Update
There is an inherent optimism to Australian design, with a feel-good factor that we all need right now. Meet the brands and creatives bringing its sunny perspective to UK homes
Perhaps it is the result of living in such bright, endless sunshine, being close to the ocean and surrounded by some of the world’s most magical flora and fauna, that makes Australian design so uplifting. Or maybe it’s the laid-back, ‘you’ll be right, mate’ attitude that often makes the impossible seem entirely plausible. Either way, there is a fresh, paredback vibe to the country’s design output that makes it work for and bring joy to all manner of different spaces. Here, we take an up-close look at the leading Aussie brands currently taking British homes by storm…
Dinosaur Designs
Husband-and-wife founders Louise Olsen and Stephen Ormandy started Dinosaur Designs in 1985 – crafting jewellery, first out of polymer modelling clay and then painted resin – during their final year of art school, with fellow student Liane Rossler, as a means for supporting their painting. ‘There’s been such an evolution of ideas in understanding, creating and making with the materials we work with since we began 38 years ago,’ says Olsen. ‘Each piece is handmade in our Sydney studio and we still relish the juxtaposition of modern materials like resin and the effecting touch of the human hand – it gives each piece a warmth and tactility.’ Bracelets, necklaces and earrings were soon joined by homewares, from jugs and platters to vases and serving spoons, all in the brand’s distinctively vivid chromatic palette – from turquoise, cobalt and sea blues, hot and blush pinks and sandy white, to rainforest green, sunset orange and outback russet –that is inspired by the colours of Australia’s oceans, flowers, foliage and wildlife and, adds Olsen, ‘hopefully carries a life force that embodies the place we come from and love’. The new ‘Paradise’ collection is a case in point, reimagining the shape of a frangipani flower into a bowl and cups, and the forms of seaworn rocks and bent branches into vases.
The palette is inspired by the colours of Australia’s oceans, flowers and wildlife
Gauguin’s painterly gardens and Miro’s birds are other references, but realised in electric shades such as ‘Flamingo’ and ‘Lychee’. Then there’s Olsen’s ‘LO’ series of brass objets, including the sensuously curved ‘Bean’ vase and the witty ‘Cone Shell’ jar.
In the past decade, both Ormandy and Olsen (the daughter of the late John Olsen, one of Australia’s most respected and acclaimed modern arti
