Grace Amarante ✦ portfolio 2026 ✦
Grace Amarante ✦ portfolio 2026 ✦
CLUBDVD
Orange Peels (SUDS) Tickets Out
SUEDE Halloween Party
RENT the Musical (MUSE)
PUTTING IT TOGETHER (MUSE)
Avery Pickup Poster
MUSE - Pitch A Show
SUEDE BLACKOUT
Grace Street Corflute
USYD Enviro Collective drag event
SUEDE Blog Post
SUEDE Pubcrawl
Custom Dollar Bill - London Briidge
Orange Peels (SUDS) Fundraiser Poster 2
RENT The Musical (MUSE) - TICKETS OUT
Orange Peels (SUDS) Fundraiser Post
Click any poster to read a quick brief on the project.
Grace Amarante ✦ portfolio 2026 ✦
Grace Amarante ✦ portfolio 2026 ✦
I build visual identities from the ground up, and I adapt to how your team works. I can run the brand end to end, or hand your team a clear brand kit so anyone can keep it consistent.
Avery Pickup
USYD Enviro Collective
Grassroots for SRC
Grace Amarante ✦ portfolio 2026 ✦
Grace Amarante ✦ portfolio 2026 ✦
Made in After Effects. Still learning, and loving it.
Grace Amarante ✦ portfolio 2026 ✦
Grace Amarante ✦ portfolio 2026 ✦
04 / design research
Brief: Design for CARE | Type: Group project |
My role: Ideator, digital prototype creator, researcher
PROBLEM SPACE
Higher education is designed around an “ideal student”, one with time, financial support and access to networks. Students from low socio-economic (SES) and first-in-family backgrounds are not simply missing from this picture, but are navigating work, study and external commitments alongside structural disadvantage. Ultimately, they are more likely to face structural barriers to participating, succeeding and belonging.
OUR RESPONSE
Constanet is a hybrid spatial-digital networking platform that helps students reconnect with missed opportunities in accessible, time-efficient ways. It combines a physical walkthrough installation, interactive spatial storytelling and a mobile networking platform, transforming networking from an exclusive, time-intensive process into an accessible and emotionally supportive experience.
01
Time is not theirs to spend.
Students who rely on paid work experience their time as inflexible and externally controlled, which prevents spontaneous, opportunity-driven university experiences. Need: a fast way to reconnect with missed opportunities without attending every event.
02
The system assumes an “ideal student”.
University systems are built for students with financial support, flexibility and few external responsibilities. Need: networking and career systems that accommodate time poverty, work commitments and non-linear participation.
03
Capital is inherited, not earned.
Students from disadvantaged backgrounds often lack pre-existing social and cultural capital and rely on time-intensive pathways to opportunity. Need: direct pathways to mentorship, networking and professional exposure.
1. Secondary research
Inequality in higher education is not just about access, but about how advantage is accumulated and reproduced over time. High SES students arrive with inherited social and cultural capital, while low SES and first-generation students navigate unfamiliar systems without support. Perceptions of nepotism also raise career anxiety among low-income students, reinforcing the idea that merit alone is not enough.
2. Survey (54 respondents)
32% were first-generation students, and nearly half of those were also balancing paid work with study. 60% of respondents not attending university identified as low SES, and 100% of those said they would consider attending if it were free.
3. Online ethnography
Students described a pervasive sense of exclusion tied to class, wealth and institutional culture. Imposter syndrome, burnout and social isolation were common, particularly among first-generation and low SES students, who felt judged by where they live, their school, race, culture or finances.
4. Semi-structured interviews
Students from lower income backgrounds face time poverty, financial stress and limited access to opportunities. Balancing work and study restricts their academic performance, social participation and career pathways, while wealthier peers benefit from time, networks and support.
5. Timescaping
Interviewees mapped key moments in their upbringing, then sketched three possible futures (upward, downward and same class mobility). This showed how participants understand class mobility and which barriers they perceive. A common one for those aspiring upward was a lack of industry connections despite strong academics, making well-paid corporate jobs hard to land.
We then ran a thematic analysis to turn these findings into the three insights above.
PERSONA / 01
Claire, 21
low SES, third-year Education student. First in her family at university, she moved from Brisbane to Sydney alone at 18 with no financial or emotional safety net. She studies full-time and works full-time as a bartender, so rent, bills and transport come first. She feels isolated and burnt out, unable to attend clubs or events, and compares herself to financially supported peers. Goal: a stable, meaningful teaching career that breaks the cycle of financial hardship.
PERSONA / 02
Damion, 20
high SES, Bachelor of Finance. He lives at home in Sydney, supported financially by his parents, who also give him industry connections. He feels heavy pressure to perform, leading to stress, perfectionism and anxiety. As an executive of the finance society, he organises and attends networking events that strengthen his employability.
Grace Amarante ✦ portfolio 2026 ✦
Grace Amarante ✦ portfolio 2026 ✦
Event attendance progress bar.
Job listings filtered to your preferences.
QR code scanning to save Constellation events, then post-event feedback.
Inbox for messaging professionals.
A personalised “Your Constellation” page to track your semester.
Editable bio and follower count.
See upcoming events and progress, check your inbox, save jobs, scan an event QR code and connect with professionals, view your Constellation journey, write a post about your experience, share your Constellation, update your bio and browse your feed.
SUS score: 84, well above the benchmark average of 68.
84
Our tutor’s feedback prompted us to design for the stage before students arrive at university, which matched our own finding that low SES students often arrive already behind. In response, we developed a high school bridging app with mentor chat, a curated events feed and a course selection tool where students nominate their dream course and university. It is scoped to low SES high school students, who must otherwise rely on time-intensive and uncertain pathways to offset cumulative disadvantage. Notably, the bridging app shares its visual and interaction language with the university app, so students build fluency in high school and transition easily. This directly addressed our finding that onboarding and intuition were the main friction point.