AS she strives towards her dream of being a tattoo artist, Alexa (Solace) Barnaby is improving her marketing and communication skills as she spends her time learning the ins and outs of the media and communications landscape with Cape York Partnership.
The Year 11 Djarragun College student was initially approached by one of her teachers who offered the traineeship with the communications team through Cape York Employment’s School to Jobs program.
With a passion and talent for design, Solace saw the traineeship as a great way to expand her prowess in art and acquire new skills during her last two years of high school.
Solace had a rough idea about what kind of work she would be doing but some aspects caught her by surprise including researching and interviewing for her own articles to be published.
Since working with Cape York Partnership in March 2024, she has learned the intricacies of social media management and content creation and delved deeper into the artistry behind graphic design.
Several important projects have come across Solace’s desk, including a design of an upcoming project and the design for the 2024 NAIDOC Week shirts, following the theme of “Keep the fire burning! Blak, loud and proud.”
Solace said she was honoured to do the design but admitted she never expected her design to be so widely beloved.
“I did not expect it to be this big, but it was and I had a lot of fun making the design,” she said.
“It started with a simple sketch and then I fleshed it out digitally and it became what it is now.”
Solace’s design was then worn by every Cape York Partnership staff member who participated in the NAIDOC march and has now become part of the unofficial office uniform.
This exposure led to Solace being contacted by Whitfield State School who requested to use her design for their own NAIDOC celebrations later in the year.
“I was pretty surprised when they asked me but I’m happy that people like the art so much,” she said.
“There is a lot of work involved so for people to appreciate it so much they want to include it in their own celebrations and everything is cool.”
Solace said her time with Cape York Partnership has been rewarding and that it was easy to settle thanks to the School to Jobs team.
“They’ve been really helpful and are always checking up on me, seeing how I’m doing with the traineeship as well as the Business course I am doing,” she said.
Solace will remain part of the communications team at Cape York Partnership for the next two years as she learns a variety of transferable skills and hopefully, one day pursues her dream of becoming a tattoo artist.