Hey! Nice Murals

“I’d love to see pops of colour everywhere in the city - to catch your eye and add a little brightness to your day.”

This passion for vibrancy and pattern is what led Shannon Lamden to start designing and painting murals in 2020.

“I’ve always been creative, I love colour. A friend asked me to design a mural for their newly renovated house and I thought, ‘It can't be that hard’. So I designed it, painted it, and fell in love with the process,” she says.

That first mural marked the start of Hey! Nice Murals, and Shannon hasn't looked back since.

Despite having a Bachelor of Fine Art, Shannon’s artistic journey was anything but straightforward. After completing her degree, she spent over a decade working in advertising and marketing before returning to art while at home with her first child.

“I hadn’t made or drawn anything for close to fifteen years,” she says. “But I discovered craft blogging, and thought, ‘Okay, I'm going to spend my time with my small child making things.’”

This period led her to explore illustration, crafting, and graphic design and then freelancing for twenty years in digital illustration, web development, and social media.

But during COVID-19, Shannon felt it was time for a change. “I thought, ‘Maybe it's time to start getting outside,’” she recalls. “I was sick of being stuck behind the computer all the time.”

Armed with her newfound love for murals, Shannon launched Hey! Nice Murals, bringing her bright and bold designs to walls across Melbourne.

“I consider myself quite commercial. I do whatever people want me to do but always with a lot of colour and vibrant, flat graphic shapes,” she says.

Her aesthetic resonates with schools, homeowners, and businesses alike. From creating whimsical murals for primary schools to transforming backyards into colourful oases, Shannon’ creations are bound to add a pop of colour and joy to your day.

“I love pattern on pattern,” she says. “There’s so much steel and concrete everywhere. I just want to see more personality.”
Her design process starts with photos of the space, followed by creating three different concepts for the client to choose from. “Once they pick one, we go back and forth with changes until it's just right,” she explains. “Then I come in and paint. It’s that simple”

While she occasionally brings in assistants to help with painting, Shannon prefers a hands-on approach, enjoying the process of bringing her digital designs to life on walls.

“I’m outside, getting dirty and playing with lots more colour,” she says. “Being able to just paint a wall with your headphones while listening to podcasts or music is so good.”

One of her local projects includes a mural in Elio Sarpi’s backyard. Elio, the person behind the popular Instagram account Houses of North & West Melbourne, reached out to Shannon via Instagram, where she often shares her latest creations. Curious art-seekers can admire Elio and Shannon’s artwork from a side street. She has also brought the exterior of Warung Agus to life by recreating Suci’s Balinese illustrations and given a colourful facelift to a very dull West Melbourne balcony.

Shannon has big plans for the future of Hey! Nice Murals, aiming to continue adding joy and colour to spaces across Melbourne.

“I’d like to do some factory facades, and always more interiors,” she muses. “Imagine opening up a cupboard, and it’s fully muralled or something like that.”

For now, Shannon is happy balancing her work between schools, homes, and public spaces, bringing her unique brand of bold, bright art to life across Melbourne.

Words by Joyce Watts & Photography by Anna Encio