DUCTHANG PHAM

I’m Duc Thang, a graphic designer based in Melbourne and a graduate of Swinburne University, majoring in Brand Environments. My work mainly focuses on exploring how materials, textures, and light shape the way people experience brands and spaces. I’m drawn to subtle details such as the refinement of a surface, the direction of light, or the rhythm of form, and how they create emotional connections between people and design.

I often experiment with familiar materials, transforming them into meaningful design expressions that connect visual communication with spatial experience. I believe that by observing and engaging with the small details around me, I can uncover the raw materials that shape designs and environments that feel honest, alive, and emotionally resonant.

PAPERNEST- BRAND ENVIRONMENT CAPSTONE

PAPERNEST is a project that investigates how the craft of papermaking and material qualities shape the spatial identity of a brand. This project explores the relationship between the making process and spatial design through several stages, such as studying the craft, experimenting with materials, and developing the final space. By documenting the making process and translating the behaviour of paper into the design of a pop-up store, the project creates a cohesive and approachable brand identity for customers.

NINTENDO FLAGSGIP STORE- INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY IN BRAND ENVIRONMENT

Nintendo stands as an icon of the entertainment industry, built on a spirit that prioritizes joy and customer experience. For this reason, I chose Nintendo as the focus of my project, aiming to enhance the retail experience where visitors don’t just come to view or purchase products but to play, connect, and interact within the brand’s playful environment, enriched through the integration of technology and spatial design.

Untitled

This project demonstrates my visual thinking and technical skills in exploring the idea of parallel worlds, inspired by Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. It reconstructs the psychological landscape of Cayce which is a space layered with complex thoughts, distortion, reflection, and repetition. Through this work, I explore how digital and architectural forms can express psychological states, transforming inner experiences into tangible, immersive visual narratives.

MOBILE POST- BRAND ENVIRONMENT STUDIO 1

This project aims to design mobile post offices that provide support for communities affected by bushfires. It focuses on exploring how brand identity can be extended through design, helping a long-established brand renew itself while continuing to accompany and serve its customers.

TRANSPORT THROUGH STUFF- BRAND ENVIRONMENT STUDIO 2

Transport Through Stuff explores the relationship between urban movement and the buried memories hidden within archaeological fragments. Inspired by glass bottles unearthed during the excavation of Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel, the installation tells their stories as “bottles of time” that once carried the flow of culture, trade, and daily rituals that shaped the city across centuries.

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.