Creative People

The best creatives are the ones that come along and shake things up when you didn’t think any refreshing was required. The TDF team experienced that sensation last year when we saw pictures of a groundbreaking early learning centre in Richmond, freshly completed by local interior design extraordinaire, Danielle Brustman. It was clear she knew how to make a mark.

Since that short time ago, this under-the-radar former theatre set designer has been rapidly racking up some serious street cred – launching an installation for the NGV Triennial 2020, receiving a commendation for her ‘Chromatic Fantastic’ cabinet at the 2020 TDF + Laminex Design Awards, and setting up shop in the thriving new Collingwood Yards arts precinct, as the recipient of the Bank of Melbourne Studio Residency. Phew! That’s a big list.

But for someone at the top of her game, Danielle keeps a pretty low profile. Now’s your chance to get to know her!

There are many brilliant projects and initiatives in the sustainable design space that give…

Liam Dillon is one maker in one studio crafting all his designs from one material: vegetable tanned kangaroo leather. It sounds niche, but this is the most sustainable leather on the Australian market, made even more environmentally friendly by Liam’s solo artisanal practice, which shuns modern manufacturing processes in favour of traditional leather-working techniques.

The leather craftsman has built his brand, Liam Dillon Designs, around this single substance, crafting unisex accessories like envelope folded backpacks, zipped money pouches and pocket-sized wallets by hand. We visited him at his Brunswick studio (inside the Parigina Footwear shoe factory where he trained!) to learn more about his specialist trade.

Despite all the challenges of the past twelve months, there were so many impressive makers we discovered who really refined their crafts in 2020, and came out the other side with something special. It just goes to show the incredible resilience of the creatives industries!

We were particularly inspired to see many of the makers on this list turn to their crafts after years in other industries! From a magazine editor-turned ceramicist to a fashion and homewares brand using fabrics direct from Africa, these were some of our favourite creative newcomers last year!

Life ain’t easy for one parent families, but when Stephanie Lane and Holly Thompson met, it was a match made in heaven. Steph and her daughter Frida (6) and Holly and her daughter Lola (5) moved in together, forming an unconventional ‘family’, and turning a shared rental house in Kew into a love-filled home.

The pair run Goodspace, a homewares and vintage furniture store that operates primarily over Instagram, born out of a shared love of timeless design and second chances.

We chatted with these two super mums about sharing the parenting load, going into business, and how two families operate together.

The complete diversion from ‘normal’ life in 2020 has restricted us in so many ways. But sometimes, that’s how the magic happens.

Such has been the case with artist Jasmine Mansbridge, stylist Megan Morton and photographer Zan Wimberley. Despite having never worked together before, the trio collaborated on a shoot for a series of sculptures called Thought Catchers that Jasmine was due to show in a COVID-thwarted exhibition.

The result is a collection of abstract images that have become their own works of art, and provided an opportunity for this trio of established creatives to push their own boundaries.