Abstract circular mandala with layered teal and blue rings, featuring leaf and coral-like motifs and scattered star shapes on a dark backdrop.

Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF)

Digitised Artwork | Hero Animation

CIAF is the largest Indigenous Art Fair in Queensland and delivers an event to the wider community every year.
The organisation was seeking a hero artwork and animation to support the overall 2026 theme of Reclamation and Generation.  Our team created the artwork using both cultural and landscape elements from the region and brought it to life with a moving image.

The Design.

The artwork was created by the ROR team led by lead Illustrator, Tarquin Singleton.  The work reflects both the natural and cultural elements of the Cairns region, while closely exploring the 2026 theme of Regeneration and Reclamation.  Working closely with the CIAF team, our creatives created a number of moving image assets to underpin the event.
Working with the CIAF team , we translated the artwork into a refined vector design while preserving its cultural integrity and creative intent. By recreating the artwork as scalable vector graphics, the design can be reproduced at any size without any loss of quality, ensuring consistency across both print and digital applications.

The Revolution.

We created a unique animation that has been warmly embraced by the community. The contemporary aesthetic extends the organisation's brand to a broader audience while communicating its theme with clarity, authenticity and respect.

Indigenous Design and Creative Agency

Let's have a yarn.

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Cairns QLD 4870 Australia
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We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land and waters on which we create, live and learn and our peoples ongoing connection and custodianship of Country, sovereignty never ceded. We pay respect to our Ancestors and our Elders past and present and acknowledge the young people who continue the bloodlines of our people and of our rich diverse cultures.
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Meriam (Erub)

Sheree Jacobs

Sheree is a Torres Strait Islander woman, born in Cairns, Far North Queensland with  links to Erub Island in the Torres Strait. Sheree has worked for a number of regional and international not-for-profit organisations delivering programs to support social impact and outcomes.

Sheree possesses Master in Communications, from Griffith University. Her roles in Design, Marketing and Communications encompasses supporting First Nations storytelling and digital and print works for government and non-government organisations.

“Art and design can tell stories in ways that can be understood universally. Sometimes words are not enough. Art and design is something that can reach and move people, communicate ideas and thoughts in new ways.:

Qualifications
Master of Communications, Griffith University
Associate in Project Management CAPM

Yirrganydji

Tarquin Singleton

Tarquin is an Aboriginal creative who joined the project in 2021. In addition to illustration and design, Tarquin has worked on Country as a Yirrganydji ranger and in cultural engagement for many years. His design work is a combination of traditional Aboriginal art and modern and western art. Tarquin draws his inspiration for his designs from Bulmba (Country), Kulbul (Sea country) and Bulurru (Lore, Creator, Culture).

“Yirrganydji country is located from Cairns to Port Douglas making us rainforest and saltwater people. Growing up in two world heritage areas - the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforest is something to be proud of and has heavily influenced my work. My designs are heavily influenced by my heritage and combine the elements from traditional Indigenous art with modern art.

What is good about IndigeDesignLabs is that we can work in a studio environment to bounce ideas off each other. Working as a mentor is good because it keeps me learning new skills and being able to teach those skills is a rewarding experience.”

Kanolu and Gungarri

Leigh Harris

Leigh is a Cairns based Aboriginal business owner with traditional connections to the Kanolu people of Central Queensland and Gungarri people of South East Queensland who is also proud of his Italian and Welsh heritage

As a well know diverse Aboriginal creative and digital designer with over 25 years in the industry he has worked on some of the countries major design and creative projects. As a designer, active in the design and digital creatives space for over 25 years he owns and manages ingeous studios a multidisciplinary design studio based in Cairns. Trained as a Public Relation officer with Aboriginal Hostels Limited in Canberra in the late 1980’s he moved to Cairns in 1993 to work with Cape York Land Council as as Communications Officer working throughout Cape York and the Torres Straits for 11 years prior to the establishment of ingeous studios.

As a well established business ingeous studios, a creative design and digital agency and he has worked to ensure the integrity of what he does as an Indigenous business owner and creative and in 2019 in partnership with NorthSite Contemporary Arts established IndigeDesignLabs to share his wealth of knowledge and inspire young people to get into the digital design and creative design industries.

Working remotely for clients across Australia and internationally, Leigh has successfully maintained ingeous studios as a leading creative digital production agency that is a hybrid agency that works across creative productions and digital technologies.