As part of its Applied Ideas initiative, Craftsouth initiated and managed Designing Minds - a touring exhibition showcasing interior design products and prototypes developed by Australian designer-makers in creative relationships with industry. The exhibition was supported by a two-day symposium examining the significant factors effecting relationships between contemporary craft and design, and the manufacturing industry.

Designing Minds - Exhibition
The Designing Minds exhibition surveyed the transformation of craft and design practice and its relationship to industry over the past 15 years, illustrating the differing relationships and models of practice developed between designers who have collaborated, or who have sought to collaborate with industry.

The exhibition was curated by a committee comprised of the key stakeholders: Jane Andrew, Executive Director, Craftsouth; Noel Frankham, Head of School, South Australian School of Art, University of South Australia; Margot Osborne, Exhibitions Coordinator, JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design; Alexandra Bowen, Associate Director, Object - Australian Centre for Craft and Design; and Gray Hawk, Designer-maker, Adelaide.

The designer-makers and work featured in the exhibition were:

Frank Bauer Small Spheres, Large Spheres (Grid Lighting Systems)
Caroline Casey Tina (Tables), Leapfrog (Table)
Susan Cohn Cohncave (Bowl)
Karina Clarke Audrey Standard Lamp, Audrey Table Lamp
F!nk & Co. Blink Lamp, Explosive Vase
Form Architecture Furniture Swell Console (prototype), Swell Wall Panelling (prototype)
ISM Objects Winki Pop Pendant Lights, Folding Homer Shelving Unit
Elizabeth Kelly Flat Bowl, Tall Centrifuged Forms, Shot Glasses
Arthur Koutoulas Bluebottle Cafe Interior Installation
M2 Products Worvo Standard Lamp, Worvo Desk Lamp
Marc Newson Dish Doctor (Dish Rack), Rock (Doorstopper)
Ovo Design Odette (Floor Lamp), Rei (Wall Light)
Rivet Furniture Peregrine (Chairs)
Schamburg + Alvisse Design Regalo di Canto (Floor Lamp), Bummegg (Stool)
Saul Scanlon Ariel Table, Sara Lamp

The Designing Minds Exhibition was exhibited at Object Galleries, Sydney, from 5 August to 1 October, 2000 as part of the official program of the Olympic Arts Festival.

Designing Minds - Symposium
Exploring issues in craft, design and industry, the Designing Minds Symposium supported and informed the exhibition. Convened by Dr Robert Crocker, Louis Laybourne Smith School of Architecture & Design, University of South Australia, representatives from divergent areas of expertise were selected to ensure a rich discourse which moved from international and national views of craft, design and manufacture, pragmatic and theoretical overviews of different models of practice, contemporary and historical experiences of the craft/design/industry divide, and different ways of approaching the creative, economic and technological context of designing and making.

The proceedings of the Symposium were published by the Louis Laybourne Smith School of Architecture, University of South Australia. This publication is currently out of print.

Designing Minds was made possible by the National Exhibition Program, funded by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.