 | This articleneeds images. Please consideradding images so that it can be better illustrated.(November 2024) |
Gordon Andrews | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 January 1914 |
| Died | 17 January 2001 (aged 87) |
| Occupation | Designer, industrial designer, product designer,graphic designer, furniture designer,painter,sculptor |
| Works | Banknotes of the Australian dollar |
| Awards |
|
Gordon AndrewsRDI (10 January 1914 – 17 January 2001) was an Australian artist, graphic designer, and industrial designer. He is best known for the design of Australia's firstdecimal banknotes.[1] His work also included the design of products such as cookware, jewellery, and furniture, as well as interior design, exhibition design, painting, sculpture, and photography.[2] "He is widely acknowledged as one of Australia's most prominent mid-20th century multi-disciplinary artists."[1]
Gordon Arthur Andrews was born inAshfield, NSW.[2] He studied engineering atEast Sydney Technical College before switching to graphic design. After graduation, he worked for a Sydney advertising agency, and then moved to London, where he lived and worked prior to World War II. He returned to Australia in 1939.[3][1]
During the war, Andrews worked as a draftsman forDe Havilland, and later, as a supervisor of an experimental hangar.[2]
In the 1950s he worked on commissions in the UK and Italy, and lived with his family in Turin in the mid-1950s.[2] He declined a job at Olivetti (though he would later design furniture for Olivetti showrooms) and returned to Sydney in the early 1960s.[4]
In Sydney, he worked on a projects for the Australian Government including the Australian Pavilion of theComptoire Suisse trade fair and the New South Wales Government Tourist Bureau. He also designed Australian exhibitions for trade fairs in Paris, Cologne, and Tokyo, as well as the New Zealand Government Tourist Bureau.[1] Later he designed the logo for theReserve Bank of Australia, and worked on projects for theNational Gallery or Australia, as well asParliament House and theNational Athletics Stadium in Canberra. "At a time when Australian design was seen as parochial in outlook and execution, Andrews stood out as a designer of international style and sophistication."[5][6][1]
He was the first Australian designer to be elected a Fellow of theSociety of Industrial Artists and Designers in the UK (now theChartered Society of Designers).[7][1] He was a member of theAlliance Graphique Internationale (AGI), and in 1987 was named anHonorary Royal Designer for Industry by theRoyal Society of Arts (RSA) in London.[8][9] He was also awarded theDesign Institute of Australia's gold medal in 1985, and inducted into the institute's Hall of Fame in 2011.[1][10]
In 1993 thePowerhouse Museum stagedGordon Andrews: a designer's life, a retrospective exhibition of his work. The exhibition was documented in a monograph also titledGordon Andrews: a designer's life.[11] Both the book and exhibition relied on Andrews's extensive archives, which were fortuitously acquired by the museum before his house was destroyed by fire the following year.[12][13][4]
Gordon Andrews died in Sydney on 17 January 2001.[1]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
