David Flack may be the force behind one of Australia’s most innovative design brands, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still have a little fun.

he fleshy pink typeface on the French navy business card that issues from David Flack’s back pocket ciphers the interior designer’s brand of ‘ bodacious’ modernity. “it’s so nice to meet you”, the message flashes in super-size sans serif. “baby got flack”, seconds the one shared by his business manager and partner, Mark Robinson, an award-winning filmmaker whose discipline in production budgeting and scheduling has slapped Flack Studio into formidable shape. The couple stand, all welcoming smiles, on the doorstep of their inner Melbourne home — a three-level Fitzroy terrace, circa 1890s, that is jointly shared by Flack Studio and two wildly excitable spoodles, Alfie and Frank. “We’ve only been here about 15 months,” says the 32-year-old Flack, whose fulsome portfolio — 18 projects completed, 24 underway — infers the output of a mid-40s professional. “Pretty soon we’ll need somewhere bigger, but until such time…” Flack guides passage down an all-white hallway, the high-Victorian archways of which open to the engine rooms of his interior industry. He introduces the design crew — “Erin, Hannah, Josh, Hugh and more upstairs” — while fossicking for their respective calling cards. “thanks for being awesome”, he says, reading the missive on one. “right flack at ’cha”, he recites, scanning another. This familiarity is declared deliberately unbusinesslike by Flack, who admits to finding the cards’ corpulent-coloured print “frankly gross”, but then a bit of vulgarity is visibly the order of all studio creativity. According to the curly-topped designer, who presents in a crisp Kenzo suit that says ‘smart but subversive’, this levity is the language of their aesthetic. “We need to speak it,” says Flack, “and Mike’s been a big part of that.” He refers to creative director and designer Mike Giesser, formerly of Studio Round, who has translated the practice’s dippy classicism into deceptively simple brand statements that differentiate Flack from the flock. “We have to keep asking, are we doing different differently?” says the designer, while flicking on a television screen in the cosy rear-of-house kitchen that caters for small parties, client pitches and morning coffees. “Are we being disruptive enough?” Flack scrolls through a show-and-tell of the studio’s portfolio — a slick package that puts the dry design process in the language of therapy (‘Listen, Translate, Craft and Amaze’) and evidences it with a richness of scheme for retail, residential and restaurant. Think equal parts Gio Ponti and Vincent Van Duysen with a dash of Dame Edna and you’ve got the Flack brand of slightly bonkers nostalgic modernism. It’s a brand with a studied background. Yes, Flack is an overachiever who ‘ duxed’ his high school — “I owe it all to my art teacher, Rhonda Alexander” — graduated in interior design (bagging top honours) and completed a business and marketing degree before seeking employment at interiors practice Hecker Phelan & Guthrie (HP&G), where he wedged a foot in the door with his offer to “clean the toilets and make the coffee”. ››