Thank you.
My heartfelt gratitude for the opportunity to advance to the design
challenge stage of the hiring process for the Creative Officer position.
I am excited about the possibility of contributing to the innovative and
dynamic team with Jeremy and Tiffany and the potential to make a
meaningful impact through my work.
We give voice
so that together,
seen and understood,
we may thrive.
Values of diversity and inclusion, the vibrant multiplicity of Catholicism continues to grow right here in Melbourne. Expressed in the varied liturgies, migrant traditions, ministry work and more that shape parish life across our city, this richness often remains unseen and unheard, lacking spaces that give voice to the full breadth of our faith’s local stories.
Now “Melbourne Catholic” magazine sets forth to spotlight these untold narratives through an engaging, visually-compelling quarterly publication. Rather than speaking only to insiders, we offer an easy-to-read yet spiritually nourishing forum that fosters wider understanding. By showcasing the range of devoted witnesses and worship styles thriving in Christ’s name, glowing with the trademarks of Australian-born members and adopted faithful alike, we reveal the unity in our diversity.
From refugee elders recounting journeys of hardship and redemption to fifth-generation parish youth groups making biblical truths come alive through drama, we capture the knowledge and practice breathing locally as part of a global Church. Through longitudinal profiles, wanderings into ethnic enclaves, and more, our lens highlights living culture. We thus aim to nurture greater empathy across difference, appreciation for often overlooked giftings in our midst, and inspiration to keep walking joyfully on mission as one Australian people of God.
By opening eyes and making the unfamiliar familiar, our magazine encourages not just passive awareness but active fellowship that celebrates the vibrant mosaic ever blossoming under Catholicism’s umbrella. We give voice so that together, seen and understood, we may thrive.
Typography
The Melbourne Catholic main header required typography appealing to our diverse readers. Overly embellished or plain fonts limit accessibility. So we chose classic serif and gothic pairings — legible yet modern. Slim strokes and angular cuts fuse old and new, like illuminated manuscripts meeting stone monuments.
For inside pages, we adapted the Archdiocese of Melbourne’s brand fonts. This consistency upholds cohesion across Catholic content. Core typography stays the same, though scale, spacing and sizing shift per section. Seasonal color enlivens layouts while commanding black headers maintain dramatic impact.
The approach focuses clarity and versatility to unify our cross-generational audience. Tradition and innovation blend through dynamic, highly readable typography. Streamlined shapes carry content smoothly to the engaged eye. Paired with documentary photography, the sensitive typesetting meets substance and style, the age-old and age-agnostic. Our design invites all into faith’s timely mysteries.
“The Art of Fate and Faith”
Subtitle speaks to life’s intersection of uncertainty and meaning. When fate deals unexpected hands, faith’s roots nourish resilience. Though stations crumble, soulful hope stirs transformation.
As Christ’s light redeems shattered pieces, so too our stories. Hardship dissolves into portraits of compassion rescued from rubble. Tragedy sets ablaze kindness in its ashes.
Together, we observe the canvas of experience – brilliant, bleak, more masterpiece taking shape than mess. The Divine Craftsman co-creating through hands open to lift each other.
This subtitle reminds that purpose blooms when we unveil artistry behind surfaces. Though paths diverge, shared faith bonds deeper, into wisdom and wonder’s culture. Our magazine shines light through fate’s storm clouds to the masterwork unfolding.
PS. Feel free to use the proposed subtitle if you feel it is aligned with the concept and values of the Melbourne Catholic Magazine
Hand and Shadow:
Featured on our inaugural cover, the reimagined Creation of Adam artwork symbolizes the divine spark bringing purpose to our earthly journey. Outstretched hands bridge humanity and heaven as guidance awaits amidst shadowed valleys. We launch with stories and images capturing struggle, hope and redemption through faith’s light.
Candle Glow:
This issue spotlights flickering flames that pierce the night—tiny candles kindled against forces of darkness. Profiles shine light on depression and trauma healed by the warmth of community, scripture, and perseverant prayer. Let rescue shine through these pages by Christ’s pure example.
Turbulent Waters:
Threaten to overtake the gripping hands enfolded in supplication on this quarter’s powerful cover. Inside we wade alongside spiritual seekers questioning certainty while clinging to the Bible’s lifeline. Rising from doubt, may we grasp the ever-offered hand of the Savior who calms and transforms restless waves from within.
Radiant Nature:
Creation glows on this issue’s cover, golden light bathing two figures seated in prayerfulbliss observing nature’s wonder. We close the volume in gratitude, seeking the holy behind life’s ordinary moments. May these stories stir us to mindfulness of divine gifts that ground and surround—the beauty waiting to be unveiled each new day.
Documentary Approach
Melbourne Catholic embraces evocative, fine art approaches to photography that capture the vibrancy and depth of local Catholic life. Whether intimate portraits, divine liturgy, acts of service or parish vignettes, images transcend the everyday to move the viewer imaginatively and emotionally. Dynamic compositions, artful lighting and considerate depth of field reveal the poetry of faith beneath surfaces. Catholics encompass a spectrum of profound human experience—our photographic vision invites empathy for struggles and wonder for the grace that sustains us. More than just visual complements to prose, curated sequences of visual “artworks” help portray what words may fail to convey alone: the light that glimmers through our stories’ shadows.
Art Direction
Cultivates an emotive yet elevating stylistic tone conveying compassion through every element placed with purpose. Clean design balanced with ornamental warmth reflects the human centrality rather than institutional removal.
Guiding Sidebar Wisdom & Prayers For The JourneyIn supplementary columns beside feature stories, photographs of clergy, consecrated religious, and lay ministers model sanctified service through accompanying advice to apply biblical principles to everyday challenges family, workplace setbacks and cultural tension. Brief prayers transition sections, consecrating the readership’s openness.
Muted earth tones, dynamic textures and weathered geometries of parish architecture speaking to shared identity welcoming newcomer and multi-generational devotee alike, the magazine’s styling calibrates the familiarity that establishes roots.
This overall direction envisions a public action of faith that equips, informs and reveres the blessed community. Through ever page turned may Glory shine a bit brighter.
Social Media Feed
Activation Materials
A concept intended to encourage human interaction and active engagement without explicit awareness. It is designed to foster participation and involvement through subtle and natural means. Community may find themselves engaged in activities or experiences without consciously noticing the process of activation.
Page to Parish
Bringing faith stories from page to parish, Melbourne Catholic launches documentary photography exhibitions to spotlight community good news.
With a quarterly release issue, acurated 5-8 images from featured subjects rotate across parishes for 2 weeks following each print issue’s distribution. These localized activations put faces, places, and scenes from written pieces into proximity as reminders of the Catholic grace around us.
Layered photo series rendered artistically aim to ignite admiration and empathy for the devoted lives highlighted in text-based reporting. Excerpted passages contextualize images to immerse viewers in the aesthetics, emotion, and atmospheres uniquely conveyed through fine art approaches to photography.
More than promotional gimmicks, the visual storytelling activations strengthen member connection and guide seeker curiosity toward the words made incarnate among us.
Kindly note: Additional elaboration on this approach will be shared at the appropriate moment.
A Better Tomorrow
As a Catholic, the path we tread is often illuminated by our faith, hope, and dreams. Each step we take is a testament to our resilience and belief in a better tomorrow. Just as the diverse array of slippers worn by those less fortunate children of Babuyan Island, Philippines, showcases their unique journeys, so too does our individual path represent our personal struggles and triumphs. Let us walk with compassion, acknowledging the challenges faced by others and relying on our faith to guide us as we forge ahead, always mindful of the shared humanity that unites us all.
A fragment of Filipino DNA
The HeadOn Photo Awards are among the most prestigious photography contests worldwide, attracting over 10,000 entries from photographers in more than 30 countries. The portrait category is one of the most competitive, with entries from some of the world's most renowned portrait photographers.
Carrying the Talisman story, photographer Dino Dimar from the Philippines has been selected as one of the competition's finalists and people's choices out of over 10,000 entries from 30 nations.
The winning photographs were on display at the Bondi Pavilion in Sydney, Australia, from last November 10 to December 3, 2023.
These stories offer us a glimpse into a world that we may never have the chance to experience ourselves.
These are a few that made it and are worthy of global dissemination.
We can't wait to hear your's.
Together, let's explore what lies ahead for us.
You can tell me the story you have in mind, and together we can make it come to life.
