AGDA salutes

Gordon Andrews 1914-2001

This evening I took a little red wine and indulged myself with warm thoughts of Gordon Andrews, having read news of his death in The Australian earlier in the day.

It was my good fortune to have spent an early autumn afternoon with Gordon at his home on the secluded west side of Sydney's Pittwater, where we shared some South Australian Shiraz and let conversation meander through topics including bushfires - for his home had been recently re-built after parts of the area had been razed a few years earlier - sailing to Norfolk Island, his recent sculpture commission in stainless steel, along with the interesting minutiae of life arising from his living in a small community whose only access to more populated shores was via an outboard motor boat.

He had quickly made me feel welcome in his presence, a trait I imagine he carried through much of his life. Indeed, there would be many who considered him a friend or valued acquaintance, at least, on the basis of brief encounters.

Thinking back it seems interesting that we did not speak a great deal about design. Perhaps we did not have to. There certainly was nothing lacking from our conversation. It is highly likely that Gordon's well-rounded outlook on life was one of the attributes that made him the designer he was - able to bring his abilities to a range of disciplines and a host of commercial, social and cultural situations with apparent ease and confidence.

It is clear from Gordon's book, A Designer's Life, that he was an impassioned and prolific practitioner, one the Australian graphic design community is most fortunate to have known. Adding to this his interest in establishing and securing the discipline of graphic design in our occupational landscape, it is no surprise that he maintained contact with colleagues from many walks of life long after he retired from the mainstream of business. In this regard, Gordon will be revered as one of the founding fathers of graphic design in Australia.

Gordon was a faithful supporter of the Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) and it was in this capacity that I had opportunity to meet him on further occasions, once in Adelaide after the national awards in 1998 and also at the launch of Sydney Design '99 - both being instances where he was a special guest of the association. Always interested in meeting people, it was wonderful to see him in these situations as a centre of attention and the focus of affection.

My colleagues and I will be sad in realising that our time with him has now passed yet will remain always thankful for the influence he had upon us.

Thank you, Gordon.

John Frostell
National President
Australian Graphic Design Association

Gordon Andrews, 1914 - 2001, an Australian design pioneer by Rita Siow, AGDA General Manager

A tribute to Australia's eminent designer, painter, silversmith, fabricator... with exerpts from 'Gordon Andrews -- a designers life'

Labelled a dunderhead at school, 'Gordo' as he was often affectionately known, went on to become an icon in the design world -- a graphic and industrial design pioneer, and a cultural hero who merits a place alongside those depicted in the six Australian decimal banknotes he designed between 1966 and 1973.

One of Gordon's early local achievements, in 1947, was as design consultant to the prestigious retailer Devid Jones in Sydney. This was followed by overseas work for clients such as Olivetti, the Festival of Britain, Commonwealth Department of Trade, earning recognition for Australia with brilliant trade and cultural exhibition designs in Lausanne, Paris, Cologne and Tokyo.

His ability to set new ideas and worlds in motion both enhanced and radicalised Australian design standards. In 1988 he became the first Australian to be elected to the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry (UK) for 'eminence, efficiency and visual excellence'. At home, the Powerhouse Museum acquired the Gordon Andrews archive, a significant addition to their decorative arts and design collection, and dedicated a retrospective of his work in 1989. In 1994, he was inducted into the AGDA Paperpoint Hall of Fame at the industry's prestigious AGDA Biennial Awards.

In his eighties, Gordon continued to make, feel, fashion, transfigure and invigorate with his keen aesthetics, wit and sense of fun, through many activities and projects, e.g. solo exhibition of masks constructucted from found objects and 'scraps', publication of his 192-page autobiographical design journey 'Gordon Andrews -- a designers life', prospective flag designs for the Australian republican movement, jury duty at the 1996 AGDA Biennial Awards, attendance at Sydney Design99 International Conference (where he met many international colleagues and compatriots from his time in Europe and Japan), and in recent months, various silversmiths 'body ornaments', and a masthead for the local retirement village newsletter.

In closing, it feels right to quote from the summary he wrote on the last page of his book:

'To dwell upon the past carries with it the danger of being negative and non-productive. However to occasionally look back over the shoulder can bring into focus the more significant happenings of one's life. Some of these events have been, as in most lives, sad, frustrating and even traumatic. But in the main they have been balanced by the joyful and the creative, which is partly the reason for putting down on paper some of the aspects of design I have been involved in over so many years. It is my sincere hope that for some younger people my designer's life will be of some encouragement and, hopefully, provide inspiration.

Not the least of the spin-off from my working life has been the many wonderful people I have met. Many of these people have brought with them meaning and richness, and I want to make a point of saying that I greatly value their friendship. All in all I consider myself a lucky man.'

We are the lucky ones, Gordon Andrews, and we thank you.