Award of Merit:

Ian Wong and Monash University for Victorian Premier's Design Awards Showcase

Ian Wong is an award winning designer, collector, curator and senior lecturer at Monash University. Ian has been invited to curate exhibitions about his research on Australian Design in; Milan, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tianjin, Suzhou, Sydney, Adelaide, Launceston, Melbourne and his home town of Shepparton. Exhibitions have included EVERYDAY Australian Design, 100 Objects | Australian design in the home, I-CONIC Australian Design, 60 Years of Good Design, BlackBOX – Design and Innovation | Melbourne Australia, Innovators – Australian Design and Innovation, Zmood – Designing Holdens, and 150 Years of Design in Victoria. 

In collaboration with the Robin Boyd Foundation Ian and Tim Isaacson have produced a total of ten films on iconic Australian designers and design studios. 

The Ian Wong Collection has been a work in progress associated with his research and currently has over 2250 objects designed by Australian designers. 

Products designed by Ian as a director of EJO Design have ranged from one-off objects like the RMIT University Ceremonial Mace to brain scanning equipment, Antarctic sleds, and million-dollar high-speed agricultural sorting equipment. Ranges like the pak range for Silvan Australia have recently been reported as the 'hills hoist' of rural Australian farm life. This range continues to create significant commercial success for Silvan. Ian's first product for Silvan, the trukpak, designed in 1989, is still a very successful product and most farms in Australia would have a product designed by Ian. Ian continues to develop innovative products with his latest Australian Design registration in 2021 for a 40 litre spray tank to be sold in Bunnings. 

Ian is currently Director of the Monash Art Design and Architecture Industrial Design Centre (Kunshan) and Program Director - Master of Industrial Design at Monash Art Design and Architecture, Monash University. This double Master’s degree is delivered at the Southeast University-Monash University Joint Graduate School Suzhou in China. 

In 2021 Ian was awarded a GOOD DESIGN AUSTRALIA - GOLD AWARD for Design Research. 

Ian is President of Melbourne Movement and the China representative and Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia. 

Ian collaborated with a team assembled to deliver this exhibition.

About the Project

The Victorian Design Awards were established in 1996 as a partnership between the Victorian Government, industry, and the Design Institute of Australia. The commission from Creative Victoria to showcase 25 years of the Premier’s Design Awards is not only a celebration and presentation of this history, but also the first time this data has been collated and recorded. Until now, no historical archive documenting these awards was in existence. 

The curatorial research involved sourcing, collating and digitising data from individual awards catalogues on the entries, organisers, judges and prizes for the awards program. Sourcing this original material proved to be a unique challenge during COVID 19 lockdowns, with no access to publicly held records. 

The themes driving this showcase are: THEN | WHO | HOW | NOW | NEXT. 

The exhibition design process began with the consideration of the unique gallery space in the award winning RMIT Design Hub designed by Sean Godsell. A commitment to sustainable design practice determined that the design should make use of the existing projection facilities and loaned display cases for object display. The curatorial commission was expanded, at the request of the curator, to included the production of five films as a centre piece of the AV projection installation. A pixel/dot design theme was inspired by the circular elements that form the facade of the iconic RMIT Design Hub building and to recognise the 2006 Premier's Design Award - Design Mark presented to Sean Godsell. The 40 metre AV projection featured a tribute to the Queens Baton Relay, Holden Design, and the Keep Cup. 

A watermark array of 5 x 5 dots references the twenty five years since the awards were established, and highlights the seventeen times the awards have been held. The watermark featured on 178 digitally printed dots on the west wall in the space. 

The exhibition is neither chronological nor an exclusive survey of major award winners. It is a broader celebration of the impact of the awards and the Victorian designers, architects and studios who have entered their work. 

Textile designer Georgia Chapman collaborated on the design of an installation featuring 25 years of award winning design by Vixen. Visnja Brdar loaned rare Marc Newson works. Jenny Morgan supplied Holden objects. Remy Wong co designed the DOT installation with a colour thematic. 

The design education sector is represented in an immersive augmented reality digital experience featuring five designers from Monash University, RMIT University, Swinburne University and the University of Melbourne. The 5th theme: NEXT - Emerging Designers AR Showcase was co-curated with Dr Indae Hwang from Monash University Art Design and Architecture. 

The objects on display either represent pivotal moments in Australian design history, feature in the films, or are examples of worldwide patents. A display of Nylex products reminds us how manufacturing in Victoria used to be.

Category: Interact

Designers and Project Team:
Ian Wong: Monash University, Curator/Director/Lead Designer
Tim Issacson: Director, Short films and AV presentation
Evan Stainsbury: Designer, Motion Graphics
Jarrah Saunders: Additional sound
Dr Indae Hwang: Co-curator/Web interaction designer/NEXT - AR Showcase
Georgia Chapman: Designer - Vixen installation
Jo Pritchard: Designer
Remy Wong: Designer/Research Assistant
Ken Wong: Production manager
Riley Scandolera: Installation