The inductees of the 2009 Design Institute of Australia’s Hall of Fame were announced in Sydney at a special ceremony last Friday.

The annual awards ceremony celebrates the significant contributions of professionals to the design industry in Australia.

Now in its 5th year, it was celebrated at the Treasury Club Bar, Sydney Town Hall last Friday night.

The 2009 inductees are as follows:

ACT Derek Wrigley – A retiree and solar utilisation researcher experimenting with low energy and low resource retrofitting installations, Derek was a founding member of the NSW Chapter of the Society of Designers for Industry, which later evolved to become the Design Institute of Australia.

ACT Fred Ward – Passing 20 years ago, Fred was a Foundation Member of the Industrial Design Council of Australia and Design Consultant to the Reserve Bank of Australia. Fred worked in the Design Department of Myer Stores in Melbourne and lectured in Interior Architecture at the University of Melbourne.

NSW Alma Maccallum – Starting as a fashion designer in the late 1960s, she moved to interior design and decoration with clients including Rene Rivkin and Nike International. Alma was president of the NSW DIA Council for 2004-05 and was conferred a Life Fellowship in 2006.

NSW Edward Healey – A founding member of the institute, Ted was a designer for AG Healing Ltd from 1949-59 and returned as Chief Designer in 1963-68. Actively involved with the Institute in Victoria and NSW from the late 1950s-mid 1970s, he received a Life Fellowship in 1991.

NSW David Davenport – Moving to Australia in 1955, he started his own design practice in 1968 after working as a designer for Fler & Co and Don Johnson Pty Ltd. He later formed Davenport Campbell & Partners with Richard Campbell in 1977, becoming one of the largest multi-disciplinary practices in Australia and Asia with architectural, facility planning and interior design services. He also helped form the Sydney College of the Arts and served as Federal President of the Institute from 1970-1972.

NSW Don Goodwin – Don’s most famous for developing the Australian Bicentennial Symbol, BOCM UK corporate identity and Perisher Valley Hotel imagery. Developing his skills for print and packaging at AWA as an industrial designer, he worked with Carl Nielsen for Nielsen & Associates to develop their graphic design facility. He founded his own consultancy in 1979.  He was awarded a life fellowship in with the DIA in 1991.

National President of the Design Institute of Australia, Joanne Cys, said this year’s inductees all played significant roles in the professionalisation of design in Australia. 

“Each of the inductees was pivotal in the early formation of the Design Institute of Australia during the late 1940s and early 1950s,” she says.
 
“Designers today owe a great deal to these early pioneers of design in terms of both practice and organisation of the profession.”

Design Institute of Australia
dia.org.au

Hero image from left to right: L-R. Alma Maccallum, Derek Wrigley, Martin Ward [Fred Ward’s son] Richard Campbell [accepting on behalf of David Davenport as former partner of Davenport Campbell], Donald Goodwin and Edward Healy.