Institutionalising Design Education and Design Promotion in Australia: From early British influences to wider international engagement
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Published
Feb 7, 2017
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Abstract
Industrial design has grown in Australia from a series of
unnamed activities clustered about an emerging 19th
century manufacturing industry into a recognised
profession. This transformation largely occurred because of
the emergence of specific design education and the
support offered by professional design associations.
Designers working for the early Australian manufacturing
industry were given technical education in the areas of
engineering, draughtsmanship and foundry work from
1827 onwards in Mechanics’ Institutes. It was from this
technical base that the early ‘designers’ working for
industry sprang. Technical Schools, Schools of Art and
Schools of Mines and Industries all offered training for the
designer before industrial design was finally offered as a
course of study at tertiary level after WWII. Concurrent with
this, professional associations arose to support the
emerging industrial design industry in Australia. Nineteenthcentury
precursors to “modern” design education -
Mechanics’ Institutes, Technical Schools, Schools of Art,
Schools of Mines and Industries, Junior Technical Schools,
Apprenticeships and Secondary School design education -
will be surveyed. As with many countries, WWII was a
catalysing time for Australian industry as the country geared
up production. At the conclusion of hostilities, Australia’s
first specific Industrial Design course at tertiary level was
born.
The purpose of this paper is to show how industrial design
activity in Australia has become a profession. An early
British lead in both design education and professional
design associations was soon broadened to include other
international models, as the Australian design industry and
Australian society generally, looked to countries other than
the ‘mother land’. This paper argues industrial design
activity was expanded in every way by the experience of
mass-production of goods for the war effort, by new
immigrants arriving in this country who often had skills
lacking locally, and by the new opportunities offered by the
post-war reconstruction programmes. Industrial design was
formalised as a profession by industrial design education at
tertiary level and the assistance offered to
unnamed activities clustered about an emerging 19th
century manufacturing industry into a recognised
profession. This transformation largely occurred because of
the emergence of specific design education and the
support offered by professional design associations.
Designers working for the early Australian manufacturing
industry were given technical education in the areas of
engineering, draughtsmanship and foundry work from
1827 onwards in Mechanics’ Institutes. It was from this
technical base that the early ‘designers’ working for
industry sprang. Technical Schools, Schools of Art and
Schools of Mines and Industries all offered training for the
designer before industrial design was finally offered as a
course of study at tertiary level after WWII. Concurrent with
this, professional associations arose to support the
emerging industrial design industry in Australia. Nineteenthcentury
precursors to “modern” design education -
Mechanics’ Institutes, Technical Schools, Schools of Art,
Schools of Mines and Industries, Junior Technical Schools,
Apprenticeships and Secondary School design education -
will be surveyed. As with many countries, WWII was a
catalysing time for Australian industry as the country geared
up production. At the conclusion of hostilities, Australia’s
first specific Industrial Design course at tertiary level was
born.
The purpose of this paper is to show how industrial design
activity in Australia has become a profession. An early
British lead in both design education and professional
design associations was soon broadened to include other
international models, as the Australian design industry and
Australian society generally, looked to countries other than
the ‘mother land’. This paper argues industrial design
activity was expanded in every way by the experience of
mass-production of goods for the war effort, by new
immigrants arriving in this country who often had skills
lacking locally, and by the new opportunities offered by the
post-war reconstruction programmes. Industrial design was
formalised as a profession by industrial design education at
tertiary level and the assistance offered to
Article Details
How to Cite
JACKSON, Simon.
Institutionalising Design Education and Design Promotion in Australia: From early British influences to wider international engagement.
Design and Technology Education: an International Journal, [S.l.], v. 21, n. 3, feb. 2017.
ISSN 1360-1431.
Available at: <https://www.ariadne.ac.uk/DATE/article/view/2154>. Date accessed: 24 sep. 2022.
Keywords
Design & technology ; Education ; Research ; Curriculum
Issue
Section
Research
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