From sponge cake to squeegees
A successful baker swaps icing for ink, embracing the world of fashion screen-printing, writes Rebekah Goodwin.
By age 26, Steve Woods owned two bakeries on the Central Coast. His father owned a bakery before him and for six years Steve delighted in creating the best cake decorations in the region.
“I really loved the decorating. Presenting the cakes, pastries and breads was great. Even more satisfying was my ability to create advertising visuals and present to the public.”
The first bakery was at Chittaway Bay, then another at Budgewoi, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. Steve was well on his way to achieving his goal, to make it big, in the baking industry. The figures were impressive; the customers delighted.
When Steve took time out from his business to travel overseas in 2000, he journeyed to China, Russia, Poland and Germany. Having toyed with illustrations and cartooning most of his life, he found the many hours of travelling perfect to hone his artistic skills. Whilst travelling through Russia on the Siberian Express, Steve created the drawings that were to secure his instant acceptance into his future career of graphic design, two short years away.
It was at a Didgeridoo Festival in Berlin that Steve first became aware of Billie Blue.
“This guy at the Didge Festival, just handed me a booklet on Billie Blue School of Graphic Arts in Sydney. When I returned to Australia, my mum, who is also an illustrator, sent me a pamphlet as well. It felt fated.”
So Steve went to Billie Blue, found a man (who turned out to be the Principal) and showed him the ‘doodles’ he’d created on the train during his travels. He was accepted immediately.
The rest, as they say, is history. Well, almost. Steve then had to master IT. The world of computers, an integral part of his future career, was completely new to him and determined, Steve sat down six months into the course and taught himself ‘Adobe Illustrator’.
“I based everything on that software; it was a huge learning curve,” recalls Steve. Despite knowing nothing about website design at the beginning of his studies, Steve went on to top the school in ‘website design’.
“Steve was able to achieve so much because he had talent and maturity; he was able to work with constructive criticism and had the tenacity to stay focussed on his goal”, Peter Worthington, lecturer from Billie Blue, comments.
“It’s common to see mature age students succeed. They have high success rates in learning and completion, because of their clarity regarding their choices.”
For three years Steve studied and created and played professional artist; freelancing on the side, while walking the financial tightrope of a student.
At graduation, he landed an opportunity to share a studio space in Broadway with another designer, William Maguire, the Graphic creator of Wag Design (boutique design company). This proved beneficial for Steve as William mentored him, learning more about the business of design.
“As a previous lecturer at Billie Blue, I knew Steve had the tenacity and qualities I was looking for - an ideas person. I sought him out, ” says Maguire.
William guided Steve in the ‘how’ of making creative, lucrative. He encouraged him to have faith in his own creative abilities and manage the line between good creative and good business. The relationship was complementary with Steve’s prior business acumen assisting William to make informed decisions about taking on staff.
Twelve months later Steve stepped out on his own as a as a textile designer in Surry Hills - then to a factory in St Peters where 90% of his work now involves designing and screen-printing rolls of fabric for fashion designers. Steve contributes to fashion collections for local designers, furnishings and fashion wallpapers in Melbourne, Tokyo and Sweden, as well as theatre and film fabric design.
At 39, Steve feels that he’s still just scratching the surface. “Australian designers are at the forefront of the world with their craft. I believe my best is yet to come.”
Asked if Steve has any time for baking now, he laughs,
“I still make a mean chocolate éclair, but these days I’m very content to just eat them!”
