AKIN, the first ever, international luxury collection developed through a collaborative process between Indigenous artists and Queensland emerging fashion designers made a sensational debut as a ‘one-off’ preview at the sell-out Chaos and Control Queensland University of Technology (QUT) 2012 Graduate Fashion Showcase. The 20-piece ‘collection’ was produced as part of the Contemporary Indigenous Fashion Partnership which connected established Queensland Indigenous artists from far north Queensland with five QUT Fashion graduating students to develop the high-end fashion ‘range’ for commercial sale. Funded by QUT Creative Enterprise Australia (CEA) – a business development agency who also operate a fashion incubator – and Arts Queensland, the project’s objective is to achieve commercial success and provide profits for both the artists and designers. A first of its kind, the project required consultation across the areas of business, fashion and the arts. Working closely with KickArts Contemporary Arts and Arts Queensland to establish an ethical framework for the project that respects both artist and designer, CEA delivered intensive workshops facilitated with QUT Fashion to mentor artists and designers, held in August as part of the 2012 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair. This is only the beginning for AKIN and aims are set to develop an international fashion label ...
Travelling some 16,472kms from the Boucher & Co Toowoomba studio to Buckingham Palace in London, is the People of Australia’s gift to Her Majesty The Queen; an exceptional Royal Writing Compendium fashioned from unique Queensland timber by gifted Queensland designers and craftsmen. From their Toowoomba, Queensland workrooms, director and designer David Boucher with his team of artisans create rare and beautiful bespoke fine-art furniture and unique gifts from exotic materials for clients from Sydney to Paris, royalty and movie stars to private homes. Magical, otherworldly work conjured from lustrous figured timbers marked with such unusual swirls and colours they resemble landscapes. Presented to The Prince of Wales at Government House in Canberra on 10 November 2012, the Royal Writing Compendium was commissioned by the Governor General, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce, as the official gift from Australia to Her Majesty The Queen on the occasion of her 2012 Diamond Jubilee. This beautiful and practical piece is made from magnificent North Queensland Butt Maple. Its story is fascinating. Some 200 years ago, a large North Queensland Maple tree fell victim to the destructive force of a Pacific Ocean cyclone. The tree was crushed, bent and twisted by the massive cyclonic winds, but ...
Queensland’s artisan – presenter, promoter and gallery for unique quality crafted design – is steaming ahead with their current exhibition; The Antipodean Steampunk Show. Steampunk merges a 19th century aesthetic with scientific invention, salvage and new technology. This fantastical exhibition showcases highly imaginative handcrafted and functional Steampunk communication devices, sculpture, photography, fashion, lighting, weaponry, footwear, illustration, jewellery and film by Australian Steampunk artists and designers. Jordan Bloomer tells us that …”Born into the physical world in the mid-1990s by a group of science-fiction writers who had grown tired of the cyberpunk genre, Steampunk started out as a literary sub-genre that weaved fantastically worded visions, which amalgamated 19th century Victorian aesthetic principles and coupled them with modern technological advancements. This quixotic marriage of old and new has birthed a burgeoning sub-culture of creative individuals who are constructing a Neo-Victorian age that dwells within the current one.” Steampunk is only one of the feathers currently sitting in artisan’s cap. In the Queensland Australia Business Arts Foundation 2012 Awards, artisan won the Australia Council’s Young and Emerging Artists award in recognition of their Emerging Curator Mentorship Program created in partnership with BCM. Artisan don’t stay still, and you can find them touring highly ...
The Design Dividend program has been launched by the Australian Institute Architects (AIA), Queensland Chapter. Shane Thompson FRAIA, Queensland President of the AIA and current Queensland Smart Design Fellow, announced that “As the current Queensland President of the Australian Institute of Architects, I am constantly reminded of the outstanding value today’s architects bring to their clients and the communities they serve. This value is evidenced through the numerous anecdotes from both corporate and community clients, where their architects have produced amazing results on very limited budgets. Many projects have even been delivered under budget and ahead of time. This is the Design Dividend.” The Design Dividend advocates that “Quality design is an investment in the places that make our communities better environments in which to live, work and play…” To cast the project near and far, a series of postcards featuring selected Queensland projects will be posted to key public, industry and business figures as part of a need for architects to have a stronger voice and heighten awareness of the significant value their design-led role in the community can bring. Queensland projects featured include: Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum, Winton, Outback Australia by Cox Rayner Architecture; Broadwater Parkland by RotheLowmanWhite; River Quay, Brisbane by Arkhefield ...
Queensland Design Council members have been celebrated in the Australian Financial Review and Westpac Group inaugural Women of Influence Awards. Yassmin Abdel-Magied, inaugural Queensland Design Council member and founder of Youth Without Borders, joins Dr Dawn Casey, previous Queensland Design Council member, chair of Indigenous Business Australia and Director of the Powerhouse Museum, to be honoured amongst the nation’s 100 Women of Influence in 2012. The inaugural 2012 Women of Influence Awards identify and acknowledge great leaders, entrepreneurs, mentors and role models who are working to help Australia build a vibrant, inclusive future. Entrants were nominated and finalists shortlisted for the ten categories: Board/Management; Diversity; Emerging; Global; Local/Regional; Innovation; Philanthropy; Public Policy; Social Change/Enterprise; and Young Leader. The judges extended further acknowledgement to Yassmin, recognising her – jointly with Marita Cheng – as Australia’s 2012 Young Leader Award winner.
The Queensland eco-design sector is again taking a starring role at London’s 2012 FX International Interior Design Awards. Kent Gration – a Queensland Emerging Design Leader Award winner - has been shortlisted for the 2012 Surfaces Award with the Greenery Workstation Screen System. This accolade follows on from Gration’s success with the Constellation Pendant Light which took out the 2011 FX Eco Product and Project Award. Gration’s premier bamboo furniture range Wambamboo has already received award-winning recognition, with products being exhibited and distributed around Australia and internationally. The Greenery Desk/Workstation Screening System provides an adaptable partition product which can be customised to create an array of functional and decorative solutions using two mirrored forms. The design was to created to enable easy social interaction and privacy in the workplace, whilst reducing the amount of material and infrastructure found in typical workstation arrangements. The design reduces the austere nature of workplaces by introducing organically themed elements hence the title ‘greenery’. Screen designs may be customized to reflect company branding/logos. Gration explains that the philosophy behind Wambamboo is to create “pieces which factor in the whole-of-life cycle of a product, from its material origin and benefits, biodegradability and recyclability. The prestigious FX Awards, now in ...
The 2012 Queensland Smart Design Awards honoured an incredible stable of established and emerging Queensland design practitioners. The Fellowship nominees were Kevin Finn, Shane Thompson, Christina Waterson, Anne-Marie Willis and Natalie Wright. The Emerging Design Leader Award finalists were Jenni Baxter, Kathryn Gough, Amy Saunders and Jenica Smith. Esteemed Brisbane architect Shane Thompson took out the 2012 Queensland Smart Design Fellowship. Mr Thompson received his award at the 2012 Queensland Smart Design Awards presentation at The Edge, State Library of Queensland on 28 June, while landscape architect Amy Saunders won the Emerging Design Leader Award. Mr Thompson’s outstanding contribution to Queensland’s design culture, as an advocate, teacher, mentor and architect, throughout a career spanning 30 years made him a unanimous choice for the judging panel. A director and principal of BVN Architecture from 1987 to 2011, he recently established Shane Thompson Architects. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland and President of Australian Institute Architect’s Queensland Chapter. The judging panel applauded Mr Thompson’s strong participation in community consultation, his cross-sector collaboration and ongoing work with the education system to create a stronger Queensland design sector. “Shane has championed design principles and been a leader in designing ...
At age 22, Queensland-bred designer HY William Chan became one of the youngest people commissioned to create work for the recent Vivid Sydney Festival, the largest celebration of light, music and ideas in the Southern Hemisphere. Chan’s work Palette of Urban Green, showcased next to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, consisted of 100 timber palettes repurposed into environmentally-responsible light sculptures. The wood materials were sourced from local, ecologically-sustainable plantations, and constructed to resemble high-rise towers. In doing so, Chan juxtaposed the marriage between the natural and built environment. At night, the pallets were brought to life using energy-efficient LED lights and high-frequency sensors that responded to audience’s movements. Chan is a recipient of the Queensland Government TJ Ryan Memorial Medal in architecture. Currently based in Sydney, the designer works for HASSELL, and is also finishing an Honours dissertation in architecture. QUEENSLANDERSIGNtm recently caught up with Chan to get the scoop on his Vivid experience and plans for the rest of the year. What was your process for constructing the five light sculptures for Palette of Urban Green? How long did it take to conceptualise, install and present these works? From concept to reality, my exhibit took six months of intense work. However, the ...
Brought to you by the Queensland Design Council, the Friday Five Q&A project invites design and industry leaders to give insight into what inspires them, and to hear their ideas and goals for good design in Queensland and around the world. This week’s Friday Fiver is Yassmin Abdel-Magied, President of Youth Without Borders, a forum empowering young people to work together to implement positive change within their communities, locally and internationally. In 2011, Yassmin became the Queensland Finalist for the Young Australian of the Year Award. FRIDAY FIVE WITH YASSMIN ABDEL-MAGIED 1. What does being a Queensland design thinker mean to you? Well, firstly, I like the idea of a ‘queensland design thinker’! I think the concept of being a ‘design thinker’ is important, as it is about incorporating the process of design throughout everything that we do, including our thinking! The process of design is so important, and is imperative to achieving well tailored solutions. Add to that the unique Queenslander perspective, and you have a ‘QDT’! 2. What significant moment, quote, publication, event, city or object inspires you? I like to find inspiration in everything around me, and I think it is important to always have an open ...
Thousands of design hunters will flock to the Fortitude Valley, Brisbane this Saturday 26 May as BRISBANE INDESIGN - hailed as the leading design event in Queensland - returns after a three-year hiatus. BRISBANE INDESIGN gives the public, industry and design communities an opportunity to network with leading local design, fashion and architecture practitioners, and engage in various industry and networking events, showcases and pop-up exhibitions - all championing good design. New design products and systems, as well as interactive installations and live performances will also be on display. While the organisers have arranged for shuttle buses on the day, most of the showrooms are within walking proximity, so visitors are encouraged to start at one venue and trickle down to the next, and so on, keeping in mind that a BRISBANE INDESIGN event is identifiable by its fluoro-green flags and markings. To compliment the BRISBANE INDESIGN event is a series of satellite events, starting off with UpLate in Design, a new street festival held at the James Street precinct tomorrow from 5-9 pm. UpLate is aimed at design-savvy makers and consumers, and will boast a mix of fashion, interior design, architecture, culture, art, lighting, music, food, drink and entertainment, as well as exciting retail and industry offers for design punters. On Friday 25 MAy, the eve of BRISBANE INDESIGN, ...
