Designing Bright Futures

Australian Design Centre is proud to present, in partnership with UNSW Art & Design, the exhibition Designing Bright Futures opening on Thursday 22 November.

Designing Bright Futures presents exciting new work by 12 emerging design practitioners.

Spanning jewellery, textiles, graphics, object, interactive and spatial design these new designers consider social and environmental impacts and speak to their vision of what it means to be a designer today.  

An exhibition celebrating the optimism, ideas and ambitions of the next generation of designers and makers, Designing Bright Futures continues Australian Design Centre’s commitment to supporting the work of makers and designers at this early stage of their careers.

The designers are: Chloe Boudib, Samantha Dickens, Hannah Goddard, Boyd Ison, Jo Jarosinska, Meghan Kelly, Matilda Roberts, Marisa Suen, Ivana Taylor, Jenny Tin, Julie Toke and Kirra Weingarth.

These young designers are grappling with what it means to be a designer in a time when we are all contemplating the big issues such as climate change, urban growth, minimisation of waste, ageing populations and reconciling our Indigenous heritage and colonial past. A focus on these issues is liberating design from its commercial role in the industrial age and redefining it as a discipline of resourcefulness, instinct and ingenuity.

The designers were selected by a curatorial panel: Lisa Cahill (ADC), Stephen Goddard (UNSW Art & Design) and designer Henry Wilson.

Object Space is a window gallery on William Street adjacent to the Centre. On display 22 November 2018 – 23 January 2019 is the exhibition Site/ Insight by Dennis Golding. This Object Space exhibition is an adjunct exhibition to Designing Bright Futures 2018, presented in partnership with UNSW Art & Design. 

ADC has a long and notable history of exhibiting and supporting UNSW Art & Design students and graduates and has worked with the university in recent years to present workshops, forums and events.

To assist these emerging talents, the Australian Design Centre will present one student with the ADC UNSW Art & Design Mentorship Award.

“Designing Bright Futures provides an invaluable real world experience for our design graduates. Our partnership with ADC on this initiative, now in its third year, is an important link between curriculum and industry preparing the selected gradates for their transition to nascent designers. We couldn’t be happier than to be partnering with ADC in this initiative.” said Dr Mark Ian Jones, Deputy Head of School (Design) UNSW Art & Design.

Designing Bright Futures 
22 November 2018 – 23 January 2019
Australian Design Centre
101 -­ 115 William St, Darlinghurst

Explore the Designing Bright Futures webpage here.