History
Now an award-winning, internationally recognised web strategy and development firm, Design Industries (formerly known as Fourpaws Design) grew from humble roots. In 2000, four friends launched their first website: a multilingual site for Kanis Restaurant in Cairns, Queensland. Despite the fact that all four founding members held regular full-time positions with other companies, they managed to find the time and energy to launch successful sites for Freestones Transport and Farm Auctions, setting the stage for the future growth and success of Design Industries.
The success of these initial projects built up momentum for the company. Fourpaws Design acquired additional clients throughout its first year in business. As the company grew, another good school friend joined the team, contributing to the team’s exceptional graphic design talents and bringing the total number of employees up to five.
By 2004, the reputation of Fourpaws Design had spread far and wide, and business was booming. The team opened its first office in Fitzroy, Melbourne, and new engineers and developers joined the original team to increase the depth and breadth of the company’s available service offerings.
In 2005, Fourpaws Design was the only Australian firm to be included in Taschen’s Web Design Studios book, which is part of their well-known Icons series. In the same landmark year, Fourpaws Design enhanced its role as a leader in digital communications by joining forces and creating an alliance with Design Industries and Optus. Henceforth, Fourpaws Design would be known as Design Industries.
Rapid growth ensued, and in 2006 the Design Industries office relocated when the company moved its corporate headquarters to the bay-side suburb of Hampton, Melbourne. This rapid growth also allowed for the addition of new team members to round out the business development team, including search engine optimisation specialists (SEO), a copywriter, and new design professionals.
Design Industries has continued to maintain its position at the forefront of innovation and original development strategies while maintaining a market leadership position in web-based business development. The company has continued to grow, and again moved into new offices in 2009, this time relocating to the Melbourne CBD, which is the site of its current operations. The team continues to expand and accept ever more technically complex projects and clients.
Today, as always, Design Industries has a brightly shining portfolio with projects in a wide variety of industries. Design Industries has developed and executed business strategies for numerous companies throughout the world. The diverse and talented team members have the unique ability to identify and create custom solutions for clients across multiple industries and manage web-based business solutions from the initial concept through implementation and monitoring. Design Industries continues to adapt to ever-changing technologies while eagerly embracing the challenges that lie ahead.
