Design is not just about creating one-off special pieces and iconic objects of desire; it can also make the world of difference by improving the ubiquitous everyday items that fill our lives.

As a new exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Making Good: Redesigning the Everyday showcases the importance of designing better the objects that we generally take for granted.

Making Good: Redesigning the Everyday brings together the work of 56 Australian and international designers and shines the spotlight on products and systems that improve health and wellbeing of people and the environment. The exhibition spans clothing, toiletries and grocery items that includes air-purifying paints to edible coffee cups, leather made from seafood waste and everything in between.

On display are products that stand out from the crowd, but the continuum is that all are designed to respond to a need for a more sensitive approach to limited resources and the fragility of our global environment.

There are innovative solutions to the everyday item where reuse, recycling and utilising waste are key. With out of the box thinking, glass artist Matthew Curtis, has developed architectural glass blocks made from recycled television screens and waste float-glass from the construction industry; while Sydney-based Besley & Spresser’s Oyster Terrazzo combines Sydney Rock Oyster shell waste from local restaurants with white cement, ochres and recycled marble to create a Terrazzo-like building material.  

Also on display is a new and inventive science-based paint formula from Singaporean paint brand Gush, that rids the air of pollutants and actively cleans the air around it; and Other Matterhas developed a plastic free signage film designed to replace conventional plastic vinyl signage used as window decals for retail displays, in exhibitions and at events.

A section of the exhibition showcases how product innovation and socially led design is improving women’s healthcare, with 99 per cent plastic free pregnancy tests by Hoopsy andModi Bodi’sFirst Period Kit. Offering products that enhance female sexual health, Melbourne-based brand Bed Intentionshas developed the first certified microbiome safe water-based lubricant that is enriched with prebiotics and actively supports the female reproductive system.  

Food-related innovations that transform everyday kitchen items are also prominent and highlights include a biodegradable straw made from seaweed created by Loliware and Good-Edi’s edible coffee cups made in Melbourne, using locally sourced grains. There is also Great Wrap’s compostable cling wrap created from food waste and Bolo, food containers made from 100 per cent organic waste, designed by Charles Wilson and Andrew Simpson of Vert Design. 

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Responding to consumer demand for more sustainable solutions to fast-fashion through material innovationsPetit Plihas createdchildren’s clothing which uses an engineered textile design that grows with the child; while TômTex has conceived a handbag and a dress, by New York-based designer Allina Liu, made from a leather-alternative material derived from seafood waste and mushrooms.

This exhibition showcases objects that will amaze and excite the visitor through innovative form and function. However, they will also inspire the mind and are bound to stimulate the appetite for everyone to think before buying to contribute to a more sustainable future.

Making Good: Redesigning the Everyday is a must-see for everyone. It champions designers who are forward thinking and making change now, for today, with brilliant ideas, concepts and real objects. 

Making Good: Redesigning the Everyday is now open at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, at Federation Square in Melbourne and closes 1st February 2026. But don’t wait, prepare yourself for the future and see how design is leading the way.

NGV
ngv.vic.gov.au