From Graphic Designer to Interior Photographer: Meet Kryssia Agius @hunting_utopia

She came to Design School to study interiors. She found a career behind the camera.

Kryssia Agius | Founder + Photographer, Hunting Utopia
Design School Graduate 2020 - Melbourne

Six years ago, Kryssia Agius was a graphic designer, mum of three and a Design School student trying to work out what the next version of her creative career might look like.

Interior photography wasn’t part of the plan.

Today, she’s the founder and photographer behind Hunting Utopia, photographing beautifully considered spaces for designers, stylists, architects, builders and creatives across Melbourne.

And in a full-circle turn we particularly love, some of the spaces now appearing in front of Kryssia’s camera belong to, or have been designed by, fellow Design School graduates.

But Kryssia’s path from graphic designer to interior photographer wasn’t mapped out. In fact, it began with a decision that felt pretty daunting at the time: going back to study with three young children at home.

Quick Facts 

🎓 Design School Graduate: 2020
📍 Location: Melbourne
📷 Today: Founder + Photographer, Hunting Utopia
♋ Star Sign: Cancer
🩵 Current Colour Obsession: Powder Blue
🖥️ Most-Used Creative Tools: Lightroom, Photoshop + Programa
✨ Favourite Designer: Kelly Wearstler
🪑 Favourite Brands + Makers: Tacchini, Moebel, Mobilia, vintage finds from Castorina + Co and Australian makers
💭 Best Advice: Focus on your own path, trust the process and remember that everyone’s journey looks different.

Before Design School

Before interiors became her profession, Kryssia was already building a creative career. Working full-time as a graphic designer, she created exhibition stands and marketing collateral for major events including the Home Show and Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, all while raising three young children.

Interiors, however, had always been bubbling away in the background.

Kryssia knew property development would eventually become part of her future, particularly through projects of her own, and she was beginning to wonder whether there might be another creative career that could offer greater flexibility around family life. 

Going back to study felt exciting. It also felt daunting.

How would she fit it in?

Could she manage study, work and three young children?

She decided to back herself and try.

Looking back now, that one decision opened a door she didn’t even know she was looking for.

She Wasn’t Starting From Scratch

One of Kryssia’s early realisations at Design School was that interiors went far beyond having a good eye. 

Behind every beautifully resolved space was planning, documentation, technical thinking, detailing and problem-solving.

But she discovered something else too: she wasn’t starting again.

Her years in graphic design had already taught her how to develop a concept, work with colour, build a visual story and communicate an idea to a client. Studying interiors didn’t replace those skills. It gave her another place to use them.

“Design School taught me how to think creatively and solve problems, which are skills I rely on constantly.”

She couldn’t have known it then, but that combination of skills would eventually become the foundation for something else entirely.

The Career She Didn’t See Coming

After graduating from Design School, Kryssia began working with a homewares company and its partner property styling business. 

It was there that she found herself behind the camera.

 What started as curiosity became something more.

Kryssia began teaching herself to photograph interiors, bringing together skills that suddenly made perfect sense alongside one another: composition and visual storytelling from graphic design; an understanding of space, colour and styling from interiors; and a growing instinct for capturing how a space feels.

Eventually, that combination became Hunting Utopia.

Today, Kryssia photographs interiors and architecture for designers, stylists, architects, builders and creatives across Melbourne.

It wasn’t the career she enrolled at Design School expecting to have.

But without taking  that first step into Design School, she may never have found it.

Life Now: Hunting Utopia 

No two weeks look quite the same now.

There are shoot days and editing days, site visits, sourcing, admin and time spent documenting projects.

Alongside Hunting Utopia, Kryssia and her husband work on their own property developments, with Kryssia leading the design direction from early concepts through to material selections.

The two sides of her creative life feed each other.

Photography gives her a front-row seat to the work of other creatives. Her own projects give her somewhere to apply her design thinking firsthand.

Six years after graduating, the career she has built looks very different from the one she imagined when she first enrolled.

“Running my own business and working within the interiors industry has brought opportunities and experiences I never could have imagined.”

And Then It Came Full Circle

There’s one part of Kryssia’s story that feels particularly special to us.

Years after sitting in a Design School classroom herself, she is now stepping behind the camera to photograph the work and homes of other Design School graduates.

Her portfolio includes Kazoo by fellow graduate Alessandra Smith of Alessandra Smith Design, the home of graduate Trisha Ruiz, and the beautifully moody Rituel Project by Alishia Misevski of Redrose Designs.

One Design School graduate behind the camera. Another behind the design.

We don’t think we’ll ever get tired of seeing that.

Because this is the part of Design School we love seeing continue long after graduation. Students take what they have learned in completely different directions and, sometimes, years later, those paths cross again professionally.

For Kryssia, a decision to study interiors eventually led to a photography business. For these graduates, their own studies led somewhere else.

And now, their creative careers are crossing paths.

1.  Kazoo - Alessandra Smith Design, by Alessandra Smith
2. Trisha Ruiz Home Residence, by Trisha Ruiz
3. Rituel Project - Redrose Designs, by Alishia Misevski

Back Yourself, Even When It Feels Daunting

Interestingly, the same willingness to take a chance that brought Kryssia to Design School still shapes the way she approaches her career now.

Self-doubt and imposter syndrome haven’t magically disappeared. She’s simply learned not to let them make the decisions.

Her approach? Don’t overthink every opportunity. Ask the question. Pitch the idea. Put yourself forward.

Some things won’t work, but some might change the direction of your career.

No risk, no reward.

What’s Next?

Kryssia is continuing to grow Hunting Utopia, work with new clients and seek out projects that challenge her creatively.

She’d also love to explore more commissioned design and travel photography, while continuing to develop thoughtful, considered homes through her property projects.

And if there’s one piece of advice she’d pass on to someone else finding their way into the industry, it’s this:

“Focus on your own path, trust the process and remember that everyone’s journey looks different.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Looking at Kryssia’s career six years after Design School, we think tha advice feels particularly fitting. 

She came to study interiors and she left with skills that added to the ones she already had.

And somewhere along the way, she found a career she hadn’t even known to look for. 🤎

Thinking about where your own creative career could take you?

Enrolments for our 2027 Certificate IV in Interior Decoration (MSF40122) are opening soon.

Join the priority list to be the first to know when applications open.

JOIN THE 2027 PRIORITY LIST

Need an interiors project shot? Find Kryssia Agius:
Hunting Utopia
Melbourne, Victoria
Website: huntingutopia.com
Instagram: @hunting_utopia