Both of my Sydney roundups went up on design*sponge this week as part of my series on Australia! Check out part one and part two! . . . I love the image above by Milan aka Moofus (he’s 11! and proceeds go to charity), who is featured in part two.
I loved this one too! But I left a message on Design Sponge on a subject that I’d love you to ask some of these designers about, even if it’s an off-interview question: what’s with the nostalgia trip?
One thing I’ve been noticing everywhere since I’ve been back in Oz (including in your features) is an obsession with the Australia of my grandparents era (the 1940s & 50s), and all things ‘nanna’ and retro – if I see one more cupcake I’m going to go nuts really (and the Matryoshka dolls – they were all over Scandinavia three years ago!). And I mean *everyone* – Americans too! – has to get over this cupcake obsession. Did anyone even like them as kids? As adults with refined educated palates, who really wants to eat a cupcake? I’m sorry, but I really don’t get it. They’re cute and everything… if you’re a 5 year old!
But for an adult to obsess over images of cupcakes, it definitely represents a sign of a melancholic yearning for lost childhood, for a past that is long gone (if it ever really existed). I find it so depressing… don’t get me wrong, I had a great childhood, but I love the present more, and the future gets me excited too.
But Australians just don’t seem to be looking to the future at all at the moment. Or enjoying what they have. I thought they would start to be more optimistic after the change in government, but I just don’t see that anywhere. Maybe they have to take a few steps back before they can go forward? Who knows. It’s not only evident in design either, but in the wider culture. It’s in the films being made, the art, the music… I feel like I’ve taken a journey through a time machine. Australia just seems so old-fashioned and so insular. They really need to get out more and see the world. (And I thought we were such great travellers. But I think another problem is that the Aussies living overseas aren’t coming back…) After being in Europe for a few months and being based in Dubai for so long, it’s very strange. And it doesn’t make me want to be here. I can understand why tourism numbers to Australia have dropped… very sad.
It would be great if you could pose the question to your designers…
jess gonacha
August 27, 2008 at 10:19 pm //
i love that image, too, and i was so pleased when i saw that his mom is Kate Banazi! I love her work and she is so super nice. I love your roundups!!
Jessie Cacciola
August 27, 2008 at 10:49 pm //
yey–they were so cool, Anne. thank you! xo
Prêt à Voyager
August 28, 2008 at 2:41 am //
Thanks, ladies :)
Anne
poppy
August 28, 2008 at 6:18 pm //
little Milan – what an amazing guy!
laradunston
August 31, 2008 at 1:18 am //
Hey there Anne!
I loved this one too! But I left a message on Design Sponge on a subject that I’d love you to ask some of these designers about, even if it’s an off-interview question: what’s with the nostalgia trip?
One thing I’ve been noticing everywhere since I’ve been back in Oz (including in your features) is an obsession with the Australia of my grandparents era (the 1940s & 50s), and all things ‘nanna’ and retro – if I see one more cupcake I’m going to go nuts really (and the Matryoshka dolls – they were all over Scandinavia three years ago!). And I mean *everyone* – Americans too! – has to get over this cupcake obsession. Did anyone even like them as kids? As adults with refined educated palates, who really wants to eat a cupcake? I’m sorry, but I really don’t get it. They’re cute and everything… if you’re a 5 year old!
But for an adult to obsess over images of cupcakes, it definitely represents a sign of a melancholic yearning for lost childhood, for a past that is long gone (if it ever really existed). I find it so depressing… don’t get me wrong, I had a great childhood, but I love the present more, and the future gets me excited too.
But Australians just don’t seem to be looking to the future at all at the moment. Or enjoying what they have. I thought they would start to be more optimistic after the change in government, but I just don’t see that anywhere. Maybe they have to take a few steps back before they can go forward? Who knows. It’s not only evident in design either, but in the wider culture. It’s in the films being made, the art, the music… I feel like I’ve taken a journey through a time machine. Australia just seems so old-fashioned and so insular. They really need to get out more and see the world. (And I thought we were such great travellers. But I think another problem is that the Aussies living overseas aren’t coming back…) After being in Europe for a few months and being based in Dubai for so long, it’s very strange. And it doesn’t make me want to be here. I can understand why tourism numbers to Australia have dropped… very sad.
It would be great if you could pose the question to your designers…
I’m really looking forward to seeing the rest!