The Australian indigenous design charter: communication design. The development of a guide for respectful professional practice

Abstract

This article reports on the Australian Indigenous Design Charter: Communication Design (the Charter), exploring the needs and motivations behind the development of this document and the growing demand for designers to understand and apply ethical practices when working on projects involving the representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture. This best practice guide presents a concise, workable set of protocols for communication designers to follow. In this instance, the focus sits squarely on design practitioners to develop respectful processes of communication, consultation and collaboration whenever Australian indigenous culture is referenced in commercial applications. This article reflects on the impetus and objectives of a practice document, framed to accommodate past and present ontologies that speak to all stakeholders. The concept of an open document is espoused as a key feature of the Charter, whereby opinions and comments will be gathered, analysed and used to inform future, periodical iterations of the Charter.

Keywords:

• Relationality
• respect
• collaboration
• indigenous-led
• shared knowledge
• stakeholder theory

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the contribution of Deakin University School of Communication and Creative Arts (SCCA), Deakin University Institute of Koorie Education (IKE), Indigenous Architecture and Design Victoria (IADV) and the Design Institute of Australia (DIA).

Notes

1. Kennedy and Kelly, Australian Indigenous Design Charter.

2. Kennedy, Designing with Indigenous Knowledge, vii.

3. Kennedy and Kelly, Australian Indigenous Design Charter.

4. Kennedy, Designing with Indigenous Knowledge.

5. Oxfam Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Protocols.

6. Janke, Our Culture: Our future; New Media Cultures; Writing Cultures; and Protocols for Producing Indigenous Australian Visual Arts.

7. Bouwen, “Relational Construction of Meaning in Emerging Organization Contexts.”

8. Ibid., 302.

9. Miles and Huberman, Qualitative Data Analysis, 21.

10. Oxfam Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Protocols.

11. Grant has media experience both locally and nationally having worked for Seven, an ABC television networks in Australia, and CNN in the US.

12. Grant, I Don't Have all the Answers.

13. Willis, Illusions of Identity, 124.

14. An image of the Qantas Flying Kangaroo Logo designed by Sellheim 1947, Accessed 13 February 2017. http://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/history-kangaroo-symbol/global/en.

15. Boot, Aboriginal Postage Stamp – Australia, 1948 by Gert Sellheim, CreativeRoots, 2017. Accessed 13 February 2017. http://creativeroots.org/2010/02/aboriginal-postage-stamp-australia/.

16. Powerhouse Museum, Advertising Poster Used by the Australian National Travel Association, 1956–1957 by Gert Sellheim. 2017. Accessed 13 February 2017. http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn==8683&search==Australian++National++Travel++poster&images==&c==1&s=, Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial.

17. An image of the original artwork of Gunmirringu Funeral Scene, Malangi, 1963. Accessed 13 February 2017. https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/arts/aboriginal-art-authenticity

18. Kennedy and Kelly. Australian Indigenous Design Charter.

19. National Museum Australia, “The Referendum, 1957–67.”

20. Our Languages, List of Australian Aboriginal Languages from Wikipedia.

21. Horton, “AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia.”

22. Hosking, Mapping More than 250 Traditional Tongues from Across Australia was not an Easy Feat.

23. Grant, I Don’t Have all the Answers.

24. An image of the Wunala Dreaming designed by Balarinji, 1994, can be found at http://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/flyingart/global/en. Accessed 13 February 2017.

25. Kennedy, Designing the Australian Style.

26. Alison Page (Design Institute of Australia Hall [DIA] of Fame 2015), a descendent of the Walbanga and Wadi Wadi people of the Yuin nation, is an award-winning creative at the forefront of contemporary Australian Aboriginal design.

27. Kennedy, Designing with Indigenous Knowledge, 173.

28. John Moriarty and Ros Moriarty (Design Institute of Australia [DIA] Hall of Fame 2013), co-founded Jumbana Group in 1983, an Australian indigenous design and strategy company. John Moriarty AM is a full member of the Yanyuwa people of his birthplace, Borroloola, Northern Territory.

29. Kennedy, Designing with Indigenous Knowledge, 192.

30. Dr Ken Cato (Design Institute of Australia Hall [DIA] of Fame 1996), is Chairman of Cato Design Inc., described by the DIA as the largest design company in the southern hemisphere. Cato is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale.

31. Kennedy, Designing with Indigenous Knowledge, 173.

32. Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies.

33. Ibid., 176.

34. United Nations, Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

35. UNESCO, World Heritage Information Kit.

36. UNESCO, World Heritage Information Kit.

37. Kennedy, Designing with Indigenous Knowledge, 112.

38. Hogg, “Uncertainty-Identity Theory.”

39. Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies, 177.

40. Sheehan and Walker, “The Purga Project.”

41. Ziff and Rao, Borrowed Power.

42. Richard Henderson (Design Institute of Australia [DIA] Hall of Fame 2008), a leading Australian graphic designer, was the Design Director of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and Design Consultant for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.

43. Kennedy, Designing with Indigenous Knowledge, 158.

44. Evan and Freeman, “A Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation.”

45. Freeman, Strategic Management‬, 4.

46. Friedman and Miles, Stakeholders: Theory and Practice, 151.

47. Ibid., 151.

48. Solomon, Ethics and Excellence.

49. Brower and Mahajan, “Driven to be Good,” 328.

50. David Lancashire (Design Institute of Australia [DIA] Hall of Fame1999) is recognized with many awards and has appeared in numerous Australian and international graphic design publications. Lancashire is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale.

51. Kennedy, Designing with Indigenous Knowledge, 76.

52. Lancashire, Peace Roo Poster, 2000 by David Lancashire. Accessed 13 February 2017. http://www.davidlancashiredesign.com.au/studio-projects/artwork/peace-roo-poster/.

53. Mother Tongue was an open, multidisciplinary, online exhibition curated by Icograda, the International Council of Graphic Design Associations. In 2011 Icograda changed its name to the International Council of Design Associations (ico-D). In 2016 the management of INDIGO, International Indigenous Design Network, transferred to Deakin University and remains an ico-D-endorsed initiative. Details of the Mother Tongue exhibition, launched in Montreal 2010 was accessed 13 February 2017 from http://www.ico-d.org/connect/index/post/1502.php. Mother Tongue was an online and travelling exhibition from 2010 to 2012 (Forli, Italy, Taipei, Taiwan [Chinese, Taipei], Kuching, Sarawak).

54. Lancashire, INDIGO: Mother Tongue, exhibition catalogue. 2010. Accessed 20 October 2015. https://issuu.com/developmentxdesign/docs/pr_ind_mothertongue_callforsubmissions-1.

55. Arts Law Centre of Australia, Indigenous Australian Art Commercial Code of Conduct.

56. UNDRIP, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.