Australian Design Unit

Launched in 2008 with funding from the Australia Council and AusIndustry, the Australian Design Unit‘s (ADU) first program was the Springboard Project, designed to develop the careers of young Australian product designers and to teach business skills specific to sustainable design practice — all connected by an open source website.

During the 2-year program held with 100 local and regional designers in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, leading design practitioners, IP lawyers, business specialists and retailers shared skills and experience through talks, workshops and mentoring. A kit of ‘business tools’ collected and developed during the Springboard Project is now available on the ADU website for all designers to access.

The overall mission of the ADU is to encourage the formation of a new community of designers – one that is confident and successful in business, adventurous and free-thinking, generous with knowledge and able to reflect with intelligence on the impact of its work.

(workshop, mentorship, publishing, identity)
Concept: Heidi Dokulil, Ewan McEoin, Web designer: Lee Wong. Identity designer: Graeme Smith. Editors and principal writers: Heidi Dokulil, Ewan McEoin, Madeleine Hinchy. Funded by Australia Council for the Arts and AusIndustry. Location: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane.