Luke Bone

Product Design Engineering

Hello, I’m Luke Bone. As a product design engineer I’m drawn to technical design and how products work. Curiosity and artistry drive my innovation. My design influence is heavily conceptual as I enjoy pushing the boundaries of visual themes to bridge the gap between imagination and practicality. As a designer, product aesthetics pilot the forefront of my creative process leading to design outcomes with satisfying finishes. My time as a student at Swinburne University of Technology has given me the opportunity to learn and develop my skills as a designer and challenge creative thought.

My final year project CXARLIE provides contemporary weather protection for wheelchair users. Getting caught out in the rain is an inconvenience and discomfort everyone has experienced. Wheelchair users face additional challenges in operating standard weather protection products. There is no current solution that incentivises keeping dry over inconvenience, leaving wheelchair users exposed to unfavourable weather conditions. CXARLIE is a compact, practical weather protection garment that understands individualised needs and challenges faced by people who use a wheelchair. CXARLIE breaks down the stigma attached to using disability aid products by offering a discrete and modish apparel accessory that facilitates self-expression.

CXARLIE

KUKA End Effector

KATARA Solar Torch

Acacia

Acknowledgement of Country

The School of Design and Architecture respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners and knowledge-keepers of the lands, waters and sky that surround us, where we work, learn, create, communicate and make place. We recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded and this always was and will always be Wurundjeri Country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who continue to make a better world through design.

We extend our acknowledgement to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, alumni, real-life clients, and knowledge keepers, who have contributed to our own education diversity and growth. We will continue to ensure that staff and students respectfully honour ancestral connection to Country and Place in everything that they do.

We are dedicated to the notion of design to make a better world and we acknowledge that making tools, shaping place, sharing stories, making meaning, wayfinding and collaborating have long been and continue to be both central and integral to First Peoples' cultures. We recognize that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultural contributions have continued relevance to design practice and commit to: reconciling ancestries of design and contemporary practice as well as pursuing culturally and professionally appropriate ways to engage with a diverse population of colleagues, industries and clients. In a time of treaty-making and voice we understand that there are overlaps between caring for Country and the sustainable production of goods, services, experiences, products and buildings.

Guided by the principles of respect, reconciliation, and reciprocity we undertake to indigenising and decolonising design practice by dismantling colonial structures and challenging biases that have marginalised Indigenous voices and design.

As students of SoDA you will be given opportunities to both engage with and educate yourself in Indigenous creative practices and cultural protocols through a lens of inclusivity, diversity, respect, mutual understanding, inter-cultural dialogue in all aspects of design practice. Indigenous people have been telling stories, making tools, and connecting to Country through visual media, placemaking and place marking for more than 60,000 years and these practices are part of an ongoing, evolving and live tradition.