It's History... But Not As You Know It
The Australian Museum of Design (AMoD) is excited to offer access to over 10,500 original hand-drawn textile designs by Australian artists, spanning from the late 1890s to today. These designs, many of which have been hidden away for over 70 years, are now available for you to explore and use in your own projects—whether you’re creating bespoke wallpaper, unique home furnishings, custom fabrics, or even licensing a design for commercial purposes.
In addition, we’ve digitised hundreds of designs specifically for machine embroidery, which you can download to create your own custom pieces. This is part of our commitment to making these incredible designs accessible to everyone, from hobbyists to professional creators.
Our collection includes works by renowned designers like Florence Broadhurst, Collette Dinnigan, Carla Zampatti, Kate Ceberano, Noel Lyons, Lloyd Foye, and Donald Clarke, among others. These hand-drawn designs, originally crafted on multiple layers of film acetate for wallpapers and fabrics, represent a unique artistic heritage that we are dedicated to preserving.
AMoD’s mission is to document, digitise, and preserve these invaluable designs, ensuring they are available for future generations and celebrating Australian design history. By commercialising these designs through our Digital Design Exchange, we generate the funds necessary to continue this important work. Every purchase or license directly supports our efforts to expand and maintain this archive.
Our platform not only provides access to these designs but also allows artists to monetise their work, ensuring they are fairly rewarded for their creativity. We invite you to explore our collection, use it in your own creations, and join us in preserving the legacy of Australian design art.
If you’ve uncovered old wallpapers, fabrics, or tiles during a renovation, or if you have hand-drawn designs or are an artist looking to showcase your work, we urge you to share them with us. Each design contributes to building a detailed timeline of Australian design history, making every piece a valuable part of our shared heritage.
The Australian Museum of Design (AMoD) is excited to offer access to over 10,500 original hand-drawn textile designs by Australian artists, spanning from the late 1890s to today. These designs, many of which have been hidden away for over 70 years, are now available for you to explore and use in your own projects – whether you’re creating bespoke wallpaper, unique home furnishings, custom fabrics, or even licensing a design for commercial purposes.
In addition, we’ve digitised hundreds of designs specifically for machine embroidery, which you can download to create your own custom pieces. This is part of our commitment to making these incredible designs accessible to everyone, from hobbyists to professional creators.
Our collection includes works by renowned designers like Florence Broadhurst, Collette Dinnigan, Carla Zampatti, Kate Ceberano, Noel Lyons, Lloyd Foye, and Donald Clarke, among others. These hand-drawn designs, originally crafted on multiple layers of film acetate for wallpapers and fabrics, represent a unique artistic heritage that we are dedicated to preserving.
AMoD’s mission is to document, digitise, and preserve these invaluable designs, ensuring they are available for future generations and celebrating Australian design history. By commercialising these designs through our Digital Design Exchange, we generate the funds necessary to continue this important work. Every purchase or license directly supports our efforts to expand and maintain this archive.
Our platform not only provides access to these designs but also allows artists to monetise their work, ensuring they are fairly rewarded for their creativity. We invite you to explore our collection, use it in your own creations, and join us in preserving the legacy of Australian design art.
If you’ve uncovered old wallpapers, fabrics, or tiles during a renovation, or if you have hand-drawn designs or are an artist looking to showcase your work, we urge you to share them with us. Each design contributes to building a detailed timeline of Australian design history, making every piece a valuable part of our shared heritage.
Your purchase helps support our ongoing effort to preserve Australian design history.
"For in each stroke and line, there's a lesson to learn,
that the human touch is something we should yearn."
See It
SEE IT: Browse our extensive online gallery, where the collection comes alive in a virtual museum experience. From the comfort of your home, view and appreciate works by designers like Florence Broadhurst, Collette Dinnigan, Carla Zampatti, and more, all carefully digitised and preserved.
Want It
WANT IT: Incorporate Australian design history into your own world with curated products from our design vault, including cushion covers, furoshiki folding cloths, napery, scarves, exclusive limited-edition artwork, fabrics for up-cycling and wallpapers. New items being released regularly and available for purchase directly through our platform.
Make It
MAKE IT: Engage directly with the designs through downloadable files for thread art, embroidery, fabric blocks, or purchased fabric for your own creative projects. This opportunity enables you to interact with the designs from our design archive and reimagine them for your own uses.
Original Hand Drawn Designs by Australian Artists
More than 10,500 Textile Designs from Post War to today
Australian Design History: From the Shadows to the Spotlight
AMoD seeks to illuminate and celebrate great Australian designs of the past by bringing these magnificent works out of the shadows and into the spotlight to be experienced, appreciated, and reimagined in new ways.
The recent digitisation of the Florence Broadhurst collection is a fine example of a successful design revival. In 1989, her designs were rediscovered, digitised and quickly became popular and were reimagined across artworks, fashion, home décor, books and films. The Broadhurst designs were seen across the globe in a variety of artistic and captivating applications.
Today, our mission to digitise our design archive and make it globally accessible is progressing rapidly.
One of the key initiatives in this endeavour is the creation of digitised embroidery files from our archive’s designs. These files will be available for embroiderers in Australia and around the world to download and use under a special license and membership. We chose this pathway due to the growing global awareness of embroidery and quilting.
Sew Much More
Design Collection History
The heritage and cultural significance of the AMoD collection has been acknowledged by the Powerhouse Museum. The design community and Australian institutions acknowledge there isn’t another equivalent of our collection.
Limited Edition Art
We have selected a range of designs for purchase as either Giclee digitally printed or hand silk-screened, both as a limited edition run.
Public Art Display
Vivid Sydney featured a curated selection of designs from our design collection on Customs House at Circular Quay to a worldwide audience of more than 3.5 million people.
License A Design
Home décor, interior design, and luxury textiles, license designs from the Australian Museum of Design (AMoD) library. By incorporating these rich, culturally significant designs, they have created unique and highly desirable products that resonate with consumers, due to the powerful narrative behind them of preserving Australian design history.
Wallpaper Production
If you have a stunning design on wallpaper or fabric, our expert partner team can assist in bringing it to life once again. Whether it’s reproducing or expanding your design, our team have the expertise to help you create more, ensuring your design continues to shine in any setting.
Design Restoration
Design Restoration of wallpaper or fabric, by our expert partner team helps you to bring it back to life. Whether you need to reproduce an existing design or expand it for new applications, we have the resources and expertise to help you create more, ensuring your design continues to make an impact in any space.
Largest body of Australian designs
Most unseen by the public for more than 100 years
There’s nothing like a revival…