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In cahoots: Rick Poynor on Australian designers and their clients

26th August, 2009

For a select few in Australia's design industry the big problem is the client. You know the story: they don't get design, they don't turn up to events, they're boring. And it is this animal, with all the vagaries of a Neanderthal, who provides us with a whole heap of excuses for why Australian graphic design is the way it is. But what is Australian graphic design really like? Is it good? Or bad? And perhaps more to the point, is it quintessentially Australian?

With this in mind I met up Rick Poynor, renowned design writer and founder of Eye Magazine. I was curious to hear what he thought about the current state of Australian design, particularly in light of the article he wrote for Eye Magazine in 2002 entitled, "Look Inward: Graphic Design in Australia". "Look Inward" gave an overview of what Poynor understood as the then state of Australian graphic design, and while noting some exceptions (such as Inkahoots and Stephen Banham), he argued that a great deal of Australian design was caught up in trying to emulate the minimalist style of their European counterparts. He argued that on the whole Australian design seemed determinedly modernist, clean and maybe just a bit dull. The article implores Australian designers to look inward to the interior, both physical and metaphorical, as a source of creative inspiration rather than to the shores of Europe and America.

So, can Australian graphic design be characterized as dreary and overly modernist and if so, is it the client culture or the design culture that is to blame? Poynor argues that designers really need to push the client culture, "Clients often want an off-the-shelf style and an easy solution, not something that is really original but something that is accessible." Good design and interesting design comes from the designer being able to gently persuade the client to go further. Poynor still believes that Australian designers are overly preoccupied with a modernist style, however, he points out that he is "not saying that modernist design is not being produced everywhere. It's just that it's safe and it doesn't reflect a distinctly Australian design."

Poynor believes that Australian designers should be producing vibrant and interesting design in the tradition of Mambo and Redback Graphix, both of which he considers excellent and distinctly Australian. According to Poynor both companies produced design that "was both vulgar and clever. It showed a vitality and a love of life as well as being visually prolific..." While I agree that there is something distinctly Australian about both Mambo and Redback Graphix I am not entirely convinced that contemporary designers in Australia should be seeking out such a parochial style. Why the pressure to produce distinctly Australian design when there doesn't seem to be the same pressure on British designers to produce distinctly British design? When I put this to Poynor he disagrees, arguing that there is a distinctly young British design and style and "I think it can be characterized as a kind of reticence. The British have always been known for their reticence and while that seems to be changing I think young British design can still be characterized by this reticence."

The Brisbane based Inkahoots is another Australian studio that Poynor holds in high regard, particularly as it continues to produce distinctly Australian design regardless of client culture. As Poynor points out, "That's why I find them so interesting and why I sought them out seven years ago. I saw what they were doing and that no one else in the world was producing socially and politically aware work like that. They weren't affiliated with AGDA or any other organization. They were just getting on and doing it. Of course there is always the possibility that other people are out there, doing really interesting work." While there will always be a handful of studios producing interesting work regardless of the client culture, it does seem that things in Australia are shifting. Poynor insists that Australia is currently in an ideal position to really make its mark internationally. As he points out, "Australia's economy is doing relatively well and really Australia is well placed to produce amazing design."

The image above is a combination of two new Meanjin covers, designed by Chase & Galley, and according to Rick Poynor an impressive example of new Australian design.

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For me this raises the question "What is Australian Graphic Design anyway?" and "What is our national identity?" for that matter. Often we are lumped with the "larrikin" signifier but can't we be sophisticated too? I am more comfortable with the Inkahoots example than that of MAMBO. Either way I think it's a great call to action and we should all try and work with our clients to be bold, unique and interesting.
Posted by Tim Kotsiakos on 25th September 2009