Yeah.

Sarah: And we tried to turn that into visuals. So when we were looking at inspiration and where to take it there we were looking at, yeah, like I said, universities, museums, galleries, other cultural institutions. The other thing that we really wanted to explore was this idea of a spoken Aboriginal history. This is something you said to me. Aboriginal history is a spoken history. It's passed down through language and it's an oral history, I think you said. And in your previous logo you were kind of, like, you came to us already with the name Speaking in Colour, already operating for... well had you already been operating for, like, five years? Something like that.

Cherie: Something like that, full-time. We established the business in two thousand... uh, yeah. I don't know. About five years, I think it had been.

Sarah: Yeah, about that.

Cherie: Yeah, as a full-time.

Sarah: Um, so you're kind of already running along. Often businesses come to us when something's changing or they're levelling up or they have new offerings. So we kind of visually signify that. And so your previous logo had kind of playing around with these speech mark ideas. But I guess what we were, when we saw that we were like, okay, we see where that's heading. We think we can make that clearer and make it more about really obvious that it's speak, speaking. So we went, you know, sometimes I find the best, most elegant design solutions are the most obvious solutions. You know, we're all humans in a fast-paced world. If you can see a logo and instantly understand what it’s about, you can keep moving forward. So we looked at the speech bubbles. And we actually really ran with this in the brand. So the speech bubble is in the logo. And then we reinforced it even more with this symbol that kind of held the speech bubble. And then we really used that as an asset to, we had these really cute swing tags. For the ...you make a lot of products as well. And we have, there's one of the turtles.

Cherie: Well, the beautiful thing about those products that we make is, it's not necessarily us. We actually support 13 micro businesses. So we help amplify their voice.

It is about Aboriginal people amplifying their own voice and dictating their own narrative. This is the first time in history that we're actually allowed to do that.

So you're capturing that simple visual means the world to us because, that's because what we want our voice to count.

Sarah: I had in the back of my mind you on that megaphone as well. I was like, "Yes, it's going to be loud." (laughs)

Cherie: Well, if it needs to be said, it needs to be said. (laughs)

Sarah: Yeah, loudly. Nice. I like that. Um, so, I guess from there we just kind of rolled out the visuals and we really used, we ran with this asset. We know in design if you kind of have like an asset or an element that you can help to make things consistent, it makes it easy for people to remember that this is your stuff. We did notepads, which were quite cute because you can write your own ideas in the speech bubble. And we did stationery, and then that kind of rolled into things like brochures. And then we went wild with colour.

So, of course, with a brand like Speaking in Colour, how could you not? We had all these different variations of the logo in all these really bright colours. And, yeah, I think that's kind of rolled into some of the merch, because merch was important to you as well. I know you do cultural camps and work at schools. Tell us a little bit about the merch that you have and why. And this is your ... that's your son, isn't it?

Cherie: Oh, it is too. Oh, that's the 13-year-old that was doing his science assignment until 11:30, 12 o'clock last night. Because we do teacher training, teachers love to wear merch. And it's a great way to create your name to be a household brand as well. And then when we're doing young people at the camps, it's really important that we're conscious that different children come from different households. And we wanted the young people when they come to camp, to receive a merch pack. And if they were dressed in that merch pack the entire time that they were at camp, they were on par with somebody else. Because there's nothing worse than a young person feeling like, "Oh, I don't have the shoes that everyone else's got." Or, "I don't have the threads." You know? So for me that's important. We actually give away most of our most of our stuff, which is probably appalling to you guys, I know, it's not very good business.

Sarah: No, it's good that it gets out. Maybe not fantastic for your bottom line, but like great for the world. So, yeah.

Cherie: Yeah. And the lanyards are beautiful for corporates because you can see the yellow tag in the bottom of your handbag. It's really important for your keys. But teachers love the hats, all of our casual staff and our seasonal staff. Because we support a lot of contractors who are amazing artists and what we do is we give them a merch pack as well, even if they just do a day's work with us. So they've got a T-shirt and a hoodie, and a hat, if they want it. We’ve had the pens that we use them in training all the time. I love the notepads because people really do put their own thoughts-

Sarah: In the speech bubble.

Cherie: ... in the speech bubbles, yeah, which is really good.

Sarah: It's nice when little things like that line up.

Cherie: Yeah, it does.

Sarah: As, as a designer, those kind of things make me happy.

Cherie: Well, I've never told you this, but a couple of times I'll be walking through Westfield, Kotara or Charlestown, and I'll see a random kid wearing Speaking in Colour merch, and I'm like, "Hold up, I don't even know you are." (laughs) That’s cool.

Sarah: Yeah, I like that.

Cherie: Yeah, same.

Sarah: Do you sneak like a little photo on the sneaky?

Cherie: Yeah, I should actually.

Sarah: Run up to them and be like, "I love your T-shirt." (laughs)

Cherie: (laughs) Love it, yeah. I actually had someone recently say to me, "Oh, I've come across this amazing company, Speaking in Colour, do you know about it?" And I went, "Oh, yeah. I work for that company." And they're like, "Do you? What a great job." And I'm like, "Yeah." (laughs)

Sarah: Did you give them a T-shirt? (laughs)

Cherie: No, I didn't. It was a teacher that worked in a particular school and I just went, "Maybe you should encourage your school to do training with us." So yeah.

Sarah: I think that ... and I think that's a good point about like how branding really does get your name out there. You know? I think you've always been quite clued into marketing, even though maybe that's not, like I guess that's why you worked with us, but think intuitively you were very much across that and the importance. And the importance of giving stuff away for free, but it actually, you know, such as your T-shirts and things, but actually how much of a big impact that has and why I think you're really clued into why, why that stuff is important. So that's kind of nice, nice to see.

Cherie: And I think the biggest thing for me is I, you know, like I said, I never wanted to go into business. It was never meant to be about that. But now I'm at the next phase of business and I don't want it to be about me. Speaking in Colour needs to be its own brand and that's what you guyshelp establish. Establish that as an organization that can scale. And it's not the Cherie show. And it's not any individual worker's show. It really is the brand. And our values and what we do, and how we deliver is really consistent across the board. And having that style guide just reiterated, that we are ... because one of the biggest things is we get asked, "Oh, do you do dot painting?" Because Aboriginal art is seen as this one. But, no, actually we are very modern. We talk about the Dr. Seuss version of being inspired by traditional, but we're actually contemporary in nature. What we do is teach people about that line between appreciation and appropriation. And this particular style guide that you guys did for us is really beautiful and it's engaging for our young people, but also for our educators. And it looks schmick for our corporates. And it has helped communicate that really well. So Aboriginal culture can evolve and be thriving in the 21st century and look as good as any other branding, is on point.

Sarah: Yeah. And that was a lot, it informed a lot of our thinking as well you know? Like, I think we see a lot of Aboriginal brands that look very crafty, but don't forget that this is serious business. And I think that by elevating… you know, obviously as a place, every brand needs to have a brand that matches the type of business that they deliver. But for you, going into these huge corporate organisations, you know, working on some really serious documents, really serious government tenders and things, you know, I think, like I said, elevating it to that idea of cultural institution was kind of where we were heading.

We also took some photos of everybody. So, I…Oh, this one is to show all the, the diversity of the work that you do because there's a lotta things that you touch. But we also took some, I thought, really lovely head…you get to look at yourself on screen, but really lovely head shots of everyone.

Cherie: Love it.

Sarah: I think another thing that we do a lot with our clients is kind of take, you know, portraits and things like that. And they make a huge difference. Did you have good response? Everybody hates photos of themselves.

Cherie: Yeah. Well, some people were like, "Oh, wish I had've been like couple of kilos lighter. But a couple of people like, "Yeah, can I get that printed large, please?" (laughs)

Sarah: Yeah. Love, love that.

Cherie: In particular, my mum, she loves her photo and she looks great.

And I think just that consistency in those colours that you had us in as well, it worked really well.

Sarah: We were able to use all the, a big part of the project was the website, we were able to use all these photos. And we did a video of Cherie as well, talking about her experience and why she started Speaking in Colour. And a big part of the website was to be able to sell things in your shop. Like this is all the technical side behind the visuals. And book courses. I think we did a lot of work and focus on, what does the training courses look like? Can we add some symbols that make it obvious, whether it's hands on or face-to-face, or online? What to expect. That kind of thing. Have you found that…Have you had feedback on the clarity around the courses and people being able to book stuff online? How have you found that kind of process?

Cherie: Often if people haven't come through the website and they call us, we are on the phone with them and we direct them to the website because it just triages. You know this is I think what, from the conversation, this is a product that you're actually particularly after. Um, if you want a description, there it is there. That's the price. Is this what you're thinking? Because most people don't have a good stipulation around their time budget. That's the biggest thing. And I say to people, if you want to actually have change in your organisation, you need to invest the time. And you need to invest time for professional development, for your team to come together to be able to navigate it. So having that information on the website, which has got the description, got those details, that's really good. And then, yeah, definitely people can book it as a group.

The other function that we've added to it is that there's individual dates where we have a minimum 10 people, tickets for a particular session, if they want to do as an in-house. Or we have a number of sessions throughout the year where they could buy two or three tickets, so if it's a small business or as individuals. Because we never want it to be unaccessible for the everyday person or for an educator where two or three of them want to do the training but the whole school doesn't. So that fits with our alignment. So sometimes we run these courses and we've only got four people in them. But we will still do that three-hour session for those people. To invest in those people. So, some people go, "Why would you still run that course?" And I'm like well, because they're interested and because they're keen. So, for us, as long as we cover our, you know, dollar hour... we, we will run it because it's important that we provide that service. So the website's allowed that to happen because often the biggest cost is the admin cost and the human error cost of, oh, what date works? What date doesn't work? So, people can just say yep, we want that product, these are a couple of dates that we can do. And we're like, yeah, if you want a group booking, we can confirm that. Or if you don't want to pay the minimum 10 people, go to this, go to this particular link and these are the two dates that you've got to choose from.

Sarah: Yeah. I'm a big fan of websites making everyone's lives easier. Like, it's all about the systems, and you can kind of, not just leave it to it. It doesn't run itself, but, like it takes a lot of the work out of it.

The last thing that I wanted to touch on was just the last bit of the branding which was, it kind of all flowed together and we did a whole lot of social media posts, and obviously social media is often how people find out about us and is connecting people. So yeah, that kind of brings everything all wrapped up in terms of what we did for the branding.

In fact, I have one little tidbit to tell you, which I haven't actually told you before.

Cherie: Oh.

Sarah: We actually did an entire presentation for you, for your brand, prior to the one we landed on, and we weren't happy, and we tore it up. And we did it again.

Cherie: Oh.

Sarah: And that doesn't always happen with projects. We often find you know... But we're, I guess I wanted to point it out because we were talking about it earlier before the show and somebody bought it up. It was like, "Oh, remember we did actually do a whole other brand and we weren't happy with it and we did it again?" So, yeah, just wanted the let you know that, you know, nothing goes... No rock goes unturned at Headjam. If there's something that we do, don't think it's good enough, we do it again.

Cherie: Fair call. Because, you know, it's a great brand and you landed on a good product, so I'm not sure what the other product was. (laughs)

Sarah: I know. Funny, I know. I thought you might say that.

Cherie: But can I see it?

Sarah: Yeah, maybe.

Cherie: Oh, I'm interested. Maybe. You'll be like, "No."

Sarah: I'll show you later.

Cherie: "That was so last decade." (laughs)

Sarah: Yeah, true, true. Last question from me is where do you see Speaking in Colour going next? What's the future for you?

Cherie: Just like starting the business, I didn't expect to and I have no idea. Because the reality is the world is changing at such a rapid pace and the younger people that are coming through in the workforce now are actually just calling it. So, we're getting, again, we're getting a lot of inquiries from corporate saying we want to do. I've got some fresh new ideas which I'm excited about. I've also gone through, and if anybody's been through business and you've had one iteration and, you know, pivoting is just an everyday occurrence in business, right? We, we totally get it. But the end of last year, I decided to close down a part of the business only because that wasn't necessary anymore. And what we're doing is we're taking all of those resources and putting them into another space and focusing in the corporate and that change management a lot more. Where that will take us, I don't know. It's up to the organisations themselves.

I would like to, we're in product development for a really cool product which will help measure, because for me, you can say you do something, but what's the measurement of that success? And then how does it align to your strategy, your opportunities, and your risk and all these sorts of things which is really important and interesting. But I'd really love for Speaking in Colour, and I think that's the essence that you guys captured in the branding, is for it to be a legacy organisation that regardless of who works for the organisation, the outcomes will still be achieved.

Last year we won Indigenous Curator of the Year at the Imagine Awards which was really cool for our annual exhibition. So, we run these exhibitions every year and it's showcasing the collaborative projects that these young people do at school, so they're wellbeing programs. We do these annual exhibitions so that they can be, they can be exhibiting artists and they can connect with the wider community, and then we take those same kids and we take them to a cultural camp. So, what it does is it builds a regional alumni. So, for me, I'm passionate about that lasting change.

So, if we're capturing teenagers and helping them feel connected and like they belong in all their lumps and bumps and shapes and we're actually creating a whole generation of people who are job ready to go into change management, but also equipping them to be young and thriving as their own little identity, you know, because that was me growing up. I had this cement ceiling on my forehead and I thought my greatest lot in life was to one day settle down and have a baby and I was, like, rebelling against it going, "Oh, surely there has to be more." But that's all I seen.

So, for Speaking in Colour, I'd love it to be a vehicle where our social impact work that we do can really be a standalone and, you know, watch this space because we're excited about that and even separating that and how that can thrive to be a legacy organisation that will thrive beyond one generation, that will have, you know, a huge impact. Like, we've had over 10,000 young people go through our programs, and I'm not even sure how many teachers we influenced or how many corporate organisations.

My focus has always been these young people and how we're making space for them to thrive.

Sarah: Well, it's all for the kids, isn't it?

Cherie: Well, yeah. 25% of their Aboriginal population is under the age of 14. And 50% of the Aboriginal population is under the age of 24. So, if we're not servicing them, who are we servicing? And I don't know if any... I don't... If you remember how awkward it was going through your teenage years anyway like, ugh-thank god we're not going through that again.

Sarah: I know. (laughs)

Cherie: However, how do we help those young people who are? And especially those people who are a little bit left of field. How do we help them find their people and where they fit? You know, we've got these entrepreneurs and innovators and people who are willing to do brave new things. So, how do we kind of wrap around them and support them in that walk, you know?

Sarah: Yeah. Gosh, Cherie if you were running the country, we'd be alright, hey? (laughs)

Cherie: No, let's not be talking that. Let's remember, working mom and a business owner. Whack.

Sarah: Yeah, you’ve got a plate full.

Cherie: My cup is full.

Sarah: Yeah. Fair, fair, fair. Hey, Cherie, thank you so much for coming in and talking to us. I genuinely love catching up with you. Thanks everybody for watching and see you next time. Bye.

Cherie: Bye.

Spreadable Ep 010 - North Academy

Sarah Cook — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 02:30:07 GMT

The Australian schooling system is broken - 20% of kids are chronically disengaged with mainstream school, but now they have somewhere they can go. In 2023 Headjam collaborated with North Academy to open its doors and provide a refuge for kids that didn’t fit the mould of traditional education.

In this Spreadable episode, we cover why we created the brand the way we did, explain the purpose of our digital development and how it encourages enrolments and talk about the incredible results we jointly achieved. For those that are new here, Spreadable is where we deep dive into some of our favourite projects together to talk in a bit of detail about how and why the project came to us in the first place and how we solved the problem through creative work.

Video transcript

Sarah: Hey, welcome to Spreadable. If you are new here, we are a Headjam Creative Agency based in Newcastle, Australia. And Spreadable is where we get to deep dive into some of our favourite projects and talk about how we made them and how we got to the creative work that was the output. Today, we're speaking about North Academy, which is a new school we launched across Australia, and we did the branding and the naming and a whole lot of collateral for that project. My name's Sarah Cook. I'm the chief creative officer here at Headjam and one of the owners. And I've got the project team or some of the project team with me here today, and we're all going to introduce ourselves.

Ben: Good day. I'm Ben. I'm the developer at Headjam and I worked on the North Academy website.

Leanne: Hello, I'm Leanne. I'm head of client service at Headjam.

Benji: And I'm Benji. I'm the junior designer here at Headjam.

Sarah: All right. We're actually going to start with you, Leanne. Can you tell us a little bit about why there was a need for this new school in the first place and what are the problems we were trying to solve?

Leanne: Yeah. Cool. The team at North Academy, based in the education team at Allambi Care, they've been providing education services at Allambi since 2015. They had a really super-duper massive goal of having their own independent school that was accredited and of course achieve the funding that they needed to have great outcomes for students. So their team came into us. We learnt all about the large disengagement amongst youth. Basically stats have shown us that 20% of youth are highly disengaged with school. So North Academy was born out of that.

Sarah: Yeah. One of the things that they said to us was that they were finding that there's a certain mainstream model, and if kids aren't fitting in that, then there's really no solution in the mainstream system. So North Academy was trying to solve that.

Leanne: Yeah. Absolutely.

Sarah: Yeah. I guess the other thing that they did was Allambi Care, who is the backbone of North Academy, had this real teaching model that was all about the individual and supporting them, and it was a different take on school, which was interesting to see. And they also incorporated a lot of sport and outdoor activity and I think more individualised kind of care.

Leanne: Absolutely. Yeah. It's about that need space approach. It's a lot of the philosophy behind Allambi Care. It's about leaving nobody behind in education. The ultimate goal for students who come into North Academy is to reintegrate back into mainstream school, but it is a landing place where there is more resources, more openness to different ways of learning, and it's awesome. The team is so passionate and we're truly blessed to be able to work with them on this project.

Sarah: And did you folks find that when we were looking into our research phase at the different schools that are already out there, were not maybe incredibly inspiring? What did everyone find?

Benji: I feel like schools are very on the back step for looking cool. You know what I mean? I think a lot of schools tap into a heritage look or an emblem from decades ago.

Sarah: Which isn't always super relevant for somebody that was actually going to school.

Benji: No, not all.

Leanne: There was probably a few brands in America that we looked at.

Benji: There was a few very top level schools that I remember we looked at that we were like, these are stunningly, very contemporary brand pieces that look really exciting to go to. And I think that's what we tried to apply to North Academy was trying to make something that's not regimented and stuffy. We wanted something that's really exciting and vibrant and alive.

Sarah: Yeah. I think there was one in the Bronx that was kind of getting there.

Benji: Oh, yes. Arena, Bronx.

Sarah: Yeah. And even the imagery that they were using was actually people doing, like school kids doing interesting things like creating art, et cetera. But most of them were smiling in their school uniforms, looking really preppy. But I don't know that that's exactly attracting kids to be going to school, especially kids that are potentially not always going to school as it is.

Ben: Well, that's a big point of the schools, like Benji mentioned, they tap into the heritage because they're selling themselves to the parents that are enrolling them, not necessarily the children that are going to be involved in them.

Leanne: Totally, and I think that's a really good point. One of the challenges of the brief was our target markets, we needed to appeal to youth who were disengaged. They don't want to see another school brand that's got an emblem that they can't relate to or a motto that doesn't mean anything to them.

Benji: A little bit of Latin.

Leanne: A little bit of Latin. I don't even know what that means. And then the other part that we needed to really appeal to that was incredibly important to the team was about that accreditation and appealing to the education department and making this place look reputable, built on stability, having a reputation and how do we do that and solve that in design. Yeah, was a big part of the brief.

Sarah: I think that's it. I think that second bit about looking reputable is from a design point of view, almost easier. Any professional logo that we make is, I think you can position it to look reputable just by the sheer fact that we make professional logos every day. But that trying to target it to the younger audience, I think that was the bit that, well, at least for me, I had to think twice. I think that's where we started with the inspiration, looking at adventure brands and sports brands and things like that as a launch pad.

Yeah, so some of the things that we looked at was even the Premier League in the UK, much more adventure brand style stuff. This is a mood board that we worked on that we actually presented to the client as part of the presentation. And then I guess from there we explored a lot of different options. You did a lot of logos?

Benji: I did a lot of logos.

Sarah: I did a lot of logos.

Benji: I do remember us having pages upon pages of sketchbook logos.

Sarah: Yeah.

Benji: This was a big one.

Sarah: So some of the logos that we developed internally. So we have quite a robust kind of process internally at Headjam where we'll explore a lot of different avenues. Benji and I work quite closely on this as the design team, and then Mike, our creative director, we would've sent a mood board like that kind of off to Mike with a few different options. It's really good to have that person that's not always working so closely, take another look at it. I think that helps that Mike is always part of the overall picture. We get into the details and then he can really help point in the right direction there.

Ben: I did notice from all those logos you had on screen that they all from a very early stage, looked like they had that arrow focus throughout all of them.

Sarah: Yeah. True. Which I guess the starting point for that was we actually had to name this company as well. At the time, they were kind of just the Allambi Care education arm.

Leanne: The learning center.

Sarah: The learning center was something that they were unofficially called and with the launch of the... They got a new location and a new premise, and they're actually becoming a school, they needed a name. So the Allambi Care logo is kind of this compass shape as you can see on the left there and the compass points north. It also showed us the symbolism of the circle of courage, which was kind of the backbone of how Allambi do their programming. And it also, when we did the Allambi Care brand, that was like seven years ago now, they also needed kind of a badge of honour that they could wear for their uniform. And Yeah, I think that really informed where we went with the North Academy work.

Leanne: I think the other thing to acknowledge there is that from an audience and target market perspective, that students didn't necessarily relate to a Allambi Care as a brand. They related to the learning center or a phrase that didn't necessarily link them directly to the Allambi Care brand, which has been providing out of home care services for over 40 years. It has its own brand and everybody has an expectation of what that does. So there was a need to have something that gave a nod to the heritage and the backbone of what a Allambi stands for, but also have its own identity that youth could absolutely hold onto as something they could own.

Sarah: Yeah. And for the name, so for the name, the North came from that idea of a true north or a compass, which is also a really personal thing on a journey as well. If you are holding a compass on your journey, it's something that you're holding and you are watching and you're navigating and you're kind of choosing to take that journey. And then the Academy part of the naming came about because, well, we wanted it to not feel like just another school. It was like, you have been accepted into this academy. So I think that really elevated the idea of a new place for these young people to go.

Leanne: Absolutely.

Sarah: Yeah. What else did we look at? I guess when we did the logo suite, we had to make it adaptable for lots of different applications. So we had kind of a stacked version and a horizontal version and then just an icon version, and then we were able to use that across the website and on uniforms. Uniforms was a big thing. Yeah.

Benji: True. Actually, I really love that icon that we did. I remember when we first started doing it, we were looking at a lot of athleisure references just because we were thinking about what youth actually wear. They're not forced to. And I remember we were looking at stuff like Nike and Everlast and Umbra, just things that we would see kids wearing a lot. I think we really tapped into that with this logo mark. It feels very sport. It feels very powerful.

Leanne: I think, I mean, just to tap on uniform in general as it's importance as part of this brand was about that unity, about feeling part of something from a strategic point of view that was about kids owning the brand again, feeling proud. Also, it also gives them an easy option for when they don't want to think about what to wear that day. It's like, "Hey, this is cool. No one really knows that I'm going to an independent special education school." It's a brand that could sit alongside your Umbra at a desk, whatever. I'm proud to wear this.

Sarah: Yes. And we did put the logo on the t-shirt without the words so that it kind of, like you say, it didn't have to be so obvious that it was an identifier for a school. Yeah. We then, as you can say, we took lots of photos. These were then used on the website and across all the collateral. I think the other thing that we were trying to do with the photos is have the students engaged in doing things at school. So not just smiling at the camera, but making art, doing science, playing sport. And they were on the website.

Ben: They were on the website.

Leanne: Thank goodness.

Ben: Great segue there, Sarah. No, the website had, well, we featured a lot of imagery, but we also really tapped into the icon. We've got a suite of different icons, not just the North Academy, but they're all very standalone, sort of strong, powerful imagery that we can use across a bunch of different collateral. But yeah, no, I found working with the North Academy team was probably the most rewarding part of this experience. Just getting them to come in and tell us what they needed the website to do, and working with them to drive enrollments basically and get all the information that they need front of mind to parents who are trying to enroll their students in it. Things like, just the little things you usually got to go digging for on a website, like eligibility requirements or where to get uniforms or semester dates and that sort of thing. And just having them all working with the team to make sure they were all just there and easy to find.

Sarah: Yeah, less faffing around on the website, more just... And even on the homepage, it's all about enrollments. There's a big enroll now button. There's one in the header that's on every page. And we actually did quite well with the enrollments, didn't we?

Leanne: Yeah, absolutely. We're one year in. They commenced operations early in 2023, 100% enrollment waiting list, which is fabulous, and looking to expand, which is awesome.

Sarah: Yeah, I think we did quite a clear website that made it easy for people to get on board with that. We also rolled out a whole heap of other collateral pieces, so there's kind of flyers and advertising on top of the merch. I think that the whole idea with all these pieces was that it felt more like an elite sports academy, just so that these young people felt like they had that real sense of belonging and that it was something to be proud of to be part of this school.

We also got some really good feedback from the students that are there now. I think we have a couple of quotes that came from Parker Jackson, the principal there. So some of the things that he said was, "We can't stress enough how right you guys got this. The North Academy brand is an identity that our Gen Z Young people identify with." Which was great to hear. And they also had a quote about the uniforms, which I liked. "I wish you could see the eye-roll when we talk about uniforms in our interviews and then how much their eyes light up when they see them." So yeah, overwhelmingly we got a lot of great and positive responses, especially from the young people, which was kind of like our whole aim for this.

Leanne: Yeah, totally. And I think, I mean, yeah, beautiful, the young people, but if we talk about, go back to the other primary audience, which was education and reputability, the guys are absolutely stoked and we're incredibly proud of them to achieve five years accreditation as an independent school, which is really an honour basically held for really established schools. So that has probably been one of the highlights of the year for us to share in that success with them. It's fabulous.

Sarah: I love it. Leanne, you're always bringing us back to the strategy. That's really good. I think that's really all from us today. Thank you to Allambi Care. Thank to North Academy and thanks for watching.

Headjam's 20 year party night

Sarah Cook — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 02:06:57 GMT

Thanks to all who were there on the night to celebrate Headjam’s 20th birthday.

There has been many iterations of Headjam over the last 20 years and I feel both proud and humbled to celebrate this milestone.

My name is Sarah Cook, but most of you know me as Cookie, I am one of the owners and Principals of Headjam along with Mike Preston and Luke Kellett. Huge shout out to Headjam’s original founder and creative director - Nicola Xavier - who came along on the night. She believed in me all those years ago and gave me my first job as a junior designer at Headjam.

I wouldn’t be here running the business today without the love and support from a huge amount of people. Thank you to the collaborative clients who have entrusted us, the suppliers who help us create the work, the teachers who got me here in the first place, the talented people who have worked here over the years, and to the entire Headjam team here today. Thanks to family, friends and mentors. You all inspire me to do my best work.

Cheers to everyone who came along for the night, and thank you for your part in the journey.

Insights from a design internship

Headjam Design — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 02:09:44 GMT

Written by Yasmina El Mrabet, graphic designer and University of Newcastle student who completed an internship at Headjam earlier this year.

As I am pursuing a generalist degree majoring in Graphic Design, I searched for a way to understand what the industry expects from visual designers. My research into the professional world of design led me to Headjam, a dynamic creative agency based in Newcastle. Headjam gathers an eclectic group of creatives driven by the belief that their work can have a positive impact. Their values immediately resonated with me. Specifically, Headjam's strong commitment to community-oriented projects perfectly aligned with my passion for social change through design.

Goals

Upon my initial contact with Headjam, I expressed my admiration for their work on social media and conveyed my dedication to promoting social justice through design. I had especially noticed their work for a local Indigenous organisation and a foster care organisation. After reading the case studies they share regularly about their work, I had an overview of how they approach the issues those organisations face. This also sparked my curiosity as to how they solve problems with visual design.

Another goal for this internship was networking, as it is a significant challenge for newcomers like me. As I started my degree at the University of Newcastle, I quickly recognised the importance of building local connections, while still in the learning phase, to maximise my professional success. Additionally, I aimed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the creative industry and how to lead a creative team.

Mission

My dialogue with Sarah Cook, the business owner and design lead at Headjam, was instrumental in shaping the course of my internship.
During our conversation, Sarah sought to understand my areas of interest within the design field. I expressed my passion for user experience design, publication, and project management, and a keen desire to observe her leadership skills. Sarah's journey from joining Headjam to becoming the lead designer was enlightening, and I saw it as a valuable roadmap for my aspirations.

Graciously, Sarah arranged for me to shadow her design team while also allowing me to explore different departments within the organisation. This flexibility provided me with a holistic view of the creative agency's inner workings. Throughout my internship at Headjam, I engaged in a range of tasks that contributed to my skill development and understanding of the creative industry.

My general mission in this internship was to shadow the design team. This took place in different settings.

My first task was the preparation of design file handovers and digital file organisation. This contrasted with assignment work at university because I did not have complete control over the totality of a digital project. My intervention was happening halfway through the project. I appreciated how a team of designers functioned and how their workflow was broken down at a synchronised pace.

Because I had been working alone on most of my projects, I had not thought of the importance of a clear system to coordinate creative work between teams.

Self-reflection

Time management also surfaced as a crucial skill. Benji Crocker, a graphic designer at Headjam, showed me how he effectively manages his tasks for the week, using a combination of paper to-do lists and digital tools shared with the entire team. These digital tools help the team keep track of everyone's progress and ensure efficient workflow. Those tools also allowed me to tackle some of the tasks that I was confident in completing for the team. For example, I completed a design review that contributed to the communication of feedback between the design team and the development team.

The work process in design involves an elevated level of communication and information retention. During client meetings, I realised that note-taking is an essential skill for designers. As a student in visual design, I had been building this habit during my studies. However, designers listen to clients to gather crucial backgrounds and project needs, which are fundamental to project initiation. Clients often provide minimal information, and it falls on the design team to extract as much relevant information as possible during these meetings. Given that meetings are infrequent, designers must excel in solid note-taking skills.

Thanks to those organisational tasks, I feel more confident about preparing and distributing tasks in my next group assignment, and in my aspirations as a creative leader.

Challenge

Another task I completed was the creation of social media content (graphic design) for Headjam. This content is used by the business to keep its online footprint consistent. By maintaining a strong presence on social media, Headjam branches out to potential new clients while showing their skills and growing new ones. As part of this task, I was challenged to create designs using software outside of my comfort zone.

Benji emphasised that many tasks are learned on the job, reflecting the ever-evolving nature of the field. Sarah reinforced the importance of staying current with software updates, as rapid technological advancements demand designers to continually invest in their professional development.
For this task, I completed tutorials to learn new software. I successfully created designs that Headjam shared for online publication, crediting my work. This not only pushed me out of my comfort zone but also demonstrated the agency's focus on personal growth and the importance of creative practice.

As someone initially unfamiliar with the creative industry, my perceptions have evolved significantly. I now have a clearer understanding of the professional skills expected in this field and can tailor my educational path accordingly.

Beyond Graphic Design

Beyond the practical skills I gained, I discovered several crucial aspects of the design industry that are equally important. One significant lesson was the importance of theoretical knowledge. In design studios, there is a vernacular and culture that professionals must know and understand. For instance, having a foundational knowledge of the history of graphic design is essential. This knowledge not only aids in understanding design trends but also accelerates project initiation by providing a shared reference point.

Additionally, I had the privilege of shadowing the work of account managers and observing their interactions with clients and stakeholders. This was also a stark contrast to my solitary work as a student designer.

Shadowing the account managers was particularly eye-opening as it shed light on the vital role, they play in project execution. Witnessing the constructive collaboration between visual designers, developers, and account managers was a valuable lesson in teamwork and communication.

Account managers are the first point of contact with clients. They kindly included me in meetings where they interviewed clients about their needs but also those when they delivered final products. This experience allowed me to understand the permeability of the skillset account managers possess and how fundamental transferable skills are to stay relevant in the creative industries. This was also a valuable experience in terms of networking skills.

Professional development

Sarah acknowledged that designers often lack the innate ability to build relationships with stakeholders, a trait that accounts managers excel in. However, she highlighted her journey of learning this skill set as a business owner. Sarah took the initiative to undergo leadership courses, emphasising the importance of continuous growth and development.

It became apparent that while proficiency in various software tools is crucial, adaptability and a willingness to learn are equally essential. Every project presents unique challenges, making continuous learning an inherent part of a designer's journey. Moreover, skills such as teamwork, effective communication, and time and project management emerged as essential building blocks for success.

My time at Headjam also provided valuable insights into leadership. Regarding this skill, Sarah stressed the significance of authenticity in relationships and the importance of building rapport with people. This involves attending events, organising events, and engaging with industry professionals to discuss their work and experiences. She encouraged me to keep a consistent presence online but to also initiate contact with local creatives and attend local events.

Conclusion

Sarah's leadership style, marked by support and encouragement, was evident when she announced one of her longest-serving account managers' promotion to a leadership role in another company. Her pride in her employee's growth highlighted the agency's commitment to fostering talent. Additionally, Sarah introduced a new tool for professional reviews, emphasising the agency's dedication to employee development and job satisfaction. This revelation highlighted the importance of setting specific career goals, which I plan to explore as I progress in my studies.

In conclusion, my internship at Headjam has been an enriching experience that has expanded my horizons as a budding designer. I have gained valuable insights into the creative industry, refined my skills, and observed effective leadership in action. As I continue my academic journey and prepare for a future in design, I carry with me the lessons learned at Headjam and the understanding that the creative world is one of continuous learning, adaptability, and the pursuit of meaningful goals, both for oneself and the community. Moreover, I have come to appreciate the importance of theoretical knowledge, note-taking, time management, and building relationships as essential facets of success in the world of design.

The curious story of Headjam and me

Sarah Cook — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 03:51:59 GMT

When Luke and I bought into Headjam, we were 22. I wore ripped stockings and sported a mohawk. Luke had a sensible haircut and a beard that made him look close to 30, so we sent him to all the client meetings.

Headjam turns 20 this year. And as we take a moment to pause and celebrate the milestone, I’ve been surprised by the number of people who have been curious to know the personal story of Headjam and me.

This year my job title changed from Senior Designer to Chief Creative Officer. In such a small company, things like job titles feel a bit strange and superfluous. We all know what each person does beyond any written job description or title on an email signature. But to the wider world, job titles become an important indicator of what you do and how you are to be held accountable.

My title change to CCO communicates the work I do championing creative at Headjam, both within the agency and with clients and the community. It also communicates the importance we place on creativity as our ‘reason for being.’ In our structure, my new role as CCO is right at the top.

And that’s a big change for me. Up until now, Luke has been the sole leader and the ‘face’ of the business. I’m now stepping up.

Truth be told, leadership hasn’t always been something I’ve felt comfy with. I was drawn to be a designer in part because I enjoy the anonymity. Unlike an artist who creates a work as personal expression, a graphic designer communicates an organisation’s message to an intended audience, and that audience is generally unaware of the designer who made it happen. Well-known Pentagram partner and designer Paula Scher said that designers make things so that they can get paid so that they can make more things. I can relate, I’m addicted to quietly creating great things to delight people I will never meet.

Designing in the early days, in the studio I shared with Luke in Melbourne.

Part of being a good designer is saying ‘yes and…’, being open to possibilities, cultivating a certain fluidity, being unsatisfied, and constantly seeking out change. These are qualities that I associate with my success as a creative person – but, honestly, I’ve always thought those qualities were incongruous with the mentality needed to run an agency. Decisive, direct, unwavering…These are the traits I saw valued as a leader. I had assumed that what made me a great designer would also make me an ineffective leader.

On top of this, I battle an ingrained people-pleasing mentality and conflict avoidance, both of which I know are common for women of my generation. I have anxiety, I’m often socially awkward, I find it hard to read other people’s emotions, and I freeze up when I’m the centre of attention. I have embraced some of these tendencies, and I’ve put a lot of effort into workarounds and unlearning others.

I've also spent way too much brain power wondering whether I'll be taken less seriously if people see my hairy armpits.

I guess you could say I’m somewhat of an unexpected leader.

And yet I am driven to take the plunge and lead the business. As we pause to reflect on 20 years of Headjam, I’m motivated to define what I want the next ten years to look like, and I know that what matters most to me is that we focus on progressing our commitment to world class work.

For that to happen the fundamental challenge is creating a space where people feel comfortable, accepted and valued. Belonging is an innate need. Humans flourish and thrive when we feel safe and encouraged to express ourselves. Inevitably the work created is more adventurous, honest, inspiring and new. I am resolute in my dedication to break down stereotypes and inequity, to challenge oppressive systems, to continue learning and building awareness of my short comings, to create a culture of caring for others, to craft experiences that are not only welcoming and inclusive but that actively honour differences, and for this to be ingrained in our creative practice. I have sleepless nights dreaming up the ultimate workplace where people feel empowered to do great work. I see running the business as my biggest design project yet.

My journey with Headjam began as a graphic design intern. I was introduced to the Founding Director and incredible creative force, Nicola Xavier, at a design exhibition. After a barrage of persistent phone calls from me, I started an internship at Headjam, which morphed into a three-day-a-week position as Junior Designer. At the time, I was also working at a café, but I dreamed of a full-time career in design. I was impatient. I was restless. I asked if there was full-time work at Headjam, and when Nicola said no, I packed up and left for Melbourne. Impatient indeed, because in hindsight, three days a week at a prominent Newcastle studio was quite a good gig.

In Melbourne, I pursued another internship where I assisted with the layouts of a book. I then when on to design the branding and marketing for an underground arts festival, worked on a friend’s film promotion, and met Luke when he asked me to design a photography book he was shooting. It was stupidly obvious that Luke and I were going to be glued together from that moment. I guess you could say intensity has been a defining feature of our relationship. Through love, support, enormous care and honesty, we have been each other’s ‘person’ now for 15 years.

Luke and I in our Melbourne studio.

We lived with a group of artists and lived the ‘starving artist’ lifestyle, complete with outrageous warehouse parties and grocery store dumpster-diving for sustenance. It was a time like no other in my life, where I met some incredible people who I will never forget. It felt like souls were connected. We were young and silly; we made art and praised anarchy. Luke and I worked with the artists around us to create sometimes beautiful – sometimes terrible – things.

All the while, in my back pocket, I was lucky enough to have Headjam keep in touch and send me freelance jobs from time to time, which paid the rent.

In Luke I found someone equally impatient, equally restless, and equally keen and driven to do bigger and better work. We were hungry to create. We wanted to collaborate with other creative people who were experts at what they did. I was lured to the bright lights of Sydney, and the high-paying, high-prestige agency work that it promised, and I convinced Luke to come with me.

So we said goodbye to our bohemian friends who lived for the art and refused to work for the man and moved to Sydney.

Luke and I rented a studio in Darlinghurst. We couldn’t afford rent for both a studio and a home, so the studio was our home. We slept on a pull-out IKEA sofa bed next to the photography cyc. Working from ‘home’ wasn’t great for my mental health. I couldn’t seem to switch off, and each day I would wake up and sit at my computer and then realise at 10pm that I hadn’t left my seat. I felt depressed.

I also didn’t get the ‘big time’ agency job I wanted – or any studio job for that matter. I applied and applied and applied; I got a few interviews; I met some rude Creative Directors in studios where they all wore black jeans and expensive plain black t-shirts. I didn’t look the part with my hefty black boots, thrifted stripey purple pants and fake-pearl encrusted polyester blouse. I looked more like a flamboyant pirate than a typical inner-city designer. (This was a real outfit I wore to a real interview for a job I didn’t get.)

We were impatient and restless here, too. We set up our own studio, with Luke as photographer and me as graphic designer. But we didn’t have reliable work and we didn’t have any friends in Sydney. We were miserable, and I found my anxiety spiraling. I got to the point where I thought it impossible to get a design job. I remember showing a retail job ad to Luke for an opening at Country Road on Oxford St that I wanted to apply for. He said to me, “If you do that you’ll get comfy and never come back to design. You need to starve to be hungry enough to make this work.” I thought that was harsh, but I also thought it was true.

I started getting more and more freelance work from Headjam, so I began commuting to Newcastle to work at the studio two or three days a week. One day when I showed up, Nicola told me that after much consideration and eight years of running the business, she was planning to close. I was shocked. From my point of view, she had it all sorted. She had a successful business, a fantastic reputation in Newcastle and was doing consistent work for the Council, the Art Gallery and the Museum, all dream clients in my eyes.

I wrote her a letter to convince her to stay open. To my surprise, she proposed the option to buy into the business, and in January of 2010 Luke and I moved from Sydney to Newcastle to begin running Headjam as a trio with Nicola.

A few years later, we met Mike Preston, and the similarities in our ethos, values and work were uncanny. It made sense to collaborate, and we proved ourselves inseparable. At this point, Mike had over 40 years of experience working in the design and advertising industry and multiple international awards to his name. He was (and still is) an incredibly humble human. Nicola moved out of the business and Mike came on board as Creative Director in 2016. He became my mentor and was incredibly supportive and influential in my work – then and now. We talk daily, mostly about projects but sometimes about how we will change the world for good using the power of critical thinking and great design. Luke, Mike and I have owned the business together for the last six years.

Headjam has changed a lot over the years, and it continues to evolve. We’re constantly progressing, adapting, learning new things, absorbing new ideas and opinions. But what hasn’t changed is this ridiculous inner desire to do good. It's the reason I was drawn to the business in the first place. It’s unique that the values of Headjam so clearly exist beyond the people who run the agency. It started with Nicola, the baton was handed to us – and we intend to eventually hand it on again. Headjam stands for more than the opinions of a few personalities; it stands for the idea that creative thinking is a powerful tool, and collectively we are driven by the idea that our work can have a positive impact on the world.

I’m proud to be part of such a driven, talented and courageous team. I step into my new role, eager to lead in my ‘own’ way and without giving up on past ideals – rules are to be questioned and challenging norms is necessary. I know I won’t be satisfied until my dream of creating the ultimate workplace becomes reality. “Impossible” you say? Most likely. But designers and anarchists alike live on the promise of their concocted utopian visions.

In the spirit of exploration, I invite you, dear reader, to ask questions. Anything that tickles your fancy. I’m curious to find out what you want to know next. Fill out the form below and I'll write back to you.

18 x Australian Graphic Design Association award nominations

Headjam Design — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 16:05:37 GMT

Thank you to our inspiring clients who collaborate with us to create great work. We were incredibly proud to see a record number of our projects recognised in the Australian Graphic Design Association 2023 Awards 🎉✨🏆

✨ Emerging designer of the year

Headjam designer Benji Crocker listed as finalist Australian Emerging Designer of the Year.

Benji’s passion for pushing and proving the effectiveness of design have enabled our studio to flourish across key projects in mental health awareness, suicide intervention, youth out of home advocacy and NDIS support communications.

🏳️‍🌈 ACON's 'Here' LGBTQ+ Suicide Prevention Hub

Branding - Large Business
Brand Expression - Digital
Merchandising, Clothing, & Apparel
UX, Interface & Navigation for Websites & Digital Design
Website Design
Design for Good - Social & Community
Design for Good - Not for Profit
Design for Good - Health & Wellbeing

Check out the project here

⚫️ This is Not Art festival marketing

Point of Sale
Website Design
Commercial & Advertising
Environmental Graphics
Design Effectiveness - Brand Strategy & Communication

Check out the project here

🦄 Castle marketing supporting those with mental illness, injury or disability

Design Effectiveness - Marketing Campaigns

Check out the project here

🖤💛❤️ Awabakal Tackling Indigenous Smoking campaign

Design for Good - Not for Profit
Design for Good - Health & Wellbeing
Design for Good - Social & Community

Check out the project here