David Gravina is the founder of Digital Eskimo and currently acts as Principal and Creative Director. He has spent fifteen years in the design and digital media industries, building a career and portfolio that are notable for their balanced contributions to both the commercial and activist domains.

After studying Information Systems at Monash University in Melbourne, in the 1990s Dave worked with Fairfax subsidiary BigHand as lead creative producer of a youth culture CD-ROM magazine and freelanced for various leading design agencies such as Extro Design and Rhythm Media (now Jack Morton). He also spent time in London at brand agency OTM Brand and at Ogilvy & Mather’s digital arm, NoHo Digital.

He returned to Australia in 2000 with a greater political awareness and began to work on social change projects in the evenings while freelancing at a dot com startup. Unolympics used satire to highlight human rights and social and environmental issues during the Olympics. The projection of a tall ship with the words Boat People onto the Opera House took on the Government’s atrocious refugee policy and gained front-page coverage.

Dave established Digital Eskimo in 2001 with the intention of creating social change using sustainability principles and the power of Design and digital technologies. Under Dave’s direction, the agency has developed design strategies for companies as large as Telstra Bigpond and as small as independent media outlets such as newmatilda.com. Highlights have included award-winning campaigns for Your Rights at Work and Raise The Bar, and groundbreaking projects for Amnesty International, WWF Australia and the Sydney Symphony.

Michelle Gilmore joined Digital Eskimo in 2007, bringing with her 7 years of experience in Industrial and User Centred Design, Digital Strategy and Marketing. After graduating from Swinburne’s National School of Design with a Bachelor of Design in Industrial Design, Michelle received a UMAT government grant to spend a year in Malaysia implementing sustainability principles and methodologies within university infrastructures.

Good design changes lives and Michelle saw the impact that Digital Eskimo’s work was having in regards to a number of social issues at the time and was attracted to Digital Eskimo as an agency that took responsibility for its actions. Working as a Senior Experience Architect, Michelle has been responsible for the successful delivery of a range of projects such as UNSW and WWF. Michelle is interested in user centered design, user experience, digital strategy, industrial and service design, facilitation and user research.

digitaleskimo.net

July 06, 2009, 7:01am