Curiouser & curiouser

A designer, musician, and collector of all things stylish and eclectic.

Born in Melbourne in 1987, Stephanie Mulder has been passionate about design since a young age. Since her earliest days, her life has been filled with design – colours, shapes, words – always found with a pencil in her hand or a new idea in mind.

After successfully completing VCE in 2004, Stephanie went on to study Applied Design at Swinburne TAFE. She has since completed year three in her Bachelor of Design: Communication Design at Swinburne University, and will be undertaking her Honours year in 2008.

At the commencement of her third year at Swinburne, Stephanie was selected to partake in Industry Placement at David Lancashire Design for a period of twelve months. She considers her time at DLD to be a truly fascinating experience, and a wonderful opportunity to be exposed to the inner-workings of the design industry. She has obtained a great understanding and in-depth knowledge of the design industry through this placement, as well as through previous work experience placements including DDB/ Rapp Collins, Smart, The Sanford Partnership, Badger and Quiksilver. Stephanie was involved in voluntary work at Essendon Football Club, helping with the website design and advertisements, filming training sessions and interviews with players and coaches, and editing these for Bomber TV. Stephanie works part-time as a freelance designer, which provides her with a variety of challenging graphic design projects for a range of clients.

Through her studies at university and hands-on experience in the industry, Stephanie has gained invaluable experience and knowledge in design and business practice. She has been able to learn and develop both her technical and communication skills and the professionalism required in the design industry. Her personal attributes of organization, time management, leadership and honesty, tied together with the ability to work as an effective member of a team, and understanding the right balance of work and play (and the professional acceptance of how many coffees and sweets one should consumer in a day!) enable her to work effectively, efficiently and professionally as a designer.

When she doesn’t have a pencil in her hand, Stephanie will be found with a saxophone hanging around her neck. She is a dedicated musician, having played saxophone for thirteen years. As a member of the Allan Hessey Big Band, and with occasional performances with the Grainger Wind Symphony and the Melbourne Youth Big Band at the Victoria College of the Arts, Stephanie finds a comfortable balance between her design and music. She is a knowledgeable music-lover who likes nothing more than going to concerts, and appreciating music in all its forms.

Throughout Stephanie’s life, music has remained a particular source of information and inspiration. She sees music as a parallel to design, and her aspiration is to link these two domains – and the knowledge, culture and values of both – in a unique interaction that can translate in creating new ideas and original designs.

For Stephanie, design is more than a career, and music is more than a pastime – they are a passion.