Created From Paper: How Designer Benja Harney Used an Overlooked Medium to Launch His Career

This article is presented by TAFE NSW

Benja Harney is a paper engineer, meaning he's in a niche all of his own. Over the past 12 years, the Sydney-based designer and artist has made wings for Hermès, sneakers for Adidas, a garden for the Art Gallery of NSW, 3D chai for T2, and so much more—from flat, coloured card. Animations, set design, fine art, packaging, and installations: all created from paper. He can also make a mean pop-up book.

Harney first saw the potential of paper when studying at Sydney's Enmore College (now the Design Centre Enmore) and hasn't looked back. He runs his own creative studio, Paperform, which continually blows the minds of paper nerds everywhere, and collaborates with clients such as Google, Nike, Telstra, and SBS.

Harney spoke with VICE about the importance of self-starting and launching a career from an often-overlooked medium.

VICE: In your own words, what is a paper engineer?
Benja Harney: For me, it means a technical approach to paper. When I started out, paper was not a well-known medium. There were a lot of cute bloggers doing crafty things so I felt it was important to define what I did as more technical.

What made you decide to work with paper?
I discovered it at TAFE. I studied graphic design at Enmore College and took a class called paper construction. There was a really awesome teacher who was very passionate about paper and she showed us how to do simple pop-ups, like pop-up books, and that's what started me off.

So how did you hone your craft?
That was the challenge. There wasn't anyone in Australia who did it. I sent an email to Robert Sabuda, a very well-known paper engineer, and said: "Hey, I'm a student in Australia, I'd be really keen to spend some time in your studio in New York." They turned me down. So I decided I just had to teach myself. It was definitely an after-hours thing, but I wanted to be the best and I guess I'm just really tenacious, so I worked really hard.

On top of formal study and teaching yourself, what helped you kick-start your career?
I always tell people, or young students, that you have to get experience out in the workplace. Through a teacher, I got a placement doing graphic design at a big newspaper in Sydney. For about three months I worked there for free, and I had a hospitality job at nights so I could pay the bills while I was also studying. At the end of the tenure I was offered a job. It taught me so much about work ethic and people.

How did you get your paper works out into the world?
While I was still working at the newspaper, after I finished college, I started creating pop-up books. I'd put my work in art shows. I started doing sculptures. I created my own projects just to build up my skill set and portfolio. I'd do that all on the weekends. I think it's difficult when you first leave college. You have a vision, but no one knows about you. It is challenging and a little bit disheartening.

How can people push through that?
One of the ways is to be incredibly eager. I was so eager to do anything that was related to paper engineering. My friendship network helped a lot, too. One of the first jobs I did was to design a pop-up lookbook for a fashion designer friend. Then another friend, a well-known stylist, hired me to make a paper scene for a Christmas gift spread. I was lucky, too. At that time, people were hungry for new stuff online. Flickr was really big, so I'd put my work on that, and the Behance network had started so I put my stuff there. The digital platforms helped people find out about me.

The fashion designers and people who helped you in the early days—how did you meet them?
I'm a very 'out there' person and when I was younger, if I went to a party, I'd just tell people what I do. I'd say, "I'm a paper engineer", they'd ask what that was, and I'd engage them in conversation. I think it's great if you can talk to people about what you do, or what you want to do. Not everyone is like this. I know a lot of successful people who are quiet, but talking to people worked for me.

You were also engaged with the creative community, right? You went to art shows, to events. You don't have to be outgoing to do that stuff, or even to volunteer at design festivals and meet likeminded people…
Yes, and this is so important because you can't have a career like this on your own. You need to get help at some point. Even after having run my studio for more than ten years, those creative networks are still incredibly important.

Do you have any sagely advice for young creatives?
Be ready and willing to give free time if you can. This is what I did starting out and it was really important for me. The hard working people get the jobs. If you're a hard worker, people see it and it gets rewarded. Obviously, I don't want anyone to get taken advantage of, but I do think you have to be willing to give as much as you can in terms of your creativity and energy to learn and pursue your passion.

What about some advice you wish you'd been told when starting out?
Have the willingness to go above and beyond, within reason, to make something incredible. Another business thing? Put everything in writing. Write down what you are going to deliver at the beginning of a job. Good documentation and communication is so valuable. I also think one of the best things you can do is say yes. The more you say yes, the more things happen. And have a positive attitude. Courage under fire.

Photography: Lyndsay Noyes

This article is presented by TAFE NSW