Our people
Meet the team behind Ethical Design Co.
Sonja is a veteran in sustainable design and human-centred design with over 19 years of industry experience. She highly skilled in all forms of communication and experience design, as well as WordPress development. Prior to EDCo., Sonja ran a successful design business for eight years as a location-independent 'digital nomad,' working with clients worldwide across various industries. EDCo. was a natural evolution from her previous work. Sonja holds a Graduate Diploma in Design Anthropology and a Diploma in Sustainability. Her career has always been driven by a commitment to sustainable and ethical design practices. Sonja understands what makes audiences connect with design and how to create a better future for both people and the planet. She's travelled the world in pursuit of answers to the planet's most pressing challenges and is dedicated to making a positive impact through her work.
Caitlin is the glue that holds everything together. She has a Graduate Diploma in International Community Development and a BA from the University of Melbourne. With over 8 years of experience in the design industry, she also brings a background in legal administration and has worked with various human rights and environmental non-profit organisations. Caitlin excels at supporting creatives and clients, working hard to keep everyone organised throughout the design and development process. Her strength lies in building successful relationships with people from various backgrounds and providing the support necessary to help teams, communities, and cultures thrive. She has a keen eye for design and is passionate about working with clients that share our ethos in designing for a sustainable future.
Jacqui is a Melbourne-based graphic designer with over 6 years of freelance experience, working across branding, illustration, in both print and digital content. With a degree in Fine Arts from Monash University and further study in Communication Design, she brings a creative and artistic perspective to her work. Jacqui especially enjoys branding projects, where she blends creative vision with strategic thinking to build meaningful design that connects with an audience. She’s passionate about ethical, human-centred design and is especially drawn to projects that reflect strong values and a clear sense of purpose. Jacqui values working closely with clients one-on-one, taking the time to understand their story so the design process feels thoughtful, collaborative, and aligned.
Luke has over 19 years’ experience in web/app development, digital and print graphic design, branding and art direction. He is a certified Webflow expert who loves building beautiful interactive websites enhanced with animation and effect. Luke lived and worked in Vietnam for 5 years, returning home to Australia in 2017. While there, he continued to work as a freelance designer/developer, did volunteer work, launched various startups and founded a coffee shop. When not pushing pixels from the home studio, he and his wife, Sarah, are busy renovating their old mid-century holiday shack in the bush on the outskirts of Melbourne.
Riley is an ethical business design specialist who is obsessive about adding visual exclamation marks to his creative work. His ethos is about making small positive impacts wherever possible. Riley is an all-rounder in the design world whose skillset touches a variety of areas from web design to motion graphics to illustration, and user experience design. With a background in marketing, Riley likes to gain an understanding of organisational objectives and craft designs that speak clearly and engagingly to desired audiences. He has been a designer for 10+ years and hopes to bring to life human-centred, philanthropic projects for many more years to come.
Hannah Mae Cartmel is an editor and communications specialist with over 15 years of experience. With a Master of Publishing and Communications from the University of Melbourne, she has worked across structural and copy editing, copywriting, proofreading, indexing, researching and project management. Hannah has collaborated with major publishers including Lonely Planet, Oxford University Press and Thames & Hudson, and has a strong background in producing both print and digital content. Beyond editing, she has held leadership roles, including as General Manager of the Small Press Network, and worked as a communications consultant for businesses and schools. Hannah balances her editorial work with yoga teaching and a love for theatre, travel and the outdoors.
"We had the pleasure of working with Sonja, Caitlin, Luke and Jacqui on developing our website. They made the process very straightforward, adhering to timelines and cost. We are very happy with the end result and would not hesitate to recommend them to others wanting a dynamic website. What a talented team!"
"It was great to work with EDCo as they built our website. The project was well managed, expectations were clear during the process and the final product was outstanding."
"Thank you for bringing our vision to life so well and for all your fantastic work on the Fairground rebrand!"
"Working with Ethical Design Co. was a rewarding and inspirational experience. They were responsible for the content development, website design and web development of the Brotherhood of St. Laurence's 2023 Annual report. They also produced a 52-page full report and 4-page summary report version and managed the printing of everything including our financial report. The result was spectacular! I would definitely recommend them and look forward to working with them again."
"It's such a pleasure to work with the professional and friendly team at Ethical Design Co. Their creative vision is compelling, and the results speak for themselves. We love our new philanthropy pages! Thank you Ethical Design Co."
"Ethical Design Co. have designed and printed a number of documents for our organisation, from simple flyers to complex reports, plus new brand guidelines, and we have been extremely happy with everything they have produced. Such a lovely team, too! Highly recommended."
"I engaged Ethical Design Co. to turn my dreams into reality. From the very beginning of our engagement on my logo and branding project, business collateral, and website design and development, Ethical Design Co.’s professionalism and eye for design was apparent. I was impressed with their suggested improvements, felt confident in leaving them in charge of design decisions, and have continued to be impressed after completion. I recommend Ethical Design Co. if you're after a quality service with sleek and sophisticated results."
"I have worked with Ethical Design Co. on multiple projects and will continue to work with them in the future. They have been an amazing partner who has helped on projects as large as our rebranding strategy for three brands, to brand guidelines to our quarterly reporting. In all of these projects, they have provided a fresh perspective/design that has been impressive. Working with them is professional and easy without a single deadline missed. I would recommend them for all design work."
“I can't thank you enough and honestly couldn't recommend the team at EDCo. any more highly! Your work is truly professional and has encapsulated the core of my business better than even I could've hoped for!”
"The team at Ethical Design Co. designed the whole look and feel of our brand, something we are now proud to display. Because of the professionalism shown from the very first talks we had with them, we were able to put many creative decisions into their hands. When launching another business, I would not hesitate to get them involved from the very start. As a bonus, they deliver work on time too."
"As a specialist solutions consulting group that provides information and analytic services to our corporate clients, we engaged with Sonja Meyer to help add an additional level of professional design to our solutions. From our very first engagement with Sonja we quickly realised that we received more than just her wonderful designs. Other qualities like her professionalism, experience and fast turnaround have enriched our projects to a point where Sonja’s involvement has become a constant feature in our projects that have a high graphic or visualisation component."
"Sonja has a fine eye for beauty. Her work is elegant and she has a remarkable capacity to reflect the taste of her clients. She is silken smooth to work with. She meets her deadlines, provides accurate information when required, contributes grace and intelligence to the development of every project. I am forever recommending her, and I recommend her again, here and now, to you."
"We often seek out Sonja’s assistance on UI/UX designs on particularly creative challenges that our internal designers get blocked on. Her work is always delivered timely and is always above the quality expected. Every time we deliver Sonja’s designs to a client they are blown away."
"Sonja has been our go-to designer for all our web-based needs, designing our web platform from initial mock-ups to a fully functioning product. She is a thoughtful, and nimble designer responding to our requirements and our user’s needs whilst retaining a clear vision for simple, engaging and user-friendly design. She manages to fit in with the fast-paced demands of an early stage start-up whilst continually creating beautiful designs for us. I would thoroughly recommend Sonja as a partner in design and we feel lucky to have found her!"
"As the owner of a small business and a design novice, it's been a pleasure to deal with EDCo. Their designs met my brief perfectly, making my business branding a breeze. Sonja is exceptionally professional and her designs are elegant. Over the years I have been in business I have always chosen to return to Sonja for any design needs. Her work has always been delivered well within deadlines with the assurance that all measures have been taken with environmental sustainability in mind - giving me peace of mind as well as strong branding. Thank you Sonja!"
"Sonja has worked closely with me in designing our circa 30-page pitch deck, investor summary slides, and other multi-page presentations needed to pitch key partners. Sonja is an incredible designer, but she's also a great instructor too. Most importantly, Sonja is a pleasure to work with. There’s no BS, she is prompt and hardworking. Her performance has been consistently high and turnaround quick whether she’s working from home base in Australia or remotely. We will continue to use EDCo.'s services for the foreseeable future."
