georgia ryan
Graduating in 2018 with a Bachelor of Design (Communication) with Distinction I decided to continue to study the following year when the opportunity to work with Orokonui Ecosanctuary was offered. In 2019, I completed my Bachelor of Design (Honours) at Otago Polytechnic.
In 2020, I received a New Zealand Game Developers Association CODE Travel Grant Scholarship and the NZGDA Representation Pass to travel to Game Developers Conference (GDC 2020) in San Francisco. Unfortunately, this was canceled due to COVID-19. Instead, I applied to the Otago Regional Councils ECO fund to continue work on the Kākā project. The application was accepted in Oct 2020 and I started working on it in 2021.
For me, design is a tool to allow people to enhance their interaction with their physical environment and mental space. I enjoy creating thought-provoking and detailed work that is technical but shows my passion and humorous approach towards my work. It is important to my design practice to always be a learner and explore new techniques and software. I am always questioning how things work and why they work that way.
In 2018, I completed my final undergrad project where I created a room for my video game concept. I modeled all the props, added material, and placed them using programs 3DS MAX, Substance Painter, and Unreal Engine 4. The whole project was by far my favourite to work on during my undergraduate. I really enjoy the working components behind games and love seeing everything come together to create a world that was once just an idea in my head. This project also involved research into mental illness and required research into how to represent mental illness in media and what is the best practice.
Another project that is a favourite was working with Mercy Hospital to create an animated video for patients to watch before they have a colonoscopy. This was a group project and we all worked together excellently which made the project really enjoyable. We ended up creating a 3-minute video along with narration and an app interface design. This project for me also highlighted how much I appreciate designing for briefs that are helpful and innovative as well as how much I enjoy collaborating on projects. We have been told our animation is going to be trialed in 2019.
My design practice is constantly evolving and growing. I am committed to always educating and improving myself and staying open to innovative techniques or solutions. I am keen to hear about any projects that you think would suit me so feel free to contact me!