
Olivia Coetzee
MA Design Research, Writing & Criticism (2017)
Olivia is a South African graphic designer, now living in Brooklyn. She graduated with a BA in Graphic Design in her hometown, Potchefstroom, at the North West University at the end of 2015. During her studies she acquired an exceptional appreciation for art history and illustration and the ways in which it links within different design disciplines. She has experience from numerous projects in the fields of print, illustration, marketing, web design, animation and video editing. For her final year project in 2015, “This is the Tradition I Inherit,” she designed and made clothing to represent and remember four strong, influential, and historical South African women, celebrating the country’s multicultural heritage. At the university’s talent festival this project won a sponsored solo exhibition and for the final exhibition event she received the award for the “Best Female Visual/ Performing artist at the North West University for 2015.” Olivia has enjoyed multiple internships: Saatchi and Saatchi (Cape Town), Cube Zoo, (Johannesburg), interior design company Aphrochic (Brooklyn, NY) and the Neue Galerie (New York City). She finds the thought of pursuing a career in a design combined with entrepreneurship, museums, publishing, or research exciting and believes that the skills and knowledge she would acquire from a Masters degree in Design Research would equip her with exciting career options. Some of her other interests include running, reading, and making music.