sum me up, buttercup

Hi, my name is Tabitha Silva, and I am a 21 year old pint sized, pocket rocket, web, UI and graphic designer based in Brisbane, Australia. I’m passionate about many things; web and print design, music, movies, tv shows….okay, I’m passionate about entertainment.  When I’m not designing, I can usually be found becoming one with the couch in my living room. I love watching (good great) tv, but more on that can be found below.

Before design, I used to dream of being a musician when I realised that I loved putting my thoughts to a melody but figured that it would be a better career path for someone who can actually play an instrument. (I played drums for a while in high school but don’t have a kit to keep that dream alive and can’t play the F chord on the guitar since my hands are miniscule). I dreamt of being an actress too, but only because I had the whole “cry on command” thing down as a child. However, once I learnt to type and make pretty things on a computer, my heart was stolen.

one step closer

My journey with all things design started purely by accident when I was at the tender age of 9. I stumbled upon Photoshop while visiting my uncle at his studio, where he was a local DJ, and fell in love with how I could create something out of nothing. My first brush with web programming came with playing around with MS FrontPage. Most of my design and web skills were self-taught, spanning over the last 14 years, until I started my Bachelor of Multimedia degree at Griffith University, majoring in Visual Communication Design. The degree strengthened my knowledge and widened my range of skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, JavaScript/jQuery, typography, and the power of visual communication.

why “collision designs”

While doing my degree, I started off as a freelance designer for SPINN Media. I registered “Collision Designs” as my trading name as it encompasses everything I hoped to achieve with it; Howie Day said it best with “you and I collide”. I find great joy in taking someone’s vision and making it a reality. SPINN Media allowed me to wet my feet in the industry and provided me with a springboard to start Collision Designs. The name and theme of it all also carried on when I worked with Live to Shine, an event that promoted the arts among the youth in Brisbane. I was blessed with creating their identity and a range of their promotional material. All in all, it’s a name that showcases what I want to accomplish in the industry.

because i can

Favourite Current TV Shows: Supernatural, Bones, Glee, NCIS, NCIS: LA, The Vampire Diaries, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Chuck, Hawaii Five-0, Blue Bloods, Leverage (age of the geek baby!), Drop Dead Diva.

Favourite Past TV Shows (R.I.P): Friends (duh), , Two Guys and a Girl (one of the best and most understated shows ever), Veronica Mars (pint sized kick ass PI, anyone?), Roswell (who doesn't love aliens?), Buffy (although Buffy got whiney towards the end), Angel (the irony is hard to resist), Dark Angel (Jessica Alba could actually act in this), Greek (which sadly ended too soon), Third Watch (Bosco - enough said), That 70's Show (before Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher left)

Favourite Movie (ever) Empire Records

Favourite Band (ever): Paramore