furniture and lighting designer dean toepfer is committed to producing quality and functional designs with an emphasis on detail and character. his interests lay in the exploration of material, shape, and form, seeing how each can interact and coincide. delivering a bold aesthetic both alluring and practical, toepfer has developed his practice into a multi-faceted design studio driven by the interrelationship between material, tool, and process.
parallel to his independent creative practice toepfer and fellow designer andrew carvolth established mixed goods studios in 2020. driven by a desire to foster community and collaboration within adelaide’s creative sector, mixed goods provides designers, artists and craft practitioners with individual studio spaces and a platform to build, explore and expand their practices amidst a collective of like-minded peers.
interviews / publications
- habitus living
- union magazine #3
- hunter & folk
- sight unseen (melbourne design week)
- the design files
- sight unseen (vase versa)
- broadsheet
- makers mrkt
- wallpaper, april 2021
- artichoke, issue 72
- houses, issue 136
exhibitions & accolades
2023
- melbourne design fair - independent studio presentation
- new exuberance - contemporary australian textile design: jamfactory
- french exchange - reflections on the jamfactory x boisbuchet scholarships
- it’s not just blue: craft victoria
2022
- melbourne design fair w/ craft victoria
- by/product: craft victoria (melbourne design week)
- fortified exhibition: jamfactory (melbourne design week)
2021
- rekkan / tamuwu / nyinakati (sit/sit down) exhibition: tarnanthi (collaborating with roslyn orsto, tiwi art center)
- exhibition design: bridget currie - message from the meadow at ace open
- fortified exhibition: jamfactory seppeltsfield and adelaide
- design institute of australia awards - national award of merit: use (solute lighting collection for jam)
- the design files awards finalist - lighting design (solute chandelier)
- one two one two exhibition: wonderstruck (melbourne design week)
- crafts, crossovers and collaborations exhibition: jamfactory (melbourne design week)
2020
- established mixed goods studios - multidisciplinary shared studio space
- idea awards finalist - object: furniture and lighting, professional (solute lighting collection)
- the design files awards finalist - lighting design (solute lighting collection)
2019
- idea awards finalist - object: furniture & lighting, rising (apres cart)
- international internship: lex pott - rotterdam, the netherlands
2018
- denfair front / centre finalist (chroma pendant)
- domaine de boisbuchet scholarship - lessac, france
- workshopped finalist (chroma pendant)
- vivid winner - lighting design award by artemide (rebel futurism pendant)
- vivid winner - judges choice award by living edge (rebel futurism pendant)
- idea awards finalist - object: furniture & lighting rising (chroma pendant)
- adelaide modern exhibition - jamfactory
- drink dine design award finalist (apres cart)
2017
- denfair front / centre finalist (rebel futurism pendant & side table)
- vivid competition finalist (ziggy chair)
- workshopped finalist (ziggy chair & rebel futurism pendant)
- idea awards finalist - object: furniture & lighting rising (ziggy chair)
- object: furniture & lighting - rising (ziggy chair)