“What is Australian Design anyway?”

Australian artist Mimmo Cozzolino was born in Naples, Italy in 1949. In 1961, he migrated to Australia with his family at age 12. Having trained as a graphic designer, Mimmo opened freelance graphic design studio “All Australian Graphics” in 1971 alongside fellow migrant & friend, Con Aslanis. Eschewing the international Swiss style with a tongue-in-cheek approach, the determination behind AAG was to create design that was distinctly Australian in flavour. As migrants looking to define themselves, Mimmo & Con sought to question what Australian Design was, commercially differentiating AAG from all other studios in Melbourne. In 1975, the studio was renamed “All Australian Graffiti” & the roster of designers grew to include Geoff Cook, Izi Marmur, Neil Curtis, Tony Ward & Meg Williams. Over 3 years, AAG created a body of work that informed, entertained & inspired through their sincere, “whacky” & distinctively-Australian body of work.

When AAG Disbanded in 1978, Mimmo turned his focus to a research project tracing the history of Australian trademarks. This research culminated in the form of a book titled “Symbols Of Australia” which was the the first book of its kind, and has become a valuable reference for many emerging graphic designers interested in understanding Australia’s commercial art & design heritage. Recognising the importance for future generations to continue this research, Mimmo States:“I became conscious early on that the rich Australian commercial art/design heritage was being ignored by design educators. It has been a hobby horse of mine to encourage research into this field. I believe that we need to train young designers to not only make eloquent marks but to speak eloquently about their mark-making. Critical awareness of tradition helps to build this eloquence.”

Through this encouragement and an attempt at echoing AAG sentiments towards an Australian narrative, Lalor has worked with Mimmo to create a 2 t-shirt capsule featuring details from his works “The Dummies” & “The Small Faces” Which will be released alongside copies of Symbols Of Australia.

Further information on Mimmo can be found in the below links

• https://mimmocozzolino.com.au/

• https://www.mimmocozzolino.com/

All photo’s by Glenn Cameron / Quiet Please Studio