Hall of Fame:

Paul Cockburn

Paul Cockburn
Industrial Design

Australian industrial designer Paul Cockburn studied at the Ealing School of Art, London, in the late 1960s and subsequently formed his design studio, Design Field, in 1969. 

Paul returned home to Sydney in the 1970s, and his Design Field consultancy was one of only a few industrial design consultancies in Australia during the 1970s and 1980s, where he took on partners and staff and operated to great acclaim. The firm undertook diverse client projects, including Apple Computer, AWA, Acrow, Tytel, Victa, Black and Decker, and Eveready. 

The group’s most recognised project is the redesign of the Eveready Dolphin Lantern in 1972 and again in 1988. 

Under Paul’s leadership, Design Field was the first Industrial Design consultancy in the country to offer a regular work experience program for secondary and tertiary students. Paul was influential in the careers of many Australian designers through employment and offering work experience and mentoring. Students went on to head significant consultancies, expanding the profession’s influence and providing opportunities for scores of other designers, contributing much to the design field in Australia. As well as growing the consulting design industry, he was instrumental in shaping an Australian approach to the design of functional objects. 

Designs that he and his design team created are featured in the permanent collection of the Powerhouse Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences and feature in almost every exhibit of Australian industrial design. 

Paul was an invited member of the National Design Review Steering Committee responsible for creating the ‘Australia – Competing by Design’ publication through The Australian Academy of Design and published in March 1995. 

A vocal commentator on all design matters, Paul moved into a celebrated career as an automotive reviewer/writer for both Wheels and Motor Magazine. He continued to be an invited Australian Design Awards judge until his passing in 2021.