Words by: Max Bengtsson
Images by: Sam Wong
Melbourne-based artist and designer Dale Hardiman is the co-founder and director of furniture and object brand Dowel Jones.
His works are exhibited at galleries around the world — including the NGV — and he’s long been a day-one supporter of the industry.
Check out Dale’s colour picks
Conversation with Dale Hardiman
We sat down (virtually) with Dale for a chat on all things colour and design.
Dale took us through his background, his colour-popping furniture business, his Colourful Language project, dissecting colour palettes, and his views on producing design products.
Dale and co-founder Adam create work that sits outside traditional furniture design.
Rather than seeing themselves as a commercial furniture brand, they position themselves as designers who produce design products.
What stands out is their focus beyond the object itself.
It’s not just about the final piece — it’s about process, collaboration, storytelling, and context.
They consider how a product is made, who it’s made with, how it’s presented, and how it exists in space.
Dale references his time teaching at university, where students were assessed not only on product creation, but also on photography, branding, and communication.
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There should be a broader understanding of the production of products. Designers aren’t just people who produce products, they actually give personalities to things.
Dale places strong value on collaboration.
This is reflected in much of Dowel Jones’ work, including Never Grow Up — a bright pink bench designed to be drawn on, inviting interaction and collective creativity.
Tint shares a similar philosophy.
Through our Pico colour scanning device, we collect millions of colour references annually, helping shape our curated range of 71 colours.
In many ways, our palette is built by people, for people.
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Most people think about aesthetic durability when it comes to furniture. How long can an object exist based on its aesthetic, but we talk about emotional durability, which is how you view an object with some kind of emotional response that they can relate to—extending the product further.
Dale’s practice consistently blurs the line between art, design, and participation.
He and Adam see themselves less as traditional furniture makers and more as designers building experiences and products with meaning.
Dale’s Tint collaboration explored this idea further.
He created a custom piece combining his design language with Tint paint, resulting in a striking blend of plywood structure and expressive colour.
The result: the Tinted Blossom Pendant.
The concept stemmed from giving people more agency over their furniture.
Not many people buy furniture and then paint it themselves — but that act of participation is powerful.
It reflects Dale’s broader philosophy: collaboration, customisation, and emotional connection through making.
Colour plays a central role in Dale’s work.
Each collection introduces new palettes that shape the identity of the objects.
For the Blossom Pendants, the team explored new combinations and colour-blocking approaches.
Each variation changes the object’s personality entirely.
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It’s a way people can create more emotional durability around the product as they're a part of the process in creating the final product.
Dale embraces bold colour use.
During production of the Blossom Pendants, the studio space itself was transformed using Tint paint — shifting from muted green walls to a vibrant, immersive colour environment.
The space became almost like a living installation.
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Being naive towards something can actually be quite positive.
Despite uncertain times, Dale spoke about the value of slowing down — thinking, designing, collaborating, and creating during isolation.
Dowel Jones continues to develop new collections exploring different furniture typologies.
Follow Dale Hardiman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doweljones/
Website: https://www.doweljones.com
