Dr Doreen Donovan is a communication designer, researcher and design educator based in South Australia, currently the Program Director of the Bachelor of Creative Arts (Honours) program at UniSA Creative. Her background as creative industry professional spans twenty-eight years, demonstrating international recognition through selection of her work in premier international juried design exhibitions such as the International Biennale of Graphic Design; Drawn: Singaplural at Singapore Design Week; and the To Death with a Smile exhibition at the Mexican Museum of Design—one of only three Australian entries selected from 30,000 submissions.
Her career as design practitioner is augmented by eighteen years as communication design academic... Read more
About me
Dr Doreen Donovan is a communication designer, researcher and design educator based in South Australia, currently the Program Director of the Bachelor of Creative Arts (Honours) program at UniSA Creative. Her background as creative industry professional spans twenty-eight years, demonstrating international recognition through selection of her work in premier international juried design exhibitions such as the International Biennale of Graphic Design; Drawn: Singaplural at Singapore Design Week; and the To Death with a Smile exhibition at the Mexican Museum of Design—one of only three Australian entries selected from 30,000 submissions.
Her career as design practitioner is augmented by eighteen years as communication design academic and researcher, merging design, education and sustainability with the completion of a practice-based PhD. Her research outcomes include the publication of academic articles as well as non-traditional research outputs/creative artefacts. Currently an Early Career Researcher at the University of South Australia, Donovan's research focuses on addressing real-world problems particularly in collaboration with young people and marginalized communities. She is passionate about creative research and practice, particularly in the context of environmental and social sustainability. Her practice-based PhD research was recently shortlisted for the 2019 AIAP Women in Design Award (AWDA) and exhibited in Florence, Italy. This prestigious award is endorsed by the International Council of Design—the leading international industry body for Communication Design.
In her capacity as tertiary educator she has developed extensive experience in the management and curating of complex projects with multiple stakeholders in a range of contexts. Her teaching, co-ordination an supervision expertise extends to a diverse range of courses across a number of undergraduate and post-graduate programs in the Bachelor of Creative Arts (Honours), Bachelor of Design (Communication Design), Bachelor of Design (Illustration & Animation), Graduate Diploma/Master of Design (Communication Design), Graduate Diploma/Master of Creative Practice and in the Match Studio Consultancy.
About me
Doctor of Philosophy University of South Australia
Bachelor of Design (Honours) Visual Communication University of South Australia
Bachelor of Visual Communication University of South Australia
I am interested in practice-based research, co-design and participatory action research with a range of stakeholders including children, young people and rural communities. My focus is on Sustainability, Science Communications, Design for Health and Wellbeing.
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
Community adaptation to worsening droughts and floods in the CLLMM, Goyder Institute for Water Research, 01/11/2024 - 31/03/2026
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2023 |
Open access
|
| 2022 |
Open access
|
| 2019 |
Open access
|
| 2019 |
Open access
|
| 2016 |
Open access
19
13
1
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2023 |
Open access
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2022 |
Open access
|
| 2016 |
Open access
19
13
1
|
| 2009 |
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2019 |
Open access
|
| 2013 |
Open access
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2022 |
Donovan, D, Munro, K & Lyons-Reid, J 2022, Healthy Coorong healthy basin films.
Open access
|
| 2019 |
Donovan, D & Bryant, L 2019, Boots'n'all.
Open access
|
| 2019 |
Open access
|
| 2018 |
Open access
|
| 2011 |
|
| 2010 |
Donovan, D 2010, 24th Internatioanl Biennial of Graphic Design Brno 2010. |
| 2010 |
Donovan, D 2010, As if... distant image. |
| 2009 |
|
| 2009 |
|
| 2008 |
Donovan, D 2008, News Views 2, London & online, 15 November 2008, New Views 2. |
Research
I am interested in practice-based research, co-design and participatory action research with a range of stakeholders including children, young people and rural communities. My focus is on Sustainability, Science Communications, Design for Health and Wellbeing.
External engagement & recognition
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| Flinders University | AUSTRALIA |
| University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
External engagement & recognition
| Engagement/recognition | Year |
|---|---|
C-IDEA International Design Union Award judging panel Australia 2022International Council (jointly organised by the Russia Designers Association, the Australian Graphic Design Association, the Association of Hungarian Fine and Applied Artists, Visual Information Design Association of Korea, CoL-Legi Oficial Disseny Grafic cataluny, Retroavangarda Gallery in Warsaw Poland, Industrial Designers Society of Turkey (ETMK) and Taiwan Kaohsiung Creators Association |
2022 |
Invited judging panel memberC-IDEA International Design Union Award judging panel Australia |
2021 |
Invited judging panel member for premiere International Design CompetitionC-IDEA International Design Union Award judging panel Australia |
2021 |
Invited Speaker, Will a Sustainability Transition be Sufficient""Sustainability Research and Innovation Conference, Brisbane June 12-15, 2021 |
2021 |
Message on a bottle, Curation of public exhibitionThe Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre's Kerry Packer Civic Gallery |
2021 |
Shortlisted for the International AIAP Women in Design AwardAIAP, Associazione italiana design della comunicazione visiva Institutional Partner |
2020 |
Council member (SA chapter)Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) |
2018 |
MemberAustralian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) |
2018 |
Member of AGDA (Australian Graphic Design Association),Council Member (Education Portfolio 2009)
Australian Graphic Design Association - South Australian Chapter, (Professional organisation) 2002 to 2009
Teaching & student supervision
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
| Thesis title | Student status |
|---|---|
| Fostering pro-environmental attitudes: environmental education through botanical illustration of South Australian native flora | Current |
| Trying identity through illustrating; an autoethnographic acculturation journey | Current |
