We had a very full house for SydDT #121 on Thursday night.
We were lucky to have Ben Crothers, Nila Rezaei, and Brandon Gien share their observations on the state of design… and this year we went beyond the state of the design nation in Australia by adding reflections on the recent World Design Congress in London and the Seoul Design Award.
They shared their insights on the themes and trends connecting design disciplines at all scales… and at a local, national, regional, and global level. So much gold in there, you’ll just have to watch the video.
As a bonus treat, it was also World Usability Day – and Susan Wolfe, who helped get it off the ground 21 years ago, shared some of her insights.
Thanks to everyone who came along and made it such a fun night. Couldn’t make it or just want to relive it? Watch it now.
Thanks to Renee Lim, Shanna Wong, Ellyn Cho, and Jayce Jie Zhang who did the graphic recording this month. An amazing collaborative whiteboard mural in realtime. This initiative is a collaboration with Shapeshifters and their Think Visual! meetup community. SydDT is a friendly environment for people to practice their live graphic recording skills.
A shout out and thanks to Bex Haar for another great write-up with her reflections and key takeaways.
A massive thanks to Sarah Stokes and Frankie Balfour from Atlassian, Alan Chen and Diana Ayoub from Shapeshifters, and Dynamic4 for making it all happen.
Our next meetup is SydDT #122/Design Connection #6: EOY Design Megameetup on Thursday, 27 November. This will be our 15th and final SydDT for 2025, we’ll be reflecting on and celebrating the year that’s been.
We’re doing this one as Design Connection #6… another in our design megameetup series with our friends from the CCX and EUX meetups.
This continues our tradition of EOY megameetups since 2018. A good chance to reconnect with the regulars in the community and welcome plenty of new people. New friends and old. Grab your ticket!
Meetup Announcement
Thursday, 13 November 2025 @ 6pm. Atlassian, Sydney
We’re lucky to have an awesome line up of award-winning designers and international keynote speakers for our annual State of the Design Nation SydDT event.
What are the themes and trends connecting design disciplines at all scales… and at a local, national, regional, and global level?
This has been a SydDT tradition since 2018 with Ben Crothers sharing his observations, insights, and reflections on the state of the design nation as one of the judges on the Australian Good Design Awards.
This year we’re extending it beyond the state of the design nation in Australia by adding reflections on the World Design Congress (WDC) held in London last month and the Seoul Design Award – to bring not just a national but a regional and global perspective.
As usual Ben Crothers will lead the session and weave his magic.
We’re stoked Nila Rezaei is back again this year. A judge on the product design category of the Good Design Awards, she was also at the WDC and last week made a quick visit to the Seoul Design Award to collect the Best of the Best Award!
Joining us for the first time this year we’ve got two other leaders of the design ecosystem: Brandon Gien and Rach Wye from Good Design Australia.
Good Design Australia has a proud history that dates back to 1958 and they’re passionately committed to recognising, rewarding, and promoting the importance of design to business, industry, government and the general public… and the critical role it plays in creating a better, safer, and a more sustainable and prosperous future.
As a bonus treat, it’s World Usability Day – and Susan Wolfe, who helped get it off the ground 21 years ago, will share her insights..
Any one of these speakers solo is amazing. A special treat to have them all bouncing ideas off each other. Not just great designers, but genuine people who invest so much in our design ecosystem.
Come join us for some fun conversations with interesting people in and around the design thinking community. New members are welcome!
Speakers
Ben Crothers
Principal Facilitator, Bright Pilots. Good Design Ambassador
Ben has been a designer since before Netscape ruled the www, and is currently a facilitator and design strategist at Bright Pilots (his online training and facilitation business), where he teaches teams of all sorts about design and facilitation methods, running strategic workshops, and generally helping teams get un-stuck.
Previous to Bright Pilots, Ben was Principal Designer at Atlassian, a Design Director at Second Road (a strategic innovation consultancy), plus some assorted startups, agencies, and government departments.
Above all, Ben wants everyone to be just as good at the whiteboard as they are at the keyboard, to be better at thinking, communicating, and solving problems together visually. He’s the author of a few books, including Presto Sketching: Simple Drawing for Brilliant Product Thinking and Design.
Nila Rezaei
Co-founder & Lead Designer, RK Collective. Good Design Ambassador
Nila is an Iranian-Australian industrial designer and educator, with a diverse background spanning industries, from manufactured consumer products to large-scale environmental and spatial design, site-specific products and installations to material design. Nila’s primary goal is to design solutions that not only fulfill utilitarian needs but also enhance the emotional connection between people and products, leaving a lasting positive social and environmental impact.
Her career began at Vert Design Studio, with diverse clients including entrepreneurs, startups, and multinational firms. Later she joined ZOOMO, an Australian Micro Mobility startup, as hardware product design lead, and the international Maynard Design consultancy, focusing on products and experiences for built environments. She founded RK Collective as a response to a world increasingly confronted with environmental, societal, and ethical challenges, focusing on projects that are ‘deliberately’ innovative and balance culture, ecology, and commercial needs.
Her work has earned recognition from prestigious awards and has been showcased in various local and global presentations, exhibitions, and talks. Nila’s commitment to the Australian design scene extends to academia, teaching at UNSW in both Bachelor and Master degrees, serving as Deputy-Chair of the Design Institute Australia’s (DIA) NSW council. She is also a co-founder of IDX SYD (Industrial Design eXchange Sydney), fostering collaboration and connection among industrial designers in Sydney and beyond.
Brandon Gien
Founder & Chair, Good Design Australia
Brandon is the Founder and Chair of Good Design Australia, Chair of the Australian Good Design Awards, and Executive Director of the Australian Design Council. He’s spent the past 25 years passionately advocating for the value of good design to improve our social, economic, cultural and environmental quality of life.
He became a Senator of the World Design Organization (WDO), the global body for Industrial Design, after serving as President (2013-2015), the first Australian to hold this position. During his term, he led the strategic transformation of the organisation, resulting in a new name, vision and mission aligned to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Prior to establishing Good Design Australia, Brandon was the Executive Director of Design Strategy at Standards Australia, recognised by the Australian Government as the nation’s peak standards body.
He was made an Honorary Design Ambassador to Japan, an international design advocacy role organised by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP), and is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia.
Rach Wye
Managing Director, Good Design Australia
Rach is a dynamic leader in the design industry, dedicated to championing the role of design in shaping a better world. As Managing Director of Good Design Australia, she drives the organisation’s mission to recognise, reward, and define excellence in design across industry and society.
After training as an industrial designer in the UK, Rach worked with leading global design events, including London Design Festival, 100% Design, and the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Her deep understanding of design’s transformative power has shaped her commitment to advocating for design-driven innovation and progress.
Under her leadership, the Australian Good Design Awards continue to evolve, celebrating groundbreaking work that pushes the boundaries of creativity, functionality, and sustainability. Rach’s unwavering dedication ensures that design excellence remains at the forefront of progress – rewarding visionaries, inspiring industries, and shaping a more thoughtful and impactful world.
Event Sponsors
This event is brought to you by Atlassian, Shapeshifters, Bright Pilots, RK Collective, Good Design Australia, and Dynamic4.
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