Warren Taylor and Dominic Hofstede
Book manuscript and online archive: The birth of the professional studio: Australian graphic design 1960–90.
The project provides an overview of the Australian graphic design industry between 1960 and 1990, exploring the social, cultural and commercial influence on contemporary practice by seeking contributions and commentary from the design community.
The second half of the 20th century saw the maturing of the Australian design industry, reflecting the massive changes that occurred in politics and culture locally and globally. The industry moved to a studio-based system and was dominated by a number of charismatic and influential figures whose impact is still felt today, including Australian Graffiti, Rennie Ellis, Alex Stitt and Bruce Weatherhead (Jigsaw). The onset of desktop publishing in the 1990s and subsequent globalisation of design meant that the work of this period arguably embodies genuine 'Australian' characteristics more than any other and resulted in work of unmatched quality and originality.
Warren Taylor is a lecturer of Communication Design at MADA (Monash Art Design & Architecture) and founder of the Narrows – a curatorial project interested in the convergence of art and design. Warren has designed publications for artists such as Jon Campbell, Matt Hinkley, Bianca Hester, Marco Fusnato, Nicholas Mangan and Elizabeth Newman, and in 2011 he edited and designed MIFF60, a publication tracing the history of graphic design for the Melbourne Film Festival. In 2012 he was a keynote speaker at the international conference Graphic Design, Exhibiting, Curating at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy.
Dominic Hofstede has worked as a graphic designer for over 20 years, the past 18 as head of Hofstede Design. His commitment to fostering young designers has manifested in mentoring, lecturing and teaching roles undertaken with numerous local educational institutions, including Monash University, Swinburne University, RMIT and Ballarat University. In 2010 he was invited to join the advisory board to Swinburne University’s Communication Design Program Reaccreditation. Dominic is also an active member of the design community. In 2009 he sat on the AGDA Victoria council, was a judge at the 2010 AGDA National Awards, and has spoken at numerous AGDA events.