JUROR 2016

Dr Brandon Gien is the Founder and CEO of Good Design Australia and Chair of Australia's Good Design Awards, Australia’s oldest and most respected design awards dating back to 1958.

In 2015, Dr Gien was inaugurated as a Senator of the World Design Organization, (formerly the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design), the world body for Industrial Design. He was a member of the Board of Directors for three consecutive terms and elected President of the organisation from 2013 to 2015, the first Australian to ever hold this position. During his term, Dr Gien spearheaded the strategic transformation of the organization, resulting in a new name, new vision and mission and a new global definition of Industrial Design.

Prior to founding Good Design Australia, Dr Gien was the Executive Director of Design Strategy and Head of Corporate Services at Standards Australia, recognised by the Government as Australia's peak standards body. Through his work on the World Design Organization's Executive Board, he was instrumental in creating the World Design Impact Prize to honour Industrial Design driven projects that make a positive impact on our social, economic, cultural and environmental quality of life. Dr Gien studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Newcastle where he later graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design. He holds a PhD in Environmental Design from the University of Canberra's School of Design and Architecture. Dr Gien created the annual Good Design Festival in Australia and is the Co-Founder of the Design as Strategy Forum™ and Design Entrepreneur Awards.

In 2011, Dr Gien was made a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia (DIA) for his contribution to the design profession in Australia and internationally. He is a professional member of the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). He sits on the Advisory Board of numerous design associations and educational institutions in Australia and internationally and has acted as a jury member for some of the most prominent design awards in the world. He is a Board Member of Shanghai City Government’s International Creative City Advisory Board. He sits on the International Advisory Board of Srishti Institute of Art Design and Technology in India and has participated as a jury member for the Singapore President’s Design Awards, the Korean Government’s Good Design Award, China’s Red Star Design Awards, the Taiwan Golden Pin Design Awards, Rado Design Prize Africa, the Design for Asia Awards and more recently, the World Design Capital Selection Committee.

Dr Gien has delivered keynotes at numerous national and international design conferences including Beijing Design Week (Beijing, China), President’s Design Award Jurors’ Forum (Singapore), International Design Policy Conference (Cape Town, South Africa), ICSID Congress (San Francisco, USA), Global Leaders Forum (Seoul, South Korea). Dr Gien was made a Design Ambassador to Japan, an international design advocacy role organized by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP) and was selected to be a part of an Australian Design Delegation to Beijing to represent Australia at the annual Beijing International Design Week.