Comment —

As we begin a new year, it is now more important than ever for the design and creative communities to work together and put professional design at the forefront.

Designing our shared future (10)

Since I wrote my inaugural Comment piece for Artichoke, I’ve had the privilege of spending time over the summer with our members, supporters and fellow travellers in the design community, recognizing the achievements of innovative and inspiring industry leaders through awards programs, honouring the contribution of our elders and luminaries, advocating on your behalf to government and industry groups and meeting the next generation of emerging talent at graduate shows. In my travels (I don’t exist in a design vacuum after all!), I invariably encounter others who don’t neatly fit into any of the above categories, but are curious (and sometimes passionate) about design all the same.

In my previous column, I sent out the challenge to my fellow designers to examine not only how they talk with one another, but more broadly with clients, suppliers, educators, government and, most importantly, the end users of design products and services. So far, the invitation to start (or renew) the conversation has been taken up with great enthusiasm.

The discussions I have had during this time have provided further insight into where design companies are succeeding as well as the key concerns affecting and impacting the design community in Australia. Each group that I meet shares similar concerns regarding the way in which design as a profession can be negatively impacted by external drivers. These external factors vary from group to group, but when you look more deeply into what exactly is the underlying problem, all too frequently this comes down to a lack of being heard, valued and understood. Other pressures such as maintaining financial stability (or lack thereof), confusion around employment opportunities (especially for those new to the design world), the quest for the ultimate work/life balance (and other chimeras), political upheavals and absurdities – the list goes on – have all taken their toll on the wellbeing of the profession.

One thing I have noticed within the design community recently is a genuine willingness to work together for the benefit of the sector – while the peak industry bodies in the design and creative communities have always espoused mutual support and engagement, with MOUS and other agreements in place to enshrine these aims, there is a sense of renewed commitment and creative endeavour uniting us all.

In the current climate, collaboration is key and I’m proud to see the relationships deepen and strengthen between the DIA and other members of the Australian Design Alliance as we continue our efforts to advocate for a National Design Policy. In a more practical sense, unity between the design associations in our representations to (and partnerships with) government have resulted in significant achievements such as the announcement of Geelong as a UNESCO Creative City in Design, Melbourne as partner city for Hong Kong’s Business of Design Week 2018, and Sydney’s shortlisting (of just two) for the World Design Capital 2020. The DIA’S ability to lead excellence in industry was showcased through an outstanding twenty-fifth DIA South Australia and Northern Territory Design Awards, the recent DIA Western Australia Awards, and the Design Canberra Festival in the ACT. In Queensland, the DIA Queensland student council continues to deliver an outstanding Tarmac program, providing industry links for emerging designers to establish themselves in practice.

Outcomes such as these enable us to put professional design at the forefront of economic and cultural development, and to establish design leadership as a key driver of prosperity in the nation.

In short, I’ve been listening hard and using what I have learnt to help inform and prepare the DIA team to design, develop and deliver a renewed program for supporting, representing and advocating for the design profession in 2018.

I’ve also been reflecting on a conversation I had some time ago with Simone Leamon, the National Gallery of Victoria’s curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture, in which she said, “Design is the activity of proposing what we want in the world and how we deliver it.”1

Well, what do we want in our world? How are we going to deliver it?

As you know, the DIA has begun a process of significant organizational change, and the newly endorsed governance structure2 will enable us to move forward in a manner that embraces diversity, provides flexibility, offers transparency and, most importantly, places the voice of members at the heart of everything we do.

The DIA is also changing in a very physical sense. The DIA national office has predominantly been located in the Melbourne CBD but 2018 sees a shift to a more mobile workforce and a new way of working. The DIA’S dedicated team of staff are now spread across a number of cities around the nation (and also farther afield), intelligently networked and committed to delivering the organization’s programs and services. Branch presidents and council volunteers in each state and territory make up a crucial part of this team and they are focused on ensuring we are able to deliver meaningful connections at your local level.

Our new DIA Space in Derby Street, Collingwood is not intended to be “just” a relocation or transplant of the traditional office format, but rather, it is a space in which the DIA welcomes the design community (and the wider community) to engage with us, explore ideas, propose solutions and generally find room in which to practice design. While we are still in the early stages of evolving the masterplan, I am confident that this period in the DIA’S history will prove to be one of positive transformation and add a new chapter to the story of design in this nation. a

“Building a design culture,” Spark #37, 2016, 1

1.

“Change for the better,” Design Institute of

2.

Australia website, design.org.au/about-us/news/ change-for-the-better (accessed 4 December 2017)