We’re an energetic pair with a big background in design and creative visual communication.
michelle FRENCH and betsy BAKER have over 20 years’ experience across a broad range of design projects.
We love a good story that we can enhance visually, or a great idea we can help explain, or revealing key information that makes us all think.
We’re looking for interesting projects to collaborator on… we’re a can-do kind of team…what can-we-do for you?
michelle FRENCH
I’m all about visual communication and design thinking. I do design, but I love the big picture … creating the whole experience. I’m a can-do kind of person. I’m process driven and I enjoy collaborating with a team or working autonomously. I take a multi-disciplinary approach to my work, so the result has the simplest and strongest message across all platforms.
My skills range across: creative direction, creative producing, design and production for opening titles for film & TV, animation/motion graphics, projection, editorial graphics, infographics, digital design, visual identities, branding, books and publications, illustration, typography and props.
My experience >> BA design (media), WAIT >>Feature films/art department, Barron Films >> Broadcast Designer & Head of graphics ABCTV Perth >> Events motion graphics and crew, Creative Technology, London >> Senior Designer ABCTV post production & UI designer ABC New Media, Sydney >> website and game UI design, Nickelodeon, Sydney >>Creative Director SBS New Media, Sydney >> FrenchCurve design >> FrenchBaker design partnership.
I’ve produced, designed and managed my own business – FrenchCurve since 2003, currently collaborating with design partner Betsy Baker under the moniker FrenchBaker since 2010. I probably have too much experience. I can arrange to have suitable parts erased.
Betsy BAKER
I’m someone who loves to play with ideas and to experiment on and off the computer. It might be shooting mustard seeds off a back lit light-box or creating an animation using the data from audio to create the action of an animation. Anything that makes the puzzle work and brings clarity to an idea is an important part of my process. There is never one size to fit all. From a young age I was interested in photography and design. After leaving art school (the Ontario College of Art in Toronto and the School of Visual Arts in New York), I was offered a job working as the media photographer for the cult classic tv show, Saturday Night Live. It was assisting the title designer that gave me a taste of what title design and animation could bring to a program. Teasing the viewers with just a taste of what is coming was always the goal. When I relocated to Sydney in 1990 the world of television opened up to me. I began at SBS in the news department working to hard and fast deadlines. I then moved to the ABC, which offered the kind of work I was hungry for – title design. Unlike the US, there was very little in the way of public broadcasting so working in an environment that fostered creativity was like being in Heaven! The Eagle had certainly landed! Limited resources at the ABC were a constant problem but in the end, a blessing in disguise. I often found myself producing as well as directing live action, designing websites, overseeing print campaigns and of course mixing the drinks. We are hard wired to have fun and intend on dragging you along with us!