I’m so often asked how I ended up specialising in graphic design and writing for ag and rural businesses.

It’s a unique combination of passions and skills, and it’s been a winding journey.

So let’s start at the beginning.

I’ve lived in the central west of NSW all of my life (with brief stints in Sydney for school and uni, and a gap year in England).

My family farmed at Cumnock (about an hour from both Dubbo and Orange) until I was 19. Both sides of my family have deep roots in agriculture – mixed farming in the Coonamble, Mendooran and Gunnedah districts on one side; and dairying near Kempsey on the other.

Ag and the central west are in my blood.

As a child, I’d always had a creative side but, with an equal interest in land management I put art to the side in later high school to focus on science.

This led me to a Bachelor of Science (Applied Physical Geography) at UNSW, an honours project focusing on fox baiting, and then my first ‘grown-up’ job – as a Landcare Coordinator at Gilgandra.

I absolutely loved working with Landcare groups, running field days, applying for grants, and seeing real on-ground and business change.

From there, I worked in natural resource management (NRM) roles, including with the (newly formed) Central West Catchment Management Authority (CMA). My roles focused on pastures, grazing systems and salinity management.

After our two kids arrived, I coordinated training programs for the Advanced Pasture Cropping Company (with Colin Seis, Bruce Maynard and Angus Maurice) and for Stress Free Stockmanship (with Bruce Maynard).

These were such fascinating and exciting roles. I loved being at the forefront of bringing these systems directly to farmers and graziers in their own paddocks and stock yards across the country.

The promotion and marketing of these courses led me back to my creative side.

So then I studied graphic design, and also SEO content and copywriting, editing and business writing. I’ve also done some short courses in marketing.

Words, visuals and layouts are just so important for communicating effectively. So, for me, understanding and practicing the craft of writing goes hand in hand with graphic design.

By this stage I was working in a support and promotions role with Coonamble Landcare, and also for our local newspaper and commercial printing company.

Now, through my small business, I am privileged to be able to combine my love of NRM, ag, and communication.

I now help rural businesses and organisations connect with their audience through clear, engaging design and content, and also on-point logos and branding.

I use my practical experience alongside my graphic design and communications skills to help you do those bits of your job (like designing and writing) that overwhelm you. So you can get back to doing what you DO love.

I really love that I am part of sharing your stories and industry knowledge in a professional way. Whether it’s fact sheets, reports, advertising, newsletters or media releases, I get the technical details and the challenges you face. I understand where you’re coming from and have a pretty good idea of who it is you’re trying to reach.

Our ag industries need to stay aware of – and responsive to – the changes in our environment, markets, and also our end consumer demands. And we need to communicate that properly.

It’s really important for the long-term sustainability of both the environments we work with, and the rural communities we are part of. It goes hand in hand.

I am proud to be a part of that, both through my work, and that of my family.

On my husband’s family farm north of Gilgandra, we produce Merino wool and lamb (first cross with White Suffolks), mostly on perennial native and subtropical pastures. We also have some cropping.

This is home – on the plains west of the Warrumbungle range.

Our kids have their own mob of ewes and a couple of rams, and they’re keen on ag too. If they choose to return to this farm, they’ll be the sixth generation of the family on parts of the property. I’ll never be a local, but they certainly are.

Outside of work I love our veggie garden, and I get a bit excited about cooking and preserving what we grow.

If you follow along on social media (Facebook or Insta) you can expect plenty of farm, garden and kitchen updates, alongside the work-dogs and the occasional poddy lamb selfie, like this one.

This is our 2016-drop poddy lamb, Comet. He runs with the kids’ mob of ewes and still comes up for cuddles, a scratch and a selfie whenever he’s in the yards. He’s part of the family.

Got a project in mind? Let’s chat.

Check out my services or flick me an email danielle@creativesparrow.com.au