Creative Turn at TAFE Queensland
Charlie Shelley meets a woman who discovers that it’s never too late to design your own future.
Clare Patrick had already had a long and varied career before enrolling at TAFE Queensland in 2024. The British expat and mum of two had been a homeschool teacher for over a decade and had spent years working as a recruitment consultant for various big-name banks and private recruitment agencies across Australia and the UK. But throughout it all, bubbling away in the background, was a quite passion for the arts.
“I’ve always drawn and painted –I write as well – and my dad is actually an artist, although not professionally,” Clare says.
Graphic design, in particular, piqued her interest.
“I’ve always been fascinated with graphic design, from the visual and artistic point of view but also from the psychological point of view: how we communicate things visually through colours, styles, topography – everything,” she explains.
Completing higher education had been a long-time goal of Clare’s, and with her children’s educational journeys coming to an end, she felt that it was finally time to see it through. So when she found out that TAFE Queensland was offering a Certificate III in Visual Arts (Graphic Design) – now called a Certificate III in Design Fundamentals – it seemed like the perfect opportunity.
The course was based at the Sunshine Coast campus, but Clare lives south of Brisbane, so she chose to take advantage of TAFE’s flexible study options and study online. With some educational providers, e-learning can feel isolating. But due to the weekly Zoom classes that were incorporated into her course, Clare felt connected to her teachers and peers throughout.
“You’re able to discuss things in real time, show your work and get feedback – you’ve got that interaction which is nice,” she says. “But if you couldn’t make a class, you’ve got the recordings so you can go back and catch up.”
Completing the six-month Certificate III equipped Clare with a host of essential design skills and convinced her that a career in graphic design was something she really wanted to pursue.
“It gave me confidence to continue on, and doing the diploma was just a natural progression because I thought, well, if I do want to do a degree, then it’s a great pathway,” she says.
The Diploma of Graphic Design gave Clare the chance to build on her existing knowledge and delve deeper into the different niches of graphic design, from packaging and editorial branding to typography, motion graphics, user interfaces and more.
“It was great because it gave me the opportunity to try things and discover what I enjoyed doing,” Clare says. “Like sometimes you’ll realise that it’s not really your thing or you’ll find something that you absolutely love, so you get to figure out what you want to focus on in your career.”
During her diploma, Clare created a multimedia marketing campaign for a fictional event (Venice Carnival) and also had the opportunity to work with a real client, submitting billboard and social media designs for Re:act, a peer-to-peer road safety program for people between the ages of 17 and 25.
“The campaign was all about the importance of wearing seatbelts,” Clare says.“ You had to pitch your ideas, then work on your concept and come back and do a full presentation. You got a taste of working with a real client but without the pressure and with the support of your teachers.”
Clare is now studying a Bachelor of Digital Design at university and is loving every second of it. Thanks to her studies at TAFE Queensland, she was able to get 12 months of university study credited, meaning she was able to jump straight into the second year of her degree. She says the skills she picked up through her Certificate III and Diploma have helped smooth her transition to university.
“TAFE does go into the more practical teaching – you learn to use industry software, like InDesign – which you don’t get at uni,” she said. “There’s an expectation that you know it, or that you’ve got to just learn it yourself.
“I really value what I learned at TAFE, because I would not be able to do the level of work I’m producing now if I hadn’t have studied there.”
Looking to the future, Clare is considering doing a masters in teaching so that she might one day become a teacher at TAFE while taking on her own graphic design gigs on the side. Her advice to other mature-age students is simple and heartfelt.
“It’s never too late to follow your dreams,” she says. “Even if you’re in your 40s or 50s, you could still have another 30 odd years doing what you love, so why not?”
MAKE GREAT HAPPEN
Choose from over 400 practical, industry-relevant courses when you enrol at TAFE Queensland – Queensland’s largest and most experienced training provider.
Visit www.tafeqld.edu.au to turn your passion into a career.
