Alana Naylor

Alana Naylor (‘07), graphic designer, digital illustrator and winner of Adelaide Fringe Poster Competition for 2023. She shares her journey from the single-minded ambition of being an airline pilot, to becoming a self-employed creative with a positive attitude, solid work ethic, and sense of community instilled in her while growing up at Loreto.

Alana in her own words:

Hi, I’m Alana, and I’m a graphic designer and digital illustrator; a professional title that my 17-year-old self, graduating from Loreto, could never have predicted!

My time at Loreto began on a memorable morning in 1994, in Mrs Shelley’s reception class. Little did I know then, but some of the small people I met that day would go on to become a support network for decades to come. Fast forward 13 years, and I was astonished, but deeply honoured, to find myself in the role of Head of School; an experience which pushed me outside of my comfort zone, forcing me to quickly develop my self-confidence and leadership skills.

Throughout my years at Loreto, I always wanted to be a pilot. Despite being creative in my free time, I never pursued art at school. Instead, I focused on the subjects that would get me closer to a career in Aviation, and struggled my way through years of Physics and Specialist Maths. With the support of some much more mathematically inclined friends, and a few very patient teachers, I was accepted to study Aviation at UniSA. Three years later, I had a Bachelor's Degree, a Commercial Pilot's Licence, and was on track to becoming a flight instructor at UniSA… but I was also incredibly unhappy. To this day, I still can’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong. All I knew was something had to change. I took some time to think about what I truly enjoyed doing, and remembered my creative hobbies from High School; from designing personalised birthday collage postcards to making cringe-worthy videos documenting our teenage lives. I pulled out the big ol’ SATAC book, and researched creative careers. That's when I discovered graphic design.

With the fearless optimism that only a young 20-something can have, I paused my pilot career, and used all my savings to move to Brisbane and study graphic design at Shillington College. I loved it, and have never looked back. I started my creative career as a junior designer at an Adelaide based Advertising agency. At 23, I relocated to Hong Kong, where I spent the next decade gaining a wealth of international design experience; working in-house for The Women’s Foundation, a renowned Hong Kong non-for-profit, before experiencing the opposite end of the spectrum, as the Creative Designer at a boutique luxury design studio. During this time I was also constantly working on personal projects and freelancing on the side, (in hindsight, I was probably a terrible employee!)

In 2017, I founded Concrete Creative, an independent graphic design studio. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of working with businesses big and small; from independent start-ups, to multi-national corporates such as HSBC and AXA Insurance; Global luxury brands such as the Mandarin Oriental and Quintessentially, as well as local South Australian businesses including SMF Architects and Hotel Renmark. In 2020, burnt out from client work, and in need of my own creative outlet, I started Project Play - a digital playground where I began to explore the world of illustration. I used simple shapes, bold colours and core design principles, to create fun, nostalgic and playful artwork. Illustration was just a hobby; something I played with on the side of my full-time design work… until last year, when I won the Adelaide Fringe Poster Competition for 2023. Now, what started as a little passion project, has been plastered all across Adelaide. As a part of the whirlwind Fringe experience, I had the opportunity to host an event as part of the festival. Considering I didn’t even consider myself an “artist” - the idea of hosting an exhibition was terrifying, but I wanted to make the most of the amazing opportunity. So, I crafted an exhibition around the concept of play. I collaborated with some incredibly talented creatives; musicians, animators, technicians and producers - to create a digital playground, where my illustrations were displayed across 50sqm of LED screens, and paired with a 10-piece band, to create an immersive art experience.

I’ve since released a range of limited-edition prints based on the artwork from this digital exhibition… You can check them out here. If you’d like to purchase one to brighten your walls, you can use the code LOSA at check out for an Old Scholars discount.

I left Loreto with the single-minded ambition of being an airline pilot. I never imagined I’d become a self-employed creative. It’s been a strange and unexpected journey, but the positive attitude, solid work ethic, and sense of community instilled in me while growing up at Loreto, definitely equipped me to navigate it. I’m now able to be based on the beautiful beaches of Far North Queensland, while creating with clients worldwide. It’s an absolute privilege. I’m grateful, not only to have found a flexible career that I’m ridiculously passionate about, but to have had the confidence to pursue it, and a solid support system, backing me every step of the way.

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Links:

Design Studio: www.concretecreative.co | @concretecreative.co

Digital Illustration: www.project-play.co | @projectplay.co

Photo 1 Headshot Credit: Lucy Partington Photography https://lucypartington.com | @lucy_partington_