Stephen Goddard

Australian Design Centre plays a critical role in celebrating the work of Australian artists who embrace the highest degree of skill and who continually explore material, process and ideas to advance contemporary craft and design practice.

Object Space is a window gallery located in the window of the Australian Design Centre HQ on William Street in Darlinghurst. The exhibition space has direct street frontage, is accessible to view 24 hours a day and is lit for viewing at night.

8 May - 26 June 2019

On display is the exhibition Welcome., by designer Stephen Goddard.

In a scene toward the end of Thomas Wirthensohn’s documentary Homme Less (2014), Mark Reay arrives on the New York rooftop of a friend’s apartment block where he has secretly been living a homeless but highly functional life for quite some time. He stands in front of a warning sign, but there is an error in the typographic design. 

NO
TRESPASSING
VIOLATORS
WILL BE
PROSECUTED

Without punctuation or a change in the weight of the typeface, the meaning of the sign is inverted, and Reay is given permission to stay. As a trespassing violator, no action will be taken against him. With his work Welcome., Goddard looks for optimism where it may not otherwise exist.

Stephen Goddard is a multi-disciplinary designer, design academic, and creative director of Project Two. He has worked with many of Australia’s largest cultural institutions and galleries on projects spanning publication, interpretation and exhibition design. In 2015 he won an Award of Distinction for Lola Greeno: Cultural Jewels at the AGDA Australian Design Biennale, and has won many awards for publication design, including Best in Show at the Museums Australasia Multimedia and Publication Design Awards on three occasions. Stephen has co-curated a number of exhibitions, including I Spy (2013), and Happyness (2015), both in collaboration with Meryl Ryan at Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, where he also exhibited a series of works in Book Club (2017). Stephen is an Associate Lecturer at UNSW Art & Design and has recently completed his Master of Design (Hons). 

Top Image: Welcome. 2019, Photo: Courtesy of the Artist.