Project Overview

PANDANAH is a cross cultural (Aboriginal & Pacific Islands) design studio focused on mindful and sustainable design, creative collaboration and culture.

Pandanah developed ‘The Gumnut collection’ a range of surface design and sustainable lifestyle products for the Australian Indigenous Fashion week (AIFW) 2014.

The Founders of PANDANAH

Nicole Monks - Aboriginal, Dutch & English.

PANDANAH was launched through a ‘blackandwhite creative’ initiative to generate conscious design and cultural awareness by collaborating with Aboriginal & non Aboriginal individuals & organizations.
‘My cultural heritage informs my practice, in particular my connection with the land and environment, design futuring is important to my creativity direction’

Cara Mancini Geros
From Maui, Hawaii, Cara journeyed to Australia to pursue a Masters of Fine Arts at COFA, 2004 followed with a Graphic Design study through Billy Blue College of Design in 2009. International Exhibits include USA, Mexico, Sth America, China and Australia.

“My art explores the common threads connecting our vast cultures, traditions and experiences within this modern world. I hope to spark a feeling of interconnectedness between my viewers acknowledging the importance of our environment and culture and how we can help them flourish”

Organisation

PANDANAH

Team

Collaborative
Creative Director -Nicole Monks
Creative Director -Cara Mancini Geros

Project Brief

Pandanah’s unique cross cultural perspective brought fresh and colourful ideas to the AIFW runway & trade show event. Using only natural materials & environmental themes PANDANAH tells a time-honoured story acknowledging our land and keeping us close to nature.

'THE GUMNUT COLLECTION' is a range of surface designs inspired by both native Australian and Hawaiian flora (the culturally shared and loved Eucalyptus plant) coupled with a Hawaiian floral colour palette. The lifestyle products reflect traditional shapes/objects & ideologies we want to transcend into our everyday.

The Gumnut collection saw a range of 24 surface designs that were then developed into a 6 runway looks and a range of homeware and lifestyle products for the trade show including dilly bags, pillows and beach blankets.

Project Innovation/Need

PANDANAH; A design studio started by two women with the same creative vision. A cross cultural collaborative (Aboriginal and the Pacific Islands).

The name PANDANAH is inspired by the Pandanus species, a coastal tree abundant across both the Australian and Pacific Island coastlines. Historically, the Pandan leaves were used to make everyday objects, homewares and clothing. It is symbolic of lifestyle intertwined with nature.

PANDANAH was created to tell new stories of a global culture communicating our similarities, beautiful differences and combined future through design ideas. With a focus on mindful materials, contemporary tones, and ‘story telling’, Pandanah acknowledges both cultures delivering unique and innovative ideas to the design industry.

Pandanah sees the importance of breaking down barriers. It is about sharing skills, knowledge and experiences and bringing these to new audiences through design collaboration, lifestyle products and creative innovation. Pandanah bridges the unique skills of two women, bringing together fine art, Interior design, multimedia, fashion and surface design.

Design Challenge

PANDANAH is both, homage to the past and an expression of the now, bringing fresh creativity to the world from cultures across the pacific, combining ideologies to explore new ways of creative expression within our modern environments.

The biggest design challenges we have faced is balancing cultural integrity and design ideas, business philosophy with economic success, collaboration with driving creative direction and cultural discourse.

Sustainability

PANDANAH view sustainability as a core business objective therefore we only print on natural fibres (preferably organic) and use low impact dye’s and processes. We seek to keep designs bright, bold and beautiful with long lasting ‘real’ materials while using sustainable processes, keeping the integrity of its design in tact.

By using sustainable natural products PANDANAH connects us with nature and a conscious way of living. The target audience for our products are environmentally and culturally aware people. PANDANAH is more than an object you seek, it is a way of thinking.