Welcome to episode 150! This week, we’re turning the mic on our host.

In a serendipitous turn of events, this 150th episode of Design Your Life coincides with the 30th anniversary of Vince Frost’s other baby, his strategic creative studio, Frost*collective.

Over recent weeks, we’ve asked our listeners and social media followers to ask Vince anything, and today his eldest son, Luca Frost, is in the interviewer’s chair.

If you’re not familiar with our host, Vince Frost is the Founder, CEO and Executive Creative Director of Frost*collective. He’s also a globally recognised and awarded creative who is passionately committed to designing a better world.  

After becoming the youngest Associate Director at the infamous London design consultancy Pentagram, he started his own studio, Frost* Design in 1994. Together with his team and leading arts and cultural organisations, government, and business he works to help bring visionary ideas to life.  

This year, Vince was recognised with the Australian Design Prize by the Australian Good Design Awards for his impact on Australian design, and named as an Indesign Luminary. He is an Executive Committee member of D&AD, a member of IGA (Alliance Graphique Internationale, Switzerland) and Honorary Fellow of ISTD (International Society of Typographic Designers, London) and a Member of the University of Technology Sydney’s Entrepreneurial Advisory Board.

In 2006 Vince was the subject of a retrospective at Sydney Opera House and he continues to be an international ambassador for the design industry, judging and speaking on the value of design and how it can change people’s lives and our world for the better. 

In the first of this two-part series, Vince unpacks his childhood, adolescence and early years as a designer. We cover everything from his move to Canada from England as a young child, where his dad would build igloos in the back yard, to what motivated him to go to design school, and what it was like working at the famed international design studio Pentagram in 1980s London.

Listen in as Vince and Luca discuss being chased by skin heads after moving back to England from Canada in 6th form, watching Alan Fletcher, John McConnell and David Hillman, “designing stuff, before computers,” and typesetting Polaroid magazine in five languages with John Rushworth.

Tune in next week to hear him respond to our audiences’ questions in part two.

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Collette Dinnigan has a storied history as one of Australia’s must successful fashion designers. Ever. But that’s just one chapter of her creative life.

Her adventurous spirit and love of colour, fabric and proportion make total sense in the context of her childhood. In the mid 70s, her father built a yacht and set sail from Durbin, South Africa for the world with his young family. When they settled in New Zealand her creative mother got involved in textile design, Collette would get the remnants and patterns, piecing them together into garments.

Her list of accolades is long. Collette became the first Australian to mount a full-scale ready-to-wear collection in Paris in October 1995, and in 1996 was invited by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture to show on the prestigious Paris Fashion Week schedule. By the early 2000s, she was the darling of the international fashion scene. Dressing celebrities who didn’t want to wear the old houses on the red carpet, but something more youthful and new. In 2013, she was ready for change. Never afraid to take a risk, she controversially closed the doors to her business, instead of selling. When you get to know her, you’ll understand why.

Today, her focus on collaborations and interiors satisfies her creative drive. She’s collaborated with luxury brands like Qantas, Audi and Dom Perignon, authored children’s books, designed interiors for restaurants and hotels and created wallpapers and ceramics. She’s even been on Celebrity MasterChef, a credit to her commitment to pushing herself outside her comfort zone. She’s authored two coffee table books, the second, ‘Bellissima, An Australian—Italian Affair’, designed by Vince is on shelves in all good bookstores today.

Listen in as Vince and Collette discuss her love of interiors, gardens, food, friends, curiosities, art and travel, why she chose to shut down her business rather than sell it, and rolling down 40-foot waves in the Indian Ocean.

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Born in the small town of Hastings, New Zealand, Derek grew up in a working-class family with limited financial means and modest aspirations. His unexpected passion for photography ignited when he was a young bank teller and noticed a wedding photographer's bank statement, revealing the potential to make a living from photography. This serendipitous moment set Derek on a journey that has taken him around the world, from Sydney to Los Angeles, London, and back to Sydney. Along the way, he has worked with high-profile names such as Stella McCartney, David Walsh (MONA) and Donald Trump (in his pre-President days).

Throughout his career, Derek has learned that mastering photography goes beyond understanding technical aspects like light, composition, and form. It's equally about communication, direction, and most importantly, honesty. “That’s kind of all you have – honesty. I think people appreciate you when you are honest with them”. It’s this kind of transparency that helps him capture the best images and achieve the best results for his clients.

Listen in as Vince and Derek discuss the role of communication when working with individuals, agencies, magazines and fashion brands, and how photographing Stella McCartney unearthed a surprising connection to a Beatles parade he attended as a baby.

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