2025 Hot New Things: Nicole Paulin, ARA Institute of Canterbury
Design Assembly profiles a selection of the top graduates from the best Art and Design Schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. We welcome these talented emerging professionals to our industry, learn about their passions, final projects, developing creative confidence and ambitions for the future.
Today we speak with Nicole Paulin who recently graduated with a Bachelor of Design: Visual Communications from Ara Institute of Canterbury. Find out more about undergraduate and postgraduate study options in art and design by visiting our Design Schools page.
Tell us a bit about yourself:
I was born in the Philippines, five when my family and I immigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand and lived in Christchurch since then. I grew up in a very Filipino community with all the parents being quite strict towards us children when speaking our first language, Bisaya. So I have no problem connecting with my Filipino culture.
I wasn’t really interested in art or design growing up, I spent most of childhood thinking I’d go into nursing just like any other Filipino. However, it was only when I was 12 in year 9 art class that I realised that I quite liked drawing. It started off quite simple actually, on our first assignment we had to make a title page of our name for our sketch books. I had the highest mark for the assignment and that’s what encouraged me to take drawing more seriously.
What was the focus of your graduating project?
‘Kaon ta’ is a Bisayan phrase that translates to ‘Let’s eat’. In Filipino culture, we learn from an early age that spending time with family and community is important. Food and communal meals are an essential way to make and reinforce these connections with loved ones. Similarly, quality time spent going on holiday or playing games with your community strengthens these bonds.
Growing up in Aotearoa, it can feel very awkward bringing your own cultural foods for school lunches. Being a third-cultured child, there is often a period of hesitation and choosing to opt for more ‘acceptable’ lunches. Kaon Ta! is a Filipino cuisine board game to inspire young Pinoy children living in Aotearoa New Zealand, to embrace their first culture and bond with their peers through the celebration of Filipino meals!
Why did you choose to study design at ARA?
In Filipino culture, on a girl’s 18th birthday we celebrate by having a debut, this is similar to a quinceañera or a sweet sixteen. A big party is thrown to celebrate the girl’s life and to welcome her into adulthood. During one of my friends’ debut, I was given the task of making the posters and invites. At age 15, I didn’t have a lot to work with, all I had was my iPhone 6s and my apps: picsart, superimpose and phonto. Nonetheless, I pulled through and put together a couple of posters for her. Of course, they weren’t all that great but when I finished, my friend told me, “hey you should be a graphic designer, I think you’d enjoy it a lot.” I had no clue what graphic design was but after a quick Google search, the seed was officially planted.
What did you enjoy most about the design programme?
I have a painting background. Throughout high school I spent most of my time drawing traditionally, painting or playing with other traditional mediums like woodcuts or charcoal.
I focused more on painting once I began year 11 and spent the next three years doing all painting boards.
So when I first started the degree, I had absolutely no clue how to use any Adobe program or even the difference between PNG, JPG and PDF. Three years later, my technical skills have definitely improved a lot to the point where I no longer have to Google search every single thing. However, with the never ending software updates and the new trends popping up every year, it’ll always be a learning process. Surprisingly I even picked up After Effects two months ago and was able to quickly grasp the foundations of it. This is what I most enjoyed the most about the programme, being able to learn this new skill and honing it.
What was your biggest challenge while studying?
For the longest time, I didn’t understand what design was or the brand system that went behind design. It was only in my second year when we were doing a bicultural assignment about taking a location in the South Island and rebranding it where it finally clicked for me. During the design process of this class project, I was following the process without understanding how it exactly worked. However, once we got our results from our tutors, only then did it finally click in my head.
What inspired you to pick design as a career path?
There were two people. There was the friend who I made posters for during her 18th debut, she was the one who introduced graphic design to me initially. However, there was also my high school art teacher who told me that there were multiple career paths that art could take you. When I told my art teacher that I was considering graphic design, she was very encouraging. She told me that it’s a career path that really suits me, one that I would like and thrive in a lot.
What’s next for you?
Well, ideally I’d like to work in a studio design job. I had the privilege of doing a two day work experience at a design studio in my second year. I was able to learn what the design studio experience was like and quite enjoyed it. Right now, I’m in the process of applying for some internships and finalising my final project. Once I finish the programme for the year, I think I’d take a short break for the summer before stepping into anything. I’m not really sure to be honest, I’m just going to take it slowly, one step at a time and hope for the best.
Where can we see more of your work?
My Adobe Portfolio, website, LinkedIn and Instagram.
