Welcome!
Hi, I’m Willow Neilson, a Learning Designer.
Creating experiences and crafting content for over 25 years.
Get To Know Me
About Me
Who Am I ?
I’m Willow Neilson a designer of games, learning and entertaining content.
Beginning my career as a professional performing saxophone player I went onto place third in 3 international performance competitions in Europe before the age of 25. I toured internationally performing at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, London Jazz Festival and JZ Festival Shanghai among many others. I backed musicians such as John Legend, DeeDee Bridgewater and O’Donel Levy.
Always passionate to share my love of music with the next generation I taught music in Australia, China and the US. My love for education lead me to get my teaching credential in 2006 and my Masters of Learning Design and Technology in 2016. I was employed by Cultural Infusion and Age of Learning to develop interactive learning applications focused on music.
Developing new ways people can interact with music for learning and entertainment will always be a fascination of mine. I continue to develop my skills in game development and interaction design to keep pushing forward new creative visions. I blog on this at musicgamedesign.com and will soon launch a YouTube channel of the same name.
Resume
A Summary of My Resume
Education
Work Experience
2014-2016
Master of Learning Design & Technology
San Diego State University
This degree focused on designing engaging learning for a range of learning environments such as online, AR & VR.
2017-2023
Curriculum Designer
Age of Learning
Designed engaging core game loops, intuitive interfaces and seamlessy sequenced content for music education games.
1997-2000
Bachelor of Music
University of Sydney
I was a student of the jazz studies department of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, one of the oldest and most highly regarded performing institutions in Australia.
2015-2017
Learning Experience Designer
Cultural Infusion
Designed several games for the Joko’s World series to promote intercultural understanding with school age children through music.
2013-2103
Certificate of Leadership Coaching
Academy of Leadership Coaching & NLP
This 4 month training program provided me with a toolset to help people gain clarity on their vision and goals.
2013-2015
Freelance Learning Designer
Multiple Organizations
Designed games, elearning and created video content for a range of freelance clients including the Hoffman Center Australia, Target and others.
Portfolio
