UniSC’s new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual identity

"I remember seeing some of my Elders making art years ago - and it wasn't dots or cross-hatching," Lyndon says. "It was bold geometric patterns and designs."

He's not only extremely knowledgeable - he's expressive, personable and passionate when he talks, explaining how his culturally significant designs reflect the iconic bunya trees, which connect so many regions and Aboriginal groups around Queensland's south through the Bunya Festival.

"[Those designs] depict exactly what this landscape is - just like the desert-art dots depicts theirs.

"So that's what I've tried to incorporate here - to bring back those traditional styles."

Lyndon's task was to create an artwork that in part paid respect to Butchulla and Gubbi Gubbi/Kabi Kabi peoples - two separate and distinct groups on whose land UniSC campuses operate. It was a project about connection, community and culture.

Incredibly, given the complexity of the task, Lyndon appeared to already have a concept in his head early on. But before he started, he needed to consult with Elders.

"It was important to get a perspective from others in the community," Lyndon says. "Luckily, they were thinking exactly the same as me."

The idea, Lyndon says, was right in front of him.

"You've got the water, the bunya, the whales, the dolphins," he offers, as examples - all plants and animals, he points out, that are native to the regions where UniSC's Queensland campuses operate.

"That was the common theme behind the artwork."

The resulting image is a detailed tapestry of iconic animals and a swirling rainbow of colours representing UniSC's own brand.

Mullet runs full of intricate detail swirl among kangaroos, turtles and eagles. Dolphins frolic. Whales move elegantly northward through the centre of the piece. Kangaroos bound along the fringes.

It is an image that reveals more detail with every inspection.