Connecting the Dots: A Collection of AD Hoc Design Thinking

Connecting the Dots showcases the remarkable contribution of one designer, Garry Emery, to Australian culture internationally over 60+ years.

It publishes a selection of Emery’s writings, alongside notes he calls ’ramblings’ as well as presenting EmeryStudio’s design work. Connecting the Dots collects ad-hoc design thinking, comments, insights, thoughts, quotations, snippets, questions, answers, essays, articles, meditations, opinions, ambiguities, dogmas, observations, ideas, remnants, contradictions, realities, episodes, moments, fantasies, threads, traces, snapshots, ramblings, ruminations, not so many facts, no certainties.

Garry Emery is highly awarded, published and exhibited internationally. He is recognised for his contribution to design communications across two-, three- and four-dimensional spatial environments in various media and mediums. Currently he operates as a sole practitioner working with contractors as a consultant to the Heide Museum of Modern Art while collaborating on the design of the Virtual Exhibition for the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, as well as consulting to a high-end office furniture manufacturer of local and European products, among other projects. Emery has served on international juries for design and national juries for architecture and urbanism. He received the President’s Award, Australian Institute of Architects, and was the first designer outside the USA to be nominated a Fellow of the Society of Experiential Graphic Design alongside international luminaries such as architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott-Brown as well as designers Massimo Vignelli, Ivan Chermayeff, Thomas Geismer and Deborah Sussman. Garry founded EmeryStudio which designed the wayfinding and signage systems for the three tallest buildings of the time, Burj Khalifa in United Arab Emirates, Petronas Towers in Malaysia and Taipei 101 in Taiwan, as well as Parliament House of Australia, Australian embassies in Tokyo, Beijing and Jakarta, Sydney Opera House, Sydney 2000 Olympics, Melbourne Museum, National Gallery of Victoria, International Finance Centre in Hong Kong, Marina Bay Finance Centre in Singapore and many other high-profile projects for government and the private sector.