Associate Professor Gene Bawden

Dr Gene Bawden is a communication designer and Head of Department (Design).
Gene has over twenty-five years’ experience as a communication designer and design educator, and has a unique capability as a design thinking facilitator. At Monash University, he has played central roles in design education and course development, including initiating and leading a major review of the Bachelor of Design; the development of MADA’s design thinking curriculum and the delivery of a tailored design thinking program for the Monash School of Business’ MBA.
As founding director of D-Lab, Gene has developed the design thinking process into a robust and self-reflexive process, while honouring its heritage in design practice. Leading a team of researchers and facilitators, D-Lab delivers bespoke material tools of enquiry around design thinking processes and research, including workshops and resources for internal and external clients. This is an area of investigation that is increasingly part of Gene’s expanding area of design education research.
Gene is also a founding member of the Faculty’s XYX Lab, which affords him the opportunity to combine his knowledge of gendered spatial practices and his communication design expertise within collaborative research projects aimed at mitigating gender inequity in Australia’s urban environments.
Gene’s other areas of research and design practice investigate material, visual and spatial narratives of belonging. Specifically, he interrogates the design of Australian domestic spaces as highly charged representation of cultural belonging, social alignment and gendered expectation. His book, Comfort and Judgement: Nineteenth Century Advice Manuals and the Scripting of Australian Identity, published by Monash University Publishing, is due for release in late 2019.
Recent news
‘Yours, mine, ours’ wins Good Design Award Gold Accolade in Australia’s International Good Design Awards
The winners of Australia’s peak international design awards – the highest honour for design and innovation in the country were announced today during the 2020 Good Design Week.
9 Sep 2020
Graduate research opportunities
We look favourably on applications to study a graduate research degree that align with our research labs, focus areas, and the expertise of our supervisors, and encourage you to explore the list of opportunities below.
Gender and night-time economies
The XYX Lab is seeking proposals that examine the confluence of factors that contribute to gendered experiences of the night-time economy – both in spatial design and visual communication design – and the role they play as a cultural and social practice that can contribute to challenging power relations within cities, and consequently to women’s feelings of safety within them.
- Scholarship may be available
- Open call
- Supervisors: Associate Professor Nicole Kalms, Dr Gill Matthewson, Associate Professor Gene Bawden and Jess Berry
- Undertaken within: XYX Lab – Gender + Place
Current research projects
At Monash Art, Design and Architecture, we focus on the pursuit of research that addresses the social, economic and human issues facing Australia.
Merri Creek, Coburg Safety Audit
Women’s Safety Audits: A transformative approach to safety in the city
On My Life
Providing respect, engagement, and intergenerational understanding.
Preventing Sexual Harassment in Australian Public Transport Spaces
Uncovering how the safety of women and girls is challenged in public transport spaces.
Yours. Mine. Ours - Melbourne Art Tram 2019
“Yours, mine, ours” is a design that celebrates the ambitions for diversity and inclusion within the city of Melbourne.
Past research projects
Free to Be / Design Thinking
Prioritising thinking through concepts that could have real world impacts for women and girls.
Girl Walk: Identity, Crowd-mapping and Safety in the City for Women and Girls
Creating a culturally vibrant city that is inclusive for women and girls.
The Inside Story
Re-reading the history of the Australian domestic interior.
Just So F***ing Beautiful
Telling a story of female harassment in a public space – a new work for the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale: European Cultural Centre.
Moreland City Council
Using gender-sensitive design thinking to support of Moreland City’s future growth.
Pride Thinking / Design Thinking
Celebrating, bolstering and protecting equality, diversity and inclusion.
Safe Access to Reproductive Health Care in Australia
Formulating proposals for changes in law and policy at both the federal level and State level to remove barriers to access.
The SHEcity Exhibition
Bringing together experts to reimagine and redesign how our city could be more inclusive for women and girls.
Additional research
Gene Bawden, Comfort and Judgement
2019
Published by Monash University Publishing, September 2019. ISBN: 978-1-925835-48-9 (paperback) and 978-1-925835-50-2 (e-book)