This Melbourne, Australia-born talent exhibits positive energy and a "can-do" attitude—a feeling largely attributed to the beautiful city of Melbourne with its abundance of cultural diversity and creativity.
Meet Beck Storer, founder of The Cutaway, who attributes her approach to design with influential names such as Vincent Van Gogh and more contemporary female leaders like Barbara Kruger and Paula Scher. Since her early days at Uni, the designer has identified with these presences, attributing the former as having a strong role in her practice regarding a love and respect for bold transitions of time and color.
For Storer, influences on her artistic thought process stemmed from those who brought her into this world. She says— “I would have to say it is my parents, my mum and dad. Throughout my childhood, they would consistently say - "Just try your best." It didn't matter if things didn't work out if something went wrong, or an opportunity was missed, just as long as I tried my best. This saying has very much become a mantra for my life which I consistently apply in my creative practice,” explains the Australian artist. As for advice of her own, the creator of The Cutaway reminisces on the best guidance ever heard and worth repeating, that is: “That questions are free - and you should, therefore, ask more of them.” This is sound advice often resonating with educators—that no question is stupid. This makes sense, as Storer also considers herself a Design Educator, leading the world with her “Can do” and “Just try your best” teaching philosophies.
What is The Cutaway? —we ask, and the company founder explains: "The Cutaway is a community of designers, researchers, artists and coders who are curious about the way we communicate in our world and the role public art plays in storytelling. We believe in creating visual stories in the environment to connect people to places and craft stories of meaning and value,” says Storer. And from here, the approach to design is simple. “Research and curiosity are the foundations for all our projects. We dig deep within our research, exploring cultural frameworks to identify the unique story of each project and pursue new innovative areas of technology, production, and craft,” she says.
Next, we ask: What do you enjoy most about your line of work? “The consistent challenge of the unknown. Every project has a unique story to be discovered, and it is our role to discover this and share it with the world,” says the Design Educator. When it comes to some personal and professional goals for the future, the artist says: “To share everything I know with the next generation of creatives as a mentor.” To check out works by Beck Storer visit her website at
www.thecutaway.com.au; or follow the artist on Instagram @thecutaway.
