Hi, I'm Catherine Spinks, a designer with 10+ years of international experience in editorial layout, typography, and multilingual design. I have a genuine love of books and print, and hands-on production experience spanning magazines, reports, and marketing collateral. I pride myself on precision, meeting deadlines, and delivering clean, polished work that's ready to publish. I excel at building and applying style sheets and grids across large, complex documents, and I enjoy collaborating with stakeholders to bring ideas to life.…

CatherineSpinks

PRO

Hi, I'm Catherine Spinks, a designer with 10+ years of international experience in editorial layout, typography, and multilingual design. I have a genuine love of books and print, and hands-on production experience spanning magazines, reports, and marketing collateral. I pride myself on precision, meeting deadlines, and delivering clean, polished work that's ready to publish. I excel at building and applying style sheets and grids across large, complex documents, and I enjoy collaborating with stakeholders to bring ideas to life.…

Available to hire

Hi, I’m Catherine Spinks, a designer with 10+ years of international experience in editorial layout, typography, and multilingual design. I have a genuine love of books and print, and hands-on production experience spanning magazines, reports, and marketing collateral.

I pride myself on precision, meeting deadlines, and delivering clean, polished work that’s ready to publish. I excel at building and applying style sheets and grids across large, complex documents, and I enjoy collaborating with stakeholders to bring ideas to life.

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Language

English
Fluent
French
Advanced

Work Experience

Freelance Graphic Designer at Studio Spinks
January 1, 2019 - Present
Deliver print and digital design projects for clients across Australia and Europe, managing full production lifecycle from concept to final files. Experienced in multilingual typesetting including right-to-left scripts, ensuring formatting consistency and regional accuracy. Clients include medical research institutes, NGOs, and film distributors. Comfortable handling complex structured content including tables and data-heavy layouts.
Senior Graphic Designer at Worldline
January 1, 2022 - January 1, 2025
Designed and produced layouts for whitepapers, manuals, and reports—text and table-heavy documents in a large-scale in-house studio. Managed production of assets across 16 languages, maintaining formatting consistency and brand accuracy at high volume. Contributed to QA processes and creative systems to ensure output met specification.
Creative Designer at University of New South Wales (UNSW)
January 1, 2018 - January 1, 2019
Designed and produced layouts for reports, publications, and internal communications within a large university environment, working to established brand guidelines and delivering print-ready files across multiple departments.
Editorial Designer at Express Media Group
January 1, 2017 - January 1, 2018
Designed and produced layouts for three print magazines per month within a fast-paced publishing house, managing typography, image placement, and page structure to consistent style guides. Delivered print-ready files to tight deadlines across a high volume of editorial content.
National Festival Designer at Alliance Française French Film Festival
January 1, 2015 - January 1, 2017
Designed and produced 80-page print programmes annually for one of the world's largest film festivals, managing layout, typography, and print production from concept to final files. Also responsible for broader print collateral including posters and flyers, coordinating timelines and production requirements.
Design Intern (Marketing) at Alliance Française de Sydney
January 1, 2012 - January 1, 2015
Support marketing design initiatives as part of the design internship.
Design Intern at Sculpture by the Sea
January 1, 2012 - January 1, 2015
Formatted and produced the children's activity guide.
Design Intern at Alliance Française de Sydney
January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2015
Design Intern in Marketing team.

Education

Diploma in Graphic Design at Shillington College, Sydney
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2014
Bachelor of Arts & Humanities at University of Melbourne
January 1, 2011 - January 1, 2014
Introduction to coding (HTML5 & CSS) at General Assembly Sydney
January 1, 2018 - January 1, 2018
Diploma in Graphic Design at Shillington College, Sydney
January 1, 2014 - January 1, 2014
Bachelor of Arts & Humanities at University of Melbourne
January 1, 2011 - January 1, 2014

Qualifications

Add your qualifications or awards here.

Industry Experience

Media & Entertainment, Education, Non-Profit Organization, Professional Services, Healthcare
    uniE621 Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney — Kirby 2030 Strategic Plan 2025–2030
    Publication design · Multi-page print collateral · Brand strategy Designed a comprehensive strategic plan publication for the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney — one of the world's leading infectious disease research organisations — to articulate their institutional vision and research direction through to 2030 under the banner Kirby 2030. The brief required a multi-page, print-ready document capable of communicating simultaneously with researchers, government health bodies, community partners, and philanthropic stakeholders. The core design challenge was to honour the institution's deep commitment to equity, community, and First Nations inclusion while presenting complex scientific and strategic content with clarity and confidence. The visual identity draws on Kirby's established brand palette of warm gold and charcoal, applied across a structured editorial grid that balances data-driven research content with human-centred photography. A bold geometric diamond motif was developed to visualise the four strategic pillars — Excellence and Partnership, Societal Impact, Innovation, and Cultivation — providing an instantly recognisable navigational device across the document's spreads. A particularly considered element was the integration of First Nations artwork and cultural representation throughout the publication, woven into the layout with respect and intentionality. Research focus area spreads — spanning clinical trials, epidemiology, health economics, immunology, and capacity building — were designed to present layered scientific frameworks accessibly, using structured arrow-flow diagrams and typographic hierarchy. The finished document positions Kirby's 2030 ambitions as both scientifically rigorous and deeply human — a publication that reflects the institute's belief that great health research must ultimately benefit the communities who need it most. PublicationDesign EditorialDesign PublicHealthDesign StrategicCommunications PrintDesign BrandDesign AnnualReport ScienceCommunication InfectiousDisease GraphicDesign LayoutDesign TypeDesign InDesign ImpactDesign FirstNations ResearchInstitute UNSW AustralianDesign StrategicPlan HealthEquity…
    uniE621 Garvan Institute Strategy Document
    Designed a flagship strategic plan publication for the Garvan Institute of Medical Research — one of Australia's leading biomedical research institutions — to communicate their organisational vision, mission, and research priorities for 2025–2028 under the theme *Accelerating Discovery, Empowering Translation*. The brief called for a print-ready, multi-page document that could serve as both an internal alignment tool and an external-facing communication piece for donors, partners, and the broader medical research community. The challenge was to translate complex scientific strategy into a visually compelling, accessible narrative — without diluting the intellectual rigour the institution is known for. The design system draws on Garvan's established brand identity, pairing a clean white typographic framework with a structured teal and purple accent palette to convey authority and clarity. A custom circular diagram was developed to visualise the four strategic pillars — *Discovery, Translation, Development,* and *Engagement* — anchored by *Institutional Sustainability*, creating a cohesive visual metaphor for the institute's interconnected research ecosystem. Spreads were art-directed to balance high-impact scientific photography with editorial white space, allowing the strategy content to breathe. Section openers for key research programs — including Immunology, Genomics, and Cancer — each received a distinctive treatment to establish hierarchy without fragmenting the document's cohesion. The result is a production-ready publication that positions Garvan's strategic ambitions with the same precision and credibility their science demands. PublicationDesign EditorialDesign HealthcareDesign StrategicCommunications PrintDesign BrandDesign AnnualReport ScienceCommunication MedicalResearch GraphicDesign LayoutDesign TypeDesign InDesign ImpactDesign NonProfit ResearchInstitute BiomedicalResearch AustralianDesign StrategicPlan VisualIdentity…