Clemenger BBDO has partnered with The Design Institute of Australia (DIA) for national advocacy campaign, ‘Write DESIGNER’, ahead of the 2026 Census.
The campaign responds to a surprising reality: despite contributing an estimated $67.5 billion to the Australian economy each year, there is currently no reliable baseline count of how many designers actually work in Australia.
Running across TV, digital and social platforms, the ‘Write DESIGNER’ campaign empowers Australia’s design workforce to label themselves as “designers” in the upcoming Census on August 11, helping establish the first national benchmark of the country’s design community.
At the heart of the campaign is a 60-second TV commercial, featuring the voice of ARIA award-winning hip-hop artist and frontman of 1200 Techniques, N’fa Jones. It also features a score by electronic music composer Jonah Gabriel and many Australian designers, studios and businesses.
Jones’ voice sets the scene for the film, opening with the words “You can’t. Can’t hear, can’t see, can’t breathe, can’t be heard, can’t feel seen.” A range of Australian designers, including designer Marc Newson, fashion house Romance Was Born, PACCAR Australia (the designers behind Kenworth trucks), Ludo Studio (the studio behind Bluey), RØDE Microphones and many more answer the call.
The film moves from the human body, presenting a hearing aid, a vision-testing tool and a defibrillator, then outward through the air we breathe, the tools of creative life, culture and the economy, an aircraft painted with 40,000 years of Pitjantjatjara storytelling, Bluey, and a Kenworth truck. It then passes through sustainability and the built environment, from coral reef restoration and wayfinding, to an interior and a building designed for belonging. It then closes with a vessel by Alfred Lowe and a necklace by Blanche Tilden.
Nationally, design has long been one of the most economically significant, yet consistently underestimated communities. It is estimated design-related industries and workers contribute more than 3.5 per cent of GDP to the Australian economy.
With the Census just over a month away, the ‘Write DESIGNER’ campaign encourages every designer to identify themselves by their specific design profession when answering the question: “What is the person’s occupation?”. Designers can use a recognised design occupation within the new framework group, 242 Design Professionals.
The DIA has been advocating for the profession for decades. Its work has included introducing the change to Census data collection.
“Write DESIGNER is more than a campaign; it’s a collective act of advocacy for Australia’s design profession. Every day, designers challenge assumptions, solve complex problems, create value and transform ‘you can’t’ into ‘you can.’ This campaign is about uniting an entire profession around a single moment that only comes around once every five years. By ensuring designers are accurately counted on Census night, we’re building the evidence needed to strengthen advocacy, inform decision making and government policy, and secure greater recognition for design into the future,” said DIA chief executive Simone LeAmon.
“We’re surrounded by what designers make possible, yet the people who make it happen have stayed invisible. We’re turning this census into a moment to celebrate a profession built on challenging assumptions and solving problems most people never see, and just as importantly, a moment to finally get designers counted, credited and recognised,” said Clemenger BBDO executive creative director, Giles Watson.
Credits
Client: Design Institute of Australia
Chief Executive Officer: Simone LeAmon
Agency: Clemenger BBDO
Artist: Steve Leadbeater
Music: Jonah Gabriel
Voiceover: N’fa Jones
