Ken Cato established the Design Foundation in 1991, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to encouraging excellence in design by supporting, promoting and enhancing the professional development of designers.

Mr Cato has also devoted much of his time to pro bono work and voluntary design industry activities. Over the years, he has served as Chairman of the Australian Writers and Art Directors Association, a member of the Department of Photography Course Advisory Committee at RMIT, creative director of the Melbourne Candidature for the 1996 Olympics, a founding member and Patron of The Australian Academy of Design, a member of the Victorian Arts Centre Trust Building Sub-committee, a member of the council of The Australian centre for American Studies, a board member of Heide Museum of Modern Art, and President and Director of Education of Alliance Graphique Internationale.

Through his design practice, Cato Partners, which now has offices or representatives located throughout Australia and in New Zealand, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Argentina, Indonesia, Spain, India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, Ken travels the world as a passionate advocate of Australian design. The design solutions for clients are formulated in Australia, where Ken leads a team of designers who create visual communications that transcend cultural and language boundaries and stand out in the global marketplace.

For his work, Ken has been invested as an Honorary Fellow of the Hall of Fame of the Design Institute of Australia, an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute, and the only international honorary member of the Russian Academy of Graphic Design.

In 1995, Ken was conferred with the honorary degree of Doctor of Design (Hon.D.Des) by Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, and in 2003, with the Bachelor of Design for achievement in the field of Graphic Design awarded at Honorary Level by The Sydney Graphics College.

In 2006, he received the Victorian Premier’s Design Award for Design Leadership and in 2009 was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Council of Graphic Design Association.  He was chair of the 2012 Premier’s Design Awards jury.

Cato Partners

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