I'm tom, a UI/UX designer with a background in theatre and live performance

When I was a kid I had no idea what I wanted to do. Born in Tasmania options seemed limited.
As I got older I was bitten by the creative bug, I played in bands, messed around in Photoshop and took to the stage.

I moved to Melbourne/Naarm at 19, to begin some study in Acting, I dropped out after a year, turns out I was more interested in pulling pints and partying, than having a crack.

A few years later I returned to performance, attending the Victorian College of the Arts and gaining a Bachelor of Fine Art in Theatre Practice. From there I worked on screen, stage. I also wrote, marketed, produced and performed my own one man show for Melbourne Fringe to excellent reviews.

But living life as a mostly out of work actor was gruelling, I loved acting, but hated being an actor.

In early 2020 when the pandemic changed the world I was 28, broke and the road ahead was bleak. I made a sharp change in direction, I opened my laptop and told myself I was going to learn graphic design. I had made my own marketing collateral and posters for independent work. Now was the time to shift.

Learning Graphic design was a blast, but I was constantly trying to find a way to mesh my past skills and experiences into the design world. Enter UI/UX. Learning to be an Actor taught me fantastic social skills, to observe people and to try to understand what a person "really" means, even if they say the opposite. As someone who is extremely curious, creative and loves to read, this has been an excellent career path.

I am currently a UI/UX Designer at a web development company where I also co-ordinate and lead a team of 5 designers in web design, providing high quality designs to clients on a regular basis.

My learning has just begun and I am very excited for the future in this industry.

I still do voice work, which has been exhibited in art galleries and at short film festivals around the world, and relish any chance I get to tread the boards.