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Gluten Free Lunch Dinner Snack Salad Vegetarian Breakfast Sweets
Lighting Furniture TDF Shop Kids Art Rugs Jewellery Craft Tableware Accessories Plants + Flowers Gifts Ceramics Soft Furnishings

About

About Contributors Contact Advertising Frequently Asked Questions

Homes

Australian houses, from architectural masterpieces to suburban family homes, Victorian terraces, mid-century marvels, coastal shacks, city apartments, and everything in between.

ALL
Apartment
Architectural
Coastal
Country
Family Homes
Mid Century
Minimalist
Renovated
Tiny
Victorian

Architecture

Award-winning Australian architecture, inspiring homes, and interviews with Australia’s top architects.

ALL

Interiors

ALL
Kitchens

Art

Studio visits with Australia’s top artists, and unmissable art exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and beyond.

ALL
Indigenous Art

Creative People

Studio visits with Australia’s most talented creatives, from artists to architects, ceramicists to stylists, furniture makers to lighting designers.

ALL
Studio Visit
Extraordinary Routines
Dream Job
Small Business
Family
Regional
-
Architecture
Art
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Craft
Floristry
Furniture
Graphic Design
Illustration
Indigenous Art
Industrial Design
Interior Design
Jewellery
Lighting
Photography
Quoted
Styling
Textiles
Woodwork

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How Australia’s most inspiring creatives balance career and family. The juggle is real!

ALL

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TDF Talks With KeepCup Co-Founder Abigail Forsyth

Podcast

KeepCup is the world’s first barista-standard re-usable coffee cup. Over the past 10 years, this Melbourne-based company has driven incredible awareness around the re-use movement, and they’ve saved billions (literally) of disposable cups from ending up in landfill.

Though they have offices and warehouses in London and Los Angeles, KeepCup’s head office is right here in Fitzroy!  I recently stopped by for an inspiring chat with co-founder and managing director Abigail Forsyth. The accomplished lawyer-turned-businesswoman reflected on the incredible growth of her business, and her next big challenge – advocacy and activism!

2nd May, 2019

KeepCup’s Managing Director Abigail Forsyth. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

KeepCup grew from 45 to 90 staff in 2018. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Members of the KeepCup team. Though the business began in 2007, it was another two years before the product hit the market, during which time they invested in hiring external expertise. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

KeepCups in various models and vibrant colourways. Photo – Amelia Stanwix for The Design Files.

Lucy Feagins
Thursday 2nd May 2019

After originally pursuing a career in law, Abigail Forsyth created the first KeepCup with her brother, Jamie, back in 2007. It’s hard to believe it now, but at the time, there was very little awareness around waste, and the problems with disposable packaging. And it certainly wasn’t a common sight to see anyone take a re-usable coffee cup to their local café. How things have changed!

This humble little Australian-designed product has had a profound effect on the world (I don’t get to say that as often as I would like!), so today we delve into the backstory behind it all, and where Abigail has her sights set next!

Oh, and all our podcasts come with pictures. When listening via iTunes / the Apple podcasts app, enjoy viewing relevant photographs and clicking through links while you listen!

 

Lucy Feagins
Thursday 2nd May 2019

Notes + Links

Abigail Forsyth is a judge for the Sustainable Design category of our just-announced TDF Design Awards!

Our Small Business columnist Fiona Killackey spoke to Abigail about the value of investing in external consultants in 2018 – lots of tips and inspiration here.

Find out more about KeepCup and their product range on their website and follow on Instagram @keepcup.

The last thing Abigail purchased online was this, all-natural plastic free replacement for toothpaste! (we’re intrigued!)

This is our 27th TDF Talks podcast, check all the others out here.

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From an off-the-grid cottage to a sustainable urban commune, these are the best residential architecture projects in Australia.
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News

An Exhibition Weaving The Past, Present + Future Of First Nations Textiles

Distinguished textile artist Elisa Carmichael reimagines traditional weaving practices in today’s contemporary context.
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A Gloriously Verdant Inner-City Extension

BKK Architects design a contemporary addition around its luscious, sprawling garden for a pair of self-declared introverts in North Fitzroy....
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A New Exhibition Celebrates Visionary Black Photographers From Around The World

Bunjil Place Gallery hosts ‘New Black Vanguard’, an exhibition highlighting the overlap between art and fashion through the eyes...
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A Micro Flower Farm In Trentham, Decades In The Making

A florist devoted to holistic botanical living has transformed this dilapidated miner's cottage into boutique accommodation - with its own f...
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News

Fab Face Masks Made By Women From Refugee Backgrounds In Melbourne

Second Stitch is a homewares and fashion enterprise offering training certificates and employment to women from refugee, migrant, and asylum...
Sasha Gattermayr

On The Market

Permaculture Expert Ben Shaw's Gorgeous Geelong Home (+ Garden!) Hits The Market

A 1920s house with Geelong's best suburban garden (we're calling it!) created by permaculture expert Ben Shaw is up for sale.
Amelia Barnes

Homes

A Quirky, Contemporary Harbourside Penthouse, For Stylish Downsizers!

The Neutral Bay penthouse apartment of Tracy and Peter Fleming, renovated by their son Jono Fleming with Strutt Studios.
Lucy Feagins

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