Here in New Zealand when Prime Minister John Key decided that a part of his legacy would be changing the flag to give it a more distinctive look, to differentiate it from the Australian flag, he engaged in a dice roll with democracy that didn’t come up his way. Public submissions for a new flag were sought and a competition for design lead to the selection of flags for citizens to vote upon, we as a public were struck with analysis paralysis and with no plurality of votes towards any one design, we shelved the idea and stuck with old faithful.

A similar story unfurled in Australia in the 1990’s, but rather than give the public the choice, prime minister Paul Keating selected his designer, Ken Done, a famous artist and graphic designer and commissioned him to design new flag options to excite the public towards a change. Keating was similarly foiled by the public’s favour towards the status quo and shelved the idea as the polling indicated more than 50% of Australia opposed a new flag. The prime minister who famously affirmed that political capital was only worth anything when spent rather than saved, bowed to public opinion on the flag, and was shortly after voted out of office.

The achievement that would have been the highlight of any artists career was out of reach for the designer who was the first choice to undertake the task. Ken Done wasn’t finished, he continued to work and design, and this watch which predates his Ausflag work is an example of his influence. Made to commemorate his first solo exhibition In Japan In 1989, he would go on to design the cover for a Japanese ladies weekly fashion magazine for a decade between 1989 and 1999.

Box and papers