About

Well hello there!

Ummm… Is that a set-square in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Hello and welcome to yellowtrace!

I am so happy to see you here. My name is Dana and I am an award-winning interior designer who lives and works in Sydney, Australia.

After years of working as an Associate Director & principal designer at Bates Smart, I established my own boutique practice borne out of a desire to share my creative talents, passion for design and conceptual thinking with like-minded clients and collaborators. I am drawn to inspiring, meaningful and enduring environments and experiences, frequently stepping off the beaten path to discover the unexpected for my clients.

My passion for design sees me actively involved in the local design community as a speaker at various events, contributing as a freelance design writer for magazines, acting as a sessional lecturer and a guest juror at design colleges and universities in Sydney, and sitting on advisory panels for a number of local trade shows and design events.

This blog started out back in January 2010 as a little online space where I could share my love for great design and clever people, my thoughts, stories and insights, and my design sensibilities. Little did I know back then what I was getting myself into, and what an incredible adventure this was going to become.


I am passionate about celebrating good design in all it’s forms – my mission is to share and showcase emerging and established talent in the areas of interiors, architecture, art, photography, fashion, travel, lifestyle and anything else worth knowing about.

You can read a little bit more about me in my first post, find out what inspires me, check out a small selection of my work and read about my stories on design – i.e. similarities between designers and personal trainers, my thoughts on insipration and honing one’s design instincts, importance of trust, scarcity of inspiring commercial interior design, observations on spaces in between, my obsession with beautiful mood boards etc.

If you like what you see, you can also hire me.

Oh and one more thing… I’ve been asked by a few readers how I came up with the name “yellowtrace”. Should you have the same question, you will find the answer in this post.

Thank you for stopping by.

x dana


LinkedIn // Portfolio // @dramatomic // @yellowtrace // The Loop // Tumbr // Facebook // RSS


yellowtrace pty ltd | PO Box 1614 | Potts Point | NSW 1335




From The Blog.

Hey there good lookin'! Check out some of the recent posts from the blog. Proudly brought to you by yellowtrace. Word.

By Hand | Guest Post by Pages From My Moleskine.

Ella here again of pages from my moleskine. Dana is still busy laying the foundations for design-eagle-eye junior (it’s no easy feat) so I’m...
Unfinished Portraits by Colin Chillag.

Colin Chillag is a New York based artist who paints these incredible "unfinished" photorealistic portraits of the elderly. Each one of his pieces looks...
Henrique Oliveira.

Henrique Oliveira's work is nothing short of authentic genius. Creating giant sculptures and installations of colourful tree trunks bursting through buildings and walls is...