Nellie Rogerson

Nellie Rogerson is an Industrial Design Honours student, with an Interior Architecture minor. Prior to studying at Swinburne, Nellie studied Fine Art at Monash University, and completed her BFA Honours in Sculpture and Spatial Practice at the VCA in 2012. She has been the recipient of artists grants, exhibited extensively at artist-run spaces in Melbourne and interstate, and undertaken two artist residencies in Japan.

Nellie came to Industrial Design with a passion for objects and design history, and her creative background permeates her design thinking and sensibility. She has been fortunate enough to have completed two placements while studying - at a_space then later at Sakimoto, where she continues to work.

Nellie’s Capstone Honours project looks at Placemaking, and how Industrial Design can offer suitable user-centred solutions. Her final outcome, ‘Space and Place’ resulted in a collection of outdoor furniture and interactive objects for public community spaces. With urbanisation and population growth, Nellie found an evident need for quality spaces for people to retreat and spend meaningful time. Adopting the principle of ‘placemaking,’ her project set out to enhance public areas with interactive objects and furniture. The collection is customisable and can be configured to suit specific sites and needs. The aim of the collection is to cater to communities with items that enhance spaces and interaction and improve public spaces so individuals can have meaningful experiences.

Space and Place: Designing a sense of place in public community spaces - Capstone Honours Project

Oil Burner and Incense Holder

Tolo Table - Flatpack coffee table for nano apartments

Sfera - Collection of plates, bowls and cups designed for ageing hipsters

Remy Stool - Shower seat to support independent living

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.