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David Whitbread has shaped how design is taught, shared, and understood in Australia. He’s the author and publisher of The Design Manual, now in its revised and encyclopaedic third edition. He’s also held senior roles across government, academia and publishing, including as Head of Graphic Design at the University of Canberra, and as Design Director at the Australian Government Publishing Service.
I first heard of David as a starry eyed undergraduate in 2004, as I purchased my first copy of The Design Manual for my degree. Since then it’s been a resource for best practise in my career, but also settled a few arguments around double spacesafter full stops, or how to indent bullet points. More recently, David and I served on the University of Canberra’s course advisory group, to make sure our students are graduating with industry-ready skills and expectations.
I wanted to speak with David not just because of his expertise, but because of the unique combination of places he’s worked — places known for structure, rules and process. And yet, David is deeply creative. He’s a book designer, a musician, a teacher, and someone who genuinely lights up when he talks about helping people understand design. So, I asked him: what does creativity look like when the rules are already written?
We speak about when to follow the rules and when to break them, why designers need to keep learning, and how creativity shows up not just in the art, but in the process — in problem-solving, in collaboration, and even in public service.
As always, I started by asking David what he’d do with his days if he suddenly had $100 million in the bank. Please enjoy my conversation with the ever-generous David Whitbread.
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