Design Conversations is a podcast series aimed at recording an oral history of designers and design practices in Australia, from the 20th century to the present day. Learn more about the series, view the full list of episodes, or browse the most recent episodes below.
16 | Rina Cohen: Interior designer
Rina Cohen is an interior designer who has been in practice for more than thirty years, and is an award winning designer specialising in the field of residential design. She is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia and winner of the KBDI Certified Designer of the Year in 2023.
15 | Colin Wood: Design publisher
Colin Wood was the legendary publisher of Design World, a major publication on design issues between 1983–1995. It was a roller coaster ride that was to spawn Design Ink. Currently Colin publishes the Art & Design Education Resource Guide, and the next publication will be the 41st edition.
14 | Dario Zoureff: Interior & furniture designer
Dario Zoureff is a pre-eminent interior and furniture designer, with a memorable catalogue of residential and commercial furniture designed over several decades. He was born in Vienna in the 1930s and came to Australia at the age of nine. He studied interior design at the Royal Melbourne Technical College in the 1950s, and began a sixty-year practice thereafter.
13 | Phillip Zmood: Automotive designer
Phillip Zmood studied Industrial Design at RMIT, and began his career with General Motors Corporation in 1965 as a designer. Soon after he became the General Manager of the Mid/Luxury Car Division of Holden/GM International Operations (USA) leading and contributing to future design programs.
12 | Mary Featherston AM: Interior & furniture designer, early childhood environmental designer
Mary Featherston, together with her husband Grant, have been seminal figures in Australian Design, delivering high-profile projects over decades in mid-century Australia. Mary has been celebrated in the field of children’s early-learning environments, working with schools, childcare centres and museums, and she continues as a consultant and advocate in this sphere.
11 | Jeffrey Newman: Industrial Design Council of Australia
Jeffrey Newman is an industrial designer, who trained in the fourth intake of students for the Industrial Design Diploma at RMIT in the mid 1950s. Jeff established his initial freelance design practice immediately after graduation, and later, following a period at Thorn Electrical, he eventually accepted a position in Myer Store Planning under Don Ward.
10 | David Terry: Industrial Design Council of Australia & industrial designer
David Terry trained in Industrial Design at RMIT, and then under architect Don Ward at Myer, where he made major contributions to the development of Myer Chadstone and then to Farmers in Sydney. David was engaged by the Industrial Design Council of Australia for several years and eventually became a State Director.
9 | Don Goodwin: Conran design director
Don Goodwin played a significant design role as an Associate Director of the Conran Design Group in London in the sixties, and then in Australia with Carl Nielsen, and later as Principal of Goodwin Design. Additionally, he became National President of the Design Institute of Australia and was recognised with a Life Fellowship.
8 | Robert Miller Smith: Dean & design educator
Robert Miller Smith has been a major contributor to the design profession in Australia and internationally, both in the field of visual communications and design education. From the London College of Printing, to Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, to University of South Australia and then to Swinburne University, he has had an extraordinary career and shares those experiences along the way.
7 | Roger Putnam: Furniture designer
An influential figure in the field of furniture design and manufacture, Roger began his career in London in the sixties, as assistant to the renowned English designer Robin Day. He trained at RMIT in Interior Design and did post graduate studies at the London College of Furniture, before returning to Australia.
6 | Kathy Demos: Design director
One of the most influential figures in Australian design, Kathy Demos has been responsible for steering the course of design in Australia, and internationally, by her skilled direction of major programmes, events and consultancies for the past few decades.
5 | Ted Worsley: Industrial designer & educator
Ted Worsley was a student in Australia’s inaugural Industrial Design course commencing in 1947. The Industrial Design Diploma at Melbourne Technical College (now RMIT University) was also attended by Clem Meadmore, later to become an internationally renowned sculptor.
4 | Ian Howard: International connections
A renowned leader in the field of furniture manufacture and design, Ian Howard was the Founder and Managing Director of Aristoc Furniture in mid century Melbourne; he then established Herman Miller Australia, and finally Co Design, the preeminent commercial furniture company in Australia in the 1970s. Ian established design activity at the centre of his enterprises, with the hiring of designers such as Grant Featherston and Fred Lowen.
3 | David Lancashire: Artist, designer & illustrator
A major artist and graphic designer, David Lancashire is still working in his practice, which spans signage/way-finding, graphic design, illustration, landscape design and mentoring. Lancashire’s career began in the UK where he received an exceptional grounding in illustration and commercial art before launching his almost sixty-year career in Australia.
2 | Ian Howard: Aristoc & beyond
A renowned leader in the field of furniture manufacture and design, Ian Howard was the Founder and Managing Director of Aristoc Furniture in mid-century Melbourne; he then established Herman Miller Australia, and finally Co Design, the preeminent commercial furniture company in Australia in the 1970s. Ian established design activity at the centre of his enterprises, with the hiring of designers such as Grant Featherston and Fred Lowen.
1 | Max Robinson: London & beyond
A contemporary artist and graphic designer, a poet and prose writer, Max Robinson had a sixty-plus year career in the UK and Australia. Renowned for his design work on numerous record covers for World Record Club and his contribution on the decimal currency council with Gordon Andrews and Harry Williamson, Max was also the designer of Australia’s first ten-dollar note.