APDG Emerging Designers’ Committee was formed to give a formal voice to the already active and strong community of up-and-coming designers across Australia.

The committee seeks to enhance the representation of emerging designers within our industries, advocate for their issues, encourage opportunities through our guild and create a strong and diverse support network of emerging designers across Australia. The purpose of this committee is to promote and cultivate the work and achievements of new designers. We want to create a supportive space for designers in the industry to develop and to be recognised as part of the long-standing design tradition in Australia.

The committee is led by Laura Anna Lucas and Courtney Westbrook with help from designers who want to focus on specific issues. 
This year we have focused on four issues closely; to feature Emerging Designers on the APDG platforms to bring rising designers to the forefront of the industry, to have design recognised and awarded at festivals and events across Australia to elevate our craft to an equal level to other disciplines, to be more active in what is taught in design institutes, including bringing designers and producers together early on to share knowledge and highlight the realities of budgets, fees, production costs, wages and contracts, and lastly to start interviewing emerging designers about their craft, to share knowledge amongst peers and to help foster collaborations.

The overall aim of these initiatives is to embed the discussions surrounding these topics within the design practice and create a healthier and more sustainable industry that values and understands the work of designers. 

If you have any suggestion on what we should focus our attention on in 2021 please reach out. If you want to join the committee or help us in any way, please contact Laura Anna Lucas and Courtney Westbrook.

Have a safe and happy New Year.
Laura Anna Lucas and Courtney Westbrook