Not so mild mannered publishing designer by day, champion of women’s online design community sites by night, Astred Hicks is a woman with a mission.

Raised in the urban sprawl of Sydney’s inner-west by a Museum Curator and a Cobol Programmer, she was destined to do something arty-farty with a nerdy edge. She chose graphic design over forensic science for the simple reason that maths is for dorks.

Now enjoying life in suburbia with her partner Bob, dog Thorn, 12 black lady lamps and healthy obsession for 1950’s homewares, Astred is also the founder of online community for female designers and artists, Nest.

As well as participating in exhibitions such as Curvy and Monsters @ Revolver, she has been published in such highly regarded pulp as Empty, Curvy, Curvy 2, Desktop magazine, Desktop Graphics magazine and Noise magazine.

She has had her book designs published by HarperCollins, Harlequin, Little Hare, ABC Books, Pan Macmillan Random House, Pearson Education, McGraw Hill and Scholastic.