Australian decimal currency banknotes have a fascinating design history. A 1968 Penrose Annual article by renowned graphic designer Alistair Morrison provides a detailed account of the working methods of the team of graphic designers who collaborated on Australia’s first decimal currency banknotes. In early 1963 the Commonwealth Government announced that a new decimal currency system […]
Here there be Tygers
I have a real interest in design history and I often find inspiration from early styles of graphic art. I recently acquired another copy of The Penrose Annual from a second-hand book store and as usual it contains a treasure trove of images and designs. I love this old advertisement for Kodak in the style […]
A Design Odyssey
The astronaut/space theme that I have adopted for my website is a fun way of expressing a number of related ideas. I was born in 1965 – halfway through the decade that culminated with Neil Armstrong’s first “small step” upon the Moon. I have many early childhood memories of watching the first televised images […]
State Election Guide 2018
My design for the cover of the Mercury‘s guide to the 2018 state election owes everything to the brilliant work of Mercury photographer Richard Jupe. Richard’s great talent for putting his subjects at ease, coupled with his extensive experience in lighting, composition and staging is clearly evident in this stunning combined portrait of Labor party […]
Drawing the Tasmanian tiger
The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was a large native carnivorous marsupial that was driven to extinction in Tasmania. The tragic story of the animal continues to fascinate many people both in Tasmania and overseas, and although many unverified sightings have been reported since the last one died in Hobart’s Beaumaris Zoo in 1936, […]
The Penrose Annual, Volume 50, 1956
As an art and graphic design student I often pored over the Penrose Annual collection in the art school library. They were a treasure trove of printing techniques, typeface designs, advertising artwork and illustrations, and I would be enthralled as I turned the pages. I couldn’t believe my luck recently when I found a copy […]