Swinburne launches face mask range with bespoke Indigenous designs

Swinburne has launched a limited edition collection of premium quality, reusable face masks in three bespoke Indigenous designs, created by student and artist Katie Bugden.

Each purchase of a three-pack of masks supports Swinburne Indigenous Bursaries. This will assist commencing Indigenous students to purchase materials, technology and other items to ensure they have everything they need for study to reach their full potential.

The launch of the new Indigenous design face masks follows on from the original range of Swinburne face masks showcasing campus-inspired designs.

The new range of masks are available to pre-order from today, as part of NAIDOC Week, with stock available from late November.

Each design tells a story

Bachelor of Education (Secondary) student and Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi artist, Katie Bugden donated her time and talent to create the designs for the face masks.

Katie’s goals in creating the art for the masks were to ‘encourage people to keep safe’ and support Indigenous education.

“When Swinburne told me a portion of sales were going to Indigenous scholarships, I was even more invested knowing I could help my brothers, sisters, cousins, aunties and uncles out,” she says.

Katie’s designs tell a story of how lockdown has affected the way we communicate with others and the emotional stages Victorians have gone through to keep each other safe.

“I love telling stories and creating the art for these masks allowed me to tell a story that many people can relate to as we have all shared the same experience in Melbourne,” says Katie.

Katie’s first design tells the story of our community as we struggled to adjust to our new lives in lockdown.

“Finding new ways to communicate with one another was a twisting journey of new technology and compromise, but we made it work,” says Katie.

The new special limited edition Indigenous design face masks come in a pack of three, and are 3-layer washable, reusable and made to DHHS recommendations.