Benja Harney

Style Magazine chats to globally renowned paper engineer Benja Harney while he visits Toowoomba

How did you discover your passion for paper?

During my course in graphic design we had a very rudimentary class in paper construction and I was pretty much hooked on paper straight away. I was excited by the idea that tangible objects could form part of the new emerging design language at that time.

Have you got any accreditations or are you purely self-taught?

I am an accredited graphic designer but you can’t really study paper engineering at college so I realised that if I was to make this my career, I would have to teach myself. I set about learning as much as I could and took every opportunity I had to further my skills. My studies in graphic design gave me a solid base to start from.

What is it that you enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy the creative aspect of it. No two jobs are ever the same. There is a large amount of problem solving in what we do too so I try and approach each new project from a different angle.

What is your most essential tool for your work?

Creativity, drive, curiosity, determination!

What is your favourite project?

I have been lucky enough to work with some of the biggest companies around the globe. My biggest highlight to date would have to be creating the graphics for last year’s New Year’s Eve celebration for Sydney. To see our work all over the city and projected up on the Harbour Bridge with the eyes of the world on it was something that will be hard to top.