Swinburne Design Special Collection

Design Special Collection

Swinburne has had a rare book collection for many years. Much of the material from this collection dates from the instigation of art courses at Swinburne in 1909. The collection was housed at Hawthorn campus library until the amalgamation with Prahran campus in 1992, when all of the rare art/design related material was moved to Prahran.

In 1995 Ms. Denise Whitehouse, Senior Lecturer in Design History put forward the following proposal:

“with the School of Design’s move into research activities particularly at honours and post graduate level we have begun a primary research collection which focuses on the history of Australian graphic and industrial design. We now have the beginnings of a specialist design collection that includes magazines and publications of design significance, actual examples of graphic and promotional design, and material pertaining to the history of Australian industry, manufacturing and retailing. This is pioneering work; we doubt that such a collection exists in any other university library. A special grant would enable us to continue to develop the collection as not only a valuable resource but also into a quality specialist collection which would then enable us to solicit donations from designers, companies etc. It would be good if we were able to draw on the Swinburne alumni which includes many important designers. A grant would also enable to build areas such as Australian typography, industrial design education, and magazine design. Such a pioneering collection would enhance the reputations of Swinburne University Library and the School of Design”.

Ms. Whitehouse further requested that full runs of the following historical journals be purchased, and to a large extent this has been achieved.

Australia Today
The Lone Hand
Australian Women’s Weekly
Art in Australia
The Australian Home Beautiful and House and Garden
Home Magazine
RIVA Magazine (architecture)
Building Magazine
Architectural Digest
Architectural Forum
Decorative Art
The Studio
Pix
Melbourne Punch
Oz Magazine

Over the years students have regularly been required to consult these journals as part of their research, and its use is embedded in the first year subject “Twentieth Century Design History”. Academic staff have regularly published research papers based on the contents of these magazines. Dr Simon Jackson from the Faculty of Design recently was published internationally in a fully refereed international journal from research conducted in this collection:
Jackson, S. Blonde Wood among the Gum Trees: Scandinavian Influences in Furniture Design in Australia, 1930-1975. Scandinavian Journal of Design History v. 13 (2003) p. 36-51

Dr. Whitehouse has defined the scope of the collection as:

“primary source materials on the development of Australian art, architecture and design, particularly graphic design, interior design and industrial design, and materials on the nature of Australian society which has influenced these developments”.

This collection is not a collection of rare books as such, but rather a collection of scarce material relating to Australian design and culture. It is a hands-on, accessible working collection, and is unique in its focus on the history of Australian design.

Access to this collection is easy: just ask for a key to the Design Special Collection at the Service Desk in the Library. Items may be photocopied or scanned with care.