Each member of our team is passionate about the role we play in making a positive impact in the community. Learn more about the people behind the passion and what makes them proud to be part of the work we do.
Introducing Liam
I was born and raised in Victoria. The things I liked to do as a kid included endless hours of playing
with Lego at my house – that’s probably where my creativity started to kick in. Sometimes I’d spend all day in the pool until my fingers were shrivelled up. Basketball in the driveway and light sabre duels in the backyard with my older brother are also fond memories of mine. In terms of my life now, I really enjoy listening to music. That’s something I do all through the workday. I've always got music on unless I need some quiet focus time. I specifically love hip hop and RnB music. I'm going to a Bliss n Eso gig next week in Melbourne and I'm pretty excited about that.
What is your role at the Information Access Group
I work as a graphic designer and recently transitioned into a role as an assistant design quality manager. I specialise in the design of easy read documents, specifically the layout and formatting of a document, as well as the graphics that support the text and convey the key concepts. I'm now in a position where I'm able to assist the team by giving other, newer designers a bit of mentoring and feedback on their work. This is a part of my role I really enjoy. I also work as a publication designer, producing accessible versions of reports.
Tell us about a project you’ve worked on that you are proud of
I'd like to talk about the work we did on the Australian Federal Police (AFP) ThinkUKnow presentation. This project was an accessible PowerPoint presentation and manual that is used by the AFP when they go out into culturally and linguistically diverse communities to educate people about online dangers for children, for example grooming. It was a privilege to contribute to that project because I feel like it's an area that can help people quite a lot. The sexual exploitation of children can have quite a profound impact on people's lives when they are affected by it, so any sort of information we can get out into the community about the topic is valuable.
What do you find most rewarding about the work you do at the Information Access Group?
I feel like anything we can do to get information out into the community is a really good thing. Knowledge is power. There's a lot of people who, because of the way they were born or the way they were raised, don't always get equal access to the information they need. There's a lot of things that people need to do in their everyday life that require knowledge about specific information. So, I feel like that's a really rewarding part of the job, helping to give people access to the information they need.
Can you tell us about your journey as a
basketball player?
I've been playing basketball since I was in year one. It's been a constant part of my life all through my schooling and into uni and now work. I play once a week, usually on a Wednesday night. I love it, it gets me out and keeps me active. It’s a bit of fun with my friends and a bit of a laugh. I'm not sure where the team’s name ‘Organised Confusion’ came from to be honest, but I love it. I think we're a pretty eclectic mix and it's a light-hearted team, so I think it captures the general vibe of our personalities.
We hear you also play pickleball – can you tell us what pickleball is?
I've just started playing pickleball over the last few months. I hadn't heard about it until during the lockdowns. I have some family in America and I was getting these videos popping up on my social media of them playing pickleball in their driveway. I would describe it as a smaller version of tennis. You play with a 'paddle' – it has a flat surface and no strings. You hit a plastic ball that glides through the air and you can get a bit of spin on the ball. One of the differences between pickleball and tennis is it encourages people to get closer to the net. You're usually playing a bit more of a volley style of game, compared to tennis where you're back at the baseline hitting big shots. It’s great because the community where I play we have people from all different ages. It’s a really good community atmosphere. It's a sport that is growing fast.
You are an active person – playing sports and going to the gym. Do you find this has a positive effect on your overall wellbeing?
I've always been active throughout my life and that was probably largely because of basketball. I found that those couple of years that we were going through the lockdowns…I had this moment where I realised how important exercise is for your wellbeing. I try and get out and do various things throughout the week and I find it's good for my physical health, but also for my mental health as well. If I do a workout on a day where I'm feeling a little bit sluggish or anything like that, it just gives me a little bit of a pick me up post-workout and I feel really good about it. I think it definitely does have a mental health benefit to it.
I've been told that you go for the Melbourne Demons. How disappointed are you that they didn't make it to the Grand Final?
Obviously it's not the result we wanted. But having said that, the last couple of matches we lost in the finals were very close, only a few points. I'm going to take that as a positive for next season that even though we did lose we weren’t too far off the benchmark set by the top teams. Hopefully we can get a good pre-season in and come out really strong. Going for Melbourne is definitely a family thing. My granddad was really into the Melbourne footy club and then my brother started going for them. Then I followed suit.
You had your first exhibition earlier this year – can you tell us about that?
At my local community centre they’ve started an initiative where, for each month of the year, a local artist can use a space in the community centre to showcase their work. I jumped at the opportunity because it’s something I'd never tried before and had always wanted to give a go. I framed up 6 of my illustration prints and put them into the community centre. I had a few pieces that were animal related including an Australian bird themed piece. It was lovely to hear some nice things about my work from different people who went through the space. It was a really good, enjoyable experience.
Is it true that some of your work has been sold as jigsaw puzzles?
Yes, in the past I had a few of my designs commercially sold as puzzles.
Is it important for you to develop your personal illustration style outside of the work environment?
Yeah, for me, it feels like a bit of a necessity. I'm always thinking about different ideas for illustrations and the process of drawing is something I quite enjoy. So even if I have a little bit of a break from my personal creative practice, I always find myself gravitating back to it over time. It’s definitely an important personal process for me outside of work. It gives me a bit of creative energy that I can then bring into work as well.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I think around year 9 or 10 it clicked for me that I could take my creative passion for art and design and turn it into a job. Since then, I've never looked back.
Pelican image, credit Liam Grant.
