illustration agency wins one of Australi… | NIT – National Indigenous Times

by | Sep 13, 2023 | Engineer

A First Nations-led illustration agency has won one of Australia’s highest honours for design and innovation.
Solid Lines – an independent illustration agency that is dedicated to representing and nurturing Australia’s First Nation creatives – picked up the gong for the Indigenous Design Award at this year’s Good Design Awards in Naarm (Melbourne) on September 8.
Developed by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) researcher Dr Nicola St John and Solid Lines co-researcher Emrhan Tjapanangka Sultan (Western Arrarnta, Luritja and Kokatha) and the Jacky Winter Group, the First Nations creative agency also scored the Good Design Award in the Social Impact category in recognition for outstanding design and innovation.
Solid Lines consulted with several First Nations creatives who provided feedback to help build and develop the agency.
“We want our agency to break down expectations of what First Nations art and design is and let our artists define their work for themselves,” said Mr Sultan.
“As proud storytellers, our work is grounded by country, community, and cultural identity.
“Winning the Indigenous Design Award is a huge honour and recognises the importance of First Nations voices with the design industry and the important work Solid Lines is doing to support First Nations artists to be represented fairly.”
The Good Design Awards jury said Solid Lines was addressing a really important issue and had incredible potential for industry-wide and cultural impact.
“We commend the deep co-creation process that brought onboard insights from a variety of vital voices and appreciate how they came together in the agency’s core values, questions and considerations,” the jury said.
The Good Design Awards were established in 1958 and are the highest honour for design and innovation in the country and reward diverse projects across 11 design disciplines covering more than 35 categories and subcategories.
Every year, the awards attract cutting-edge design projects from across the globe, celebrating the very best in design, architecture, engineering, research, fashion, and social impact.

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