Learn by Doing
In the early stages of her career Melbourne designer maker Alexsandra Pontonio, 33 has achieved high profile recognition, including Maker of the Year awards in 2021 and 2020. Degrees in social sciences and furniture design gave way to a desire to build hands-on skills that could give voice to her ideas. Incorporating required new skills or processes into her designs became a means to a career end. I asked her about her path to becoming a full time maker.
Alex, you seem to be at the start of your career and yet you are one of the most awarded makers around. Virtually every piece of yours I’ve seen images for has received an award, or led to exposure at high profile events. It’s wonderful – how do you account for that?
Honestly, I’m not sure. Accounting is not my strong point. Haha! I think I’ve been really lucky to do some interesting projects from the get-go, and I’ve had clients that really trust in what I do. I put a lot of work into the things that I take on. I’m
