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THE DESIGNERS

Louise Olsen & Stephen Ormandy

CO-FOUNDERS, CREATIVE DIRECTORS, DESIGNERS

SINCE 1985

Co-founders and Creative Directors Louise Olsen and Stephen Ormandy formed Dinosaur Designs in 1985, while students at City Art Institute, now University of New South Wales School of Art and Design.

FROM THE DESIGNERS



When we started working with resin in the 1980s, we were art students. There was really no one else working with it in the way we wanted to. Resin really does have a mind of its own, it’s very painterly, so we had to invent our own manufacturing techniques.


LOUISE OLSEN and STEPHEN ORMANDY by HUGH STEWART captured in the Redfern Studio.




“We have always been inspired by nature. There’s something fundamental about Dinosaur Designs, the very name of it. I think it was just one of those moments where we were playing around with names and it was created with this light hearted humour in a way that just stuck. There’s a lovely juxtaposition of working with a relatively modern material in a very hand-felt way."

— LOUISE OLSEN




Making pieces from resin is very much like making pottery: you never know exactly how it will turn out. We love that serendipity, that law of chance, finding that one idea leads to another. Every piece our studio makes is crafted by hand, passing through many pairs of hands in the process, giving each piece the slight differences that make it unique.


Resin is a byproduct of oil which is often sent to landfill. In a way, we are using something
that is a waste product and making something of value from it. This is just one of the reasons we work responsibly, to minimise waste and reduce our electricity consumption. We don’t design things to be thrown away; we design pieces we hope people will treasure and value for a long time.

Making the pieces is very much like doing pottery, with glazing and putting it in the kiln: you do not know how it is going to turn out. We love that serendipity, that law of chance, finding that one idea leads to another.

The studio has the most beautiful light that pours in through the windows. It’s a very
important place for us. It’s where we create and develop our designs and produce our resin pieces by hand. It’s a place of work but it’s also very personal - almost like an extension of our home, although we now have a team of about 140, including our stores in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, New York and London, but the heartland is the studio in Redfern, Sydney.

INSIDE THE DINOSAUR DESIGNS STUDIO — STEPHEN'S STUDIO



When we design, each of us independently works to a theme or a word that inspires us, we create our own mood boards and sketches, then bring them together, draw them out and create the forms so there are pieces of both of us in each collection, but with a shared vocabulary which makes a cohesive whole. We create three collections a year, some of which focus on new colour palettes, some on new shape, some on both colour and shape.


ROCK TOWER TABLE by LOUISE OLSEN



Working in design is a wonderful privilege. It’s a great way to study the world. It’s a never-ending exploration where we’re constantly inspired by nature. This is just one of the reasons we use sustainable working methods and minimise waste and electricity consumption.

Our aesthetic has refined and evolved over the years. We’re now at a point where we’ve
mastered our techniques but are constantly surprised by the possibilities that arise from
working with resin. We love the contrast in textures that’s created by adding elements of
other materials, including silver, brass and glass to our collections and we’re always asking ‘what’s next?’ as we get excited by the creative process and the journey it takes you on.



BRANCH VASE by STEPHEN ORMANDY




When you’re working, ideas start to flow. There’s a lovely quote from Picasso: ‘Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.’ That’s why working is so important, whether you’re painting, drawing or creating objects: in the process, the ideas flow.





LO COLLECTIONS

For the LO Collections, designer Louise Olsen brings an even more personal eye to each piece. The collection balances the sensitive and bold, across pieces of gold, silver and brass, each imbued with a hand-felt quality.

ORMANDY

For his eponymous line, designer Stephen Ormandy carries his strong adherence to line and shape to a personal collection of chromatic glass. Each piece plays with positive and negative space, creating distinct forms for the table.

DESIGNER RUGS

Continuing a long, working friendship with Designer Rugs, Dinosaur Designs has released 5 rug collections. Explore the latest collaboration, using primary marks to set up the composition.

DISCOVER OUR BOOK, THE ART OF DINOSAUR DESIGNS.

Learn about our history and our studio, where all our resin pieces are made, as we share our insights into the processes we have developed over 40 years while creating the visual language of Dinosaur Designs.

ABOUT

A FILM: CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF DINOSAUR DESIGNS

Responsibility