Who are the Diemen Awards?
We believe exceptional creative work that pushes boundaries and gets results deserves to be celebrated.
We’re passionate about nurturing the state’s creative community through recognition, developing emerging and established talent, and bridging connections between disciplines. We also boast one of the spikiest awards in the business—be careful if you win one, you could take someone's eye out.
Tasmania’s unique brand continues to be envied all over the world and our creative community has had a large hand in shaping this story. From creatively packaging our extraordinary produce, to building new and exciting brands, to fully integrated creative campaigns across screen, digital and print–our creative industry is going from strength to strength.
Each year, our aim is to create a championing voice to feature Tasmanian talent. We are committed to redefining what it means to be a creative awards body, and what it means to be a part of Tasmania’s creative industry.
TEAM
Adam began his career as a pre-press apprentice with a small printer in regional Victoria then moved to Melbourne working in advertising agencies, large print shops, universities and photographic bureaus before running his own print business in South Melbourne.
A sea change 12 years ago saw Adam move from Melbourne to Hobart to implement the digital pre-press department of the Printing Authority of Tasmania.
Currently managing the digital print and pre-media departments at Mercury Walch, Adam appreciates great design and loves the tactile nature of print. It is this appreciation and his years of industry experience that led him to his seat as co-chairman of the Diemen Awards.
As one of the two co-chairmen of the Diemen Awards, Amr is extremely passionate about Tasmania’s creative industry. Originally from Egypt, Amr has lived in 4 different continents and worked across a myriad of communication roles. Starting out in PR and Events Management in Malaysia and moving into Advertising after squeezing in a Master’s degree from Bond University, Amr has been exploring the creative industry from different angles, landing on Digital as his primary passion.
Looking for a major change in lifestyle, Amr moved to Tasmania to find his forever home. He has since founded digital marketing agency, Social Social, and is living his best life in the tropical north AKA Launceston. Amr brings an insatiable hunger to the Diemen Awards… a hunger to do better, to be better, and to make space for everyone in the industry to feel included, celebrated and most importantly, appreciated.
Having spent the last 10+ years in marketing roles within the fintech, sustainable fashion and wine industries in Queensland and South Australia, Kirsten migrated to Tasmania in 2020, seeking all four seasons and taller mountains.
She's now happily at home on the island, enjoying her role as General Manager at Neon Jungle and developing a new appreciation for cool climate grape varieties.
Kirsten’s passion for community has led her to the Diemen Awards committee, where she hopes to help foster a culture of inclusivity, excitement and strength within the Tasmanian creative industries.
After a major career switch from the emergency services to the creative industries in 2011, Jade threw herself into branding, writing, product design, illustration, painting, photography, packaging and paper mechanics. When that wasn’t enough, she took on event management roles for Falls Festival and Party in the Paddock and is now juggling being a designer and studio manager at Hobart based agency, Red Jelly.
Jade relishes the innovation and collaboration that radiates from the Tasmanian print and design community and is eager to help foster that spirit through her involvement with The Diemens.
A well-known identity in the Tasmanian creative and print industries, Natalie brings her extensive knowledge of the ever changing print, label and packaging markets to the Diemen Awards.
Natalie started working in sales for Advertising Agency – Banks Paton when just nineteen years of age. After a brief adventure working for a Western Australian mining company in the outback Pilbara region – Natalie returned to her Tasmanian lifestyle landing a job at Mercury Walch Printing. Having worked in many roles within Mercury Walch, Natalie has gained extensive experience in the craft and production of print from the ground up. This knowledge and commitment to her industry has seen Natalie develop large industry networks making her the perfect fit for her role as New Business Development Manager at Mercury Walch.
Natalie’s love of the creative industries and the people that work within it makes her a natural Diemen Awards Committee placement.
A serial dabbler and wearer of many hats, Jemima resolutely decided on her creative path at a very early age. A purple, spiral-bound graphic design book for children sparked a flame that burned through adolescence, and eventually carried her into studying Visual Communication at UTAS. She worked as a graphic designer for a number of years, starting a lifestyle blog on the side and developing a love for all realms of visual storytelling, before eventually settling at Lark Distillery in a marketing role that allowed her to exercise her skills in photography, design, copywriting and social media (and drinking whisky).
On the side, Jemima continued to be involved in content creation and influencer campaigns both locally and internationally, from bespoke local businesses to global companies such as AirBNB, UberEats, and Adobe Creative Cloud.
Currently she works in Digital Communications at Brand Tasmania, uncovering the stories of extraordinary Tasmanians and telling them through photography and written word. She still drinks whisky.
Yaz grew up in the advertising industry, flipping through Pantone books out the back in her father’s agency.
Through her teens she developed websites for fun, and landed her first gig at one of Hobart’s established advertising agencies. Like many, she moved to Melbourne to further her career, finding in roles with REA Group and Salmat Digital Marketing, working with clients such as Ray White, ANZ and Telstra.
Having moved back to Tassie 10 years ago, she delved back into agency land – developing email catalogues, digital outdoor and working on large scale events for the Woolworths Group. More recently she started working casually for a small fashion brand – during the pandemic, online sales boomed and the company tripled in size! She now has a new love of social media marketing and dabbles in all things digital design.
Yaz is a passionate mentor and has assisted many talented newcomers into the creative industry. She is thrilled to be part of the Diemen Awards committee and loves to see all the amazing skillsets and pretties!
Angela Pelizzari is an Australian based image maker.
For more than two decades, Angela has been creating works in Photography, Film Making, Titles Design, Art Direction, Design and Motion Graphics.
Angela has worked on a wide range of projects from mainstream film productions to commercial photography. Working with George Miller, Catherine Martin, Jane Campion, Baz Lurhman, Alex Proyas, Bruce Hunt; and directing commercial graphics packages including Turner Classic Movies. As a multi-disciplinary artist Angela delivers an innovative and unexpected perspective to image making. Inspiration from classic film lighting and modernism, brings a unique visual tension to Angela’s work.
Inspired and passionate about the level of talent in Tasmania, Angela continues to work alongside Film Directors here. She also lectures in Branding and Visual Identity both in Tasmania and on the Mainland.
Chantell has had a love for the creative arts since early on, and became interested in printing by teaching herself to screen print on her bedroom floor. This led to an apprenticeship and career in screen printing and graphic arts, working for businesses in both Sydney and Vancouver.
In 2019, she made the tree-change to Tasmania, turning the carousel from printer to print supplier. Currently running the show at media supplier SWG, Chantell loves finding the right products (and Pantone matches) for printers and sign guys - often nerding out on which vinyl series has been chosen or how it’s been applied.
Chantell’s knowledge of the industry, combined with her creative abilities and organisational skills, led to her earning a position as the secretary of the Diemen Awards. She is passionate about local business, and showcasing the uncompromising quality that a tight-knit community like Tasmania can produce.
Sponsorship
We’re a not-for-profit, community-focused organisation, with a purpose to support both our creative community and our industry. This is why we invite everyone – from seasoned industry professionals to fledgling students – to come together and celebrate our diverse and talented community.
We promote innovation, growth and exposure through collaboration. The Diemen Awards give you the platform to showcase your talent, and the ability and reach to foster interaction and education within broader untapped markets.
The spirit of collaboration is key to Tasmanian success. We invite you to join us and our valued partners to recognise, develop, and support Tasmania’s unique creative community. With commitment and passion, together we can bring the Diemen Awards’ vision to life.
For any sponsorship queries or to become a part of the Diemen family please contact Natalie using the details below.
Natalie Veryard
0400 842 851