designer profile

Sonya Nwokediuko (Dukes) is a young illustrator and graphic designer. She designs publications, consumer packaging, corporate collateral, textiles, fashion ranges and street art installations.

I see design as not just about communicating information visually but about how users experience and engage with products and services. I’ve always loved puzzles, problem-solving, taking things apart, and trying to work out how things operate beyond the surface. I’m interested in the functionality of things - how a brochure is read, how a product is used. Usability and functionality are just as important to me as the look and feel of a design.

I work corporately part-time. The rest of the time, I design for Ostara Collection, my recently launched clothing label. Ostara Collection creates fun and sophisticated resort wear and includes strikingly printed pants, slips, dresses and gowns. This fashion venture allows me to explore my love of illustrative prints and bright patterns. Water, flora and fauna primarily inspire my illustrations, and I often blend realistic and abstract elements within my designs. My mediums include watercolour, gouache, pencil, fineliners and Adobe Creative Suite for combining elements.

I am also a co-founding member of tbC – a thirteen-year-old youth-driven, adult and peer-mentored artist-run initiative based in suburban Melbourne, Australia. I do the design for tbC and its offshoot project Hoodie Mag. Designing Hoodie Mag is lots of fun, mainly because I have significant freedom to contribute to its overall look and feel. I feel a deep sense of belonging and artistic validation in the tbC studio. I love that the group's direction is led by member artists and the informal structure of its operation. tbC creates a unique platform for young artists to take risks and grow as professionals. It's not about written rules or prescribed outcomes. It’s about developing artistic pathways that take many different forms and timelines. I find being in the company of other amazing young artists inspiring and enjoy sharing in the making and production of artworks with fellow tbC members. I particularly like the discussion that goes on within this collective space.

My experience with tbC has resulted in a deep respect for the power of creative collaboration. tbC artists often talk about how the group’s dynamic environment is hard to recreate when working alone and that sharing in collaborative processes results in practices and outcomes that would have otherwise been impossible.

My collective creative experiences have and continue to fuel my corporate and artistic practice and success.