November 04, 2011
designer laura baxter
You may have explored Laura Baxter's work many times, even if her name might not be instantly familiar... yet. She is a Sydney-based designer and illustrator based who creates work for the likes of Sibella Court, Lee Matthews, Samantha Robinson, Katie Quinn Davies and Toby's Estate. Laura has also embarked on a new project: Work Odyssey whereby she relocates her workspace to a new city every few months to get exposed to new ideas and inspiration.
Which five words best describe you? Who’s doing a coffee run?
How did you get your career start and what path have you taken since? For years I worked in advertising and really wanted to be a creative. It wasn’t until my dear grandmother passed away that I started thinking I could. "Look after yourself and anything is possible," she used to say. I quit my job that week - a little crazy, I know. I gave myself one year to make it work. I set out on my mission to be a graphic designer and started to teach myself. Six months on I had a few small clients. I thought at this stage I should go to design college to see if I was doing it right... to my surprise, I was. The college even hired me to do some freelance work for them. More people started to call and before I knew it, I was where I am today.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt along the way? New lessons are learnt daily but a good one is, be organised and choose what to take on.
What’s your proudest career achievement? Every time the phone rings and someone says “I love what you do” that makes me proud, I also have the pleasure of working on some great projects with some amazing people, some of whom have become good friends.
What’s been your best decision? In the beginning, saying yes to projects out of my league taught me a lot, even though I was freaking out at the time. They paid off. I would like to say a special thanks to Google at this point.
Who inspires you? Anyone who is doing anything creative. I love people who can't sit still and who are always thinking of their next big thing. These are the people who inspire me. Places and cities inspire me greatly also. I have just started a new personal project: “work space odyssey”. I relocate my work space to a new city every few months to experience new things. I think different cities really should be explored and understood, especially now the internet is so prevalent. Design differs from country to country. It really is incredible when you are actually there in the middle of it.
What are you passionate about? Everything! It is a fine line between passion and madness sometimes. Ha!
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? Apart from my Poppy who was a beautiful illustrator and passed away before I was born... I would like to share a bottle of red with Kurt Cobain, I think he was an amazing talent (read some of Nirvana's lyrics sometime) as well an absolute mad man and what can I say? I was a teen of the 90s. Sigh.
What dream do you still want to fulfil? A stress-free existence. Is that aiming too high?
What are you reading? This is a funny one: I have been reading the same book for the past 16 years. The Mansions of Philosophy by Will Durant printed in 1917. This is the most beautiful tattered brown covered book that has many illustrations from my teen years on it. The pages inside are frail and each chapter is wiser than the last, It has been a good friend to me.
How did you get your career start and what path have you taken since? For years I worked in advertising and really wanted to be a creative. It wasn’t until my dear grandmother passed away that I started thinking I could. "Look after yourself and anything is possible," she used to say. I quit my job that week - a little crazy, I know. I gave myself one year to make it work. I set out on my mission to be a graphic designer and started to teach myself. Six months on I had a few small clients. I thought at this stage I should go to design college to see if I was doing it right... to my surprise, I was. The college even hired me to do some freelance work for them. More people started to call and before I knew it, I was where I am today.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt along the way? New lessons are learnt daily but a good one is, be organised and choose what to take on.
What’s your proudest career achievement? Every time the phone rings and someone says “I love what you do” that makes me proud, I also have the pleasure of working on some great projects with some amazing people, some of whom have become good friends.
What’s been your best decision? In the beginning, saying yes to projects out of my league taught me a lot, even though I was freaking out at the time. They paid off. I would like to say a special thanks to Google at this point.
Who inspires you? Anyone who is doing anything creative. I love people who can't sit still and who are always thinking of their next big thing. These are the people who inspire me. Places and cities inspire me greatly also. I have just started a new personal project: “work space odyssey”. I relocate my work space to a new city every few months to experience new things. I think different cities really should be explored and understood, especially now the internet is so prevalent. Design differs from country to country. It really is incredible when you are actually there in the middle of it.
What are you passionate about? Everything! It is a fine line between passion and madness sometimes. Ha!
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? Apart from my Poppy who was a beautiful illustrator and passed away before I was born... I would like to share a bottle of red with Kurt Cobain, I think he was an amazing talent (read some of Nirvana's lyrics sometime) as well an absolute mad man and what can I say? I was a teen of the 90s. Sigh.
What dream do you still want to fulfil? A stress-free existence. Is that aiming too high?
What are you reading? This is a funny one: I have been reading the same book for the past 16 years. The Mansions of Philosophy by Will Durant printed in 1917. This is the most beautiful tattered brown covered book that has many illustrations from my teen years on it. The pages inside are frail and each chapter is wiser than the last, It has been a good friend to me.
images courtesy of laura baxter