Over its 25 years of existence, the now renamed Studio Ongarato has been led by Fabio Ongarato and Ronnen Goren, who have cultivated and nurtured an atmosphere of collaboration that has become central to the studio’s practice and ethos.
Based in Melbourne, Studio Ongarato has a growing global presence, with international projects including W Hotels Worldwide, Sharjah Collection and Dubai Marina. An increasing desire for innovative design coupled with an emerging, educated consumer has seen China and the Middle East become increasingly important for Studio Ongarato as it strides into a new phase of growth and expansion.
“Despite a shifting design landscape and the effects of globalisation, we have managed to remain current within the context of international graphic design,” says Goren.
For Ongarato, it’s the amalgamation of design practices and continual commitment to cultural discourse that holds the key to the success of the studio as well as the brands it helps to shape.
This renegade approach was something of an anomaly in the graphic design industry at the time, explains Ongarato.
“We weren’t so much concerned with the traditional idea of a design studio and how we should relate to that. At the time in Australia there was a lot of opportunity for us to grow, to push the existing paradigms and mould our own ideas of what a design studio could be,” Ongarato says.
“We remain committed to coupling our experience with intelligence and creativity. In the last 25 years, and in the next 25, we have and will continue to be driven by the desire to realise the unexpected, to challenge and ultimately to enrich the human experience through art and design,” he says.
