Meet Yellowtrace founder Dana Tomić Hughes

“My ultimate goal has always been to deliver content that will inform, inspire and lift the level of design excellence within Australia and beyond,” Dana tells ArchiPro. “The Yellowtrace journey has been nothing short of extraordinary for myself and for the rest of my team. It’s given me a public platform that I didn’t plan… And countless extraordinary people and experiences I cherish and hope never to take for granted.”

ArchiPro has partnered with Yellowtrace to film a series of round-table discussions with some of Australia’s best-known architects and designers. In the first episode of Practice Notes, Dana sits down with Ian Moore of Ian Moore Architects; Domenic Alvaro, Global Design Director at Woods Bagot; Eva-Marie Prineas of Studio Prineas; and David Flack of Flack Studio to talk about the value architects and designers can bring to projects of all kinds.

In the beginning, Dana’s role was aggregating content onto Yellowtrace pages, but that role has transformed into one of guardianship as a result of the proliferation of online content, and protecting her readers’ time is paramount. 

“Our audience puts a huge amount of trust in Yellowtrace so I feel privileged to be granted permission to spend time with them each day. I make sure Yellowtrace is a space that cares about our audience and is a source they can trust to inspire, that will share new discoveries, that will make them think and see things differently,” says Dana.

As for Studio Yellowtrace, the traditional interior design firm has evolved into a multi-disciplinary business that specialises in design and communication strategy, storytelling, content creation and special projects.

Dana has established herself as a reliable industry expert with a reputation for being ahead of the trends, and is now a sought-after speaker, consultant, lecturer and writer, and has even served as a judge for a number of design awards in Australia and internationally, such as the annual Editor’s Choice Awards at Stockholm Furniture Fair.

“Staying at the forefront of the design world globally is not only the essence of my self-created ‘job’, it’s my absolute passion and it directly speaks to the Yellowtrace mission, which is to inform our audience of the very best things happening in the world of design,” says Dana. “I’m also a trained interior designer who very much ended up in this position by accident. As such, I have an innate understanding of what other designers are looking for, which is reflected in our content.”

Although the Yellowtrace audience almost reads like a directory of creative talent, Dana has always wanted it to be accessible to any design-lover regardless of their experience within the industry. “Good design should reach a much wider audience than just the professionals,” says Dana.

“Australian Design is at a really exciting point and is very much developing its own identity, and our community now feels more globally connected; I personally think that Australian design is of an exceptionally high standard,” Dana tells ArchiPro.

“In some ways, this is because to create amazing things we have to work that much harder than our European peers, perhaps, because we can’t stay informed simply by catching a train to Milan for Salone del Mobile, or Venice to the Biennale, to Paris for Maison et Objet.

“Staying informed takes a real effort and it means that as a nation we’ve cultivated a community of seriously high-achieving, hard-working designers.”

The first episode of Practice Notes, a collaboration between ArchiPro and Yellowtrace, is out now! Watch the highlights below. Want to see more? Head over to Yellowtrace to watch the full episode.