René Linssen & Elliot Bastianon

René Linssen is a South African born, Australian Industrial Designer living and working in Canberra, Australia. René loves the challenges of Industrial Design, finding a way to improve people’s lives with a product that satisfies a need and that can be aesthetically pleasing at the same time. He also feels strongly about the responsibilities implicit in a career that he believes has a big impact in shaping the world we live in. Currently an Industrial Designer at Australian product design company Formswell Design, he is involved in a diverse range of design work in industries from sports, outdoors, homewares, government and more.

Elliot Bastianon is a designer and artist based in Canberra, Australia. He has a diverse material palette and attempts to extrapolate the most from everyday things around him; often combining materials in ways that he hopes will direct his practice down a path not often taken. His studio is a triangulation of commercial furniture, research-driven projects and sculpture. Bastianon is currently undertaking a PhD in Visual Arts at the Australian National University. His research is focused on how the presence of mineral growth can provide readings on the Anthropocene, conflicting time scales and the power imbalance between human activity and environmental forces.

In 2017, the two designers co-founded the furniture company Furnished Forever, focusing on furniture for high volume commercial and residential applications with an emphasis on local manufacturing.