By now it is cliché to say, but I have been fascinated by all things creative since birth (you can ask my parents).
I remember a lesson in primary school when we studied Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers,’ and I immediately went home to recreate it any way I could. I was completely enamoured with his bold colours and energetic lines. Since then, Art became my favourite subject at school, which then transformed into a love for graphic design while completing a foundation degree. My passion for design has only grown whilst I’ve been studying at the University of Leeds – it’s been a really great four years.
In some ways I can still see the influence of Van Gogh’s work on my own. My work is characterised by bold colours and organic lines. Whilst being at university, I refined and developed my skills to become a multi-disciplinary designer. I am still not done learning though, and what I hope for my career is to continue being inspired and evolving my practice.
During my year in industry, I worked as an intern in Hamburg for the Peter Schmidt Group and Landor Associates. Moving to another country on my own has not only improved my confidence and language skills, but I think it has made me much more resilient and determined as well.
Aside from graphic design, I also really enjoy film and TV. I managed to fit a number of projects around this whilst completing my degree, including my Independent Project. I based it on one of my favourite films ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ and deconstructed the messages to create different objects. This project involved packaging, book and web design.
‘CHOW’ was made for a brief to design for future technologies. It is a series of burgers made from synthetic meat, or, meat grown in a lab from animal cells. In further developments, a food truck was created to allow customers to try the burgers, and a competition to meet the animals that their burger has come from (given that the animal doesn’t need to die to provide the initial cells).
‘mezzo’ was a response to Connect4Climate’s D&AD brief. It is an online swap-shop, where items are valued for their impact on the planet not their price.
If you want to see more about these projects, plus more, please visit my website:
madrooney96.wixsite.com/mrooney
www.instagram.com/maddyrooney96/
www.linkedin.com/in/maddy-rooney-7309b1151/
