Creative skills are super important in STEM and there are so many cool STEM + art career paths to take!
If you’re passionate about science, tech, engineering or maths, as well as arts, you can totally mix these together to create a job you’ll spring out of bed every morning to do. The following three pros did, and they love flexing both their left and right brain muscles in their respective STEM + art careers.
1. Science illustrator
Dr Sue Pillans, a.k.a. Dr Suzie Starfish, created her very own dream job by combining science, strategy and art to become a graphic recorder and science illustrator. She also runs her own business (Picture Your Ideas), specialising in creative and visual communications.
The gig: A science illustrator draws scientific subjects and ideas in an accurate way to explain and communicate concepts.
Advice: “Always follow your heART, try new things, don’t be afraid to fail, find your tribe and think outside of the box. Just because you haven’t found your dream job yet doesn’t mean you can’t create it!”
2. Creative technologist
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Kat Clark is a creative technologist, web developer and the founder of Hello Developers (which specialises in web development), where she’s become one of Australia’s top 50 female programmers.
The gig: A creative technologist is someone who is tech-focused but also has creative talents. They typically oversee both the design and development of products.
Advice: “Keep an eye out for simple solutions.”
3. Head of Experience Design and Content
Frith Williams is the Head of Experience Design and Content at New Zealand’s bicultural, multidisciplinary national museum, Te Papa.
The gig: As the Head of Experience Design and Content, Frith guides the creative team to develop interdisciplinary ways to engage audiences with exhibitions, using a mix of tech and art to do so.
Advice: “You don’t have to be super techy to work in or around technology. Creativity and critical thinking are key not just to the arts, but also to science and tech. And communicating science and tech is as important as doing it.”
Find more about creative careers on our STEM + art hub, or check out more profiles of people working in this space here.
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