How I studied design and ended up a writer

While studying graphic design at Croydon TAFE, I discovered a lot of things about myself. Although I loved and appreciated the aesthetics of great graphic design, stunning photography and elegant typography, I found those disciplines to be a real struggle for me. Yes, I could whip up a quick visual. But!

• My ‘life drawing’ looked like ‘death drawing’
• I spent the entire 2 years getting someone else in my class to load the camera for me
• Hand-rendering the Greek alphabet nearly killed me.

Fabulous. So now what?

Luckily, I realised I was strong conceptually. The big idea came easily to me. Plus, I loved writing rationales, rewriting everyone else’s headlines, and pointing out missing or misplaced apostrophes. (I even got West End to change a billboard, but that’s another story…)

I had discovered my true calling – copywriting

My first job was at the local paper, then I headed overseas when I got offered a job with J Walter Thompson – direct marketing in Singapore, websites in Hong Kong.

Three years and a few awards later, I came back to Adelaide and started Copy with Cream. Today I work with ad agencies, designers, web developers, government, and direct clients. I help them with concepts and copy – maybe I can help you too.

New writing directions

Copywriting has been my main focus for the past 15+ years, but recently, I’ve also been branching out into other sorts of writing – children’s books, articles and travel writing in particular. So if you want to send me on a holiday and have me write about it for you, please let me know. In the meantime, you can check out my latest holiday diary on yahoo!7

Please also visit: http://au.blogs.yahoo.com/datingarticles/59/karen-zaskolny