Some projects ask more of you than others. This was one of them.
Loaded was engaged by the Department for Aboriginal Affairs to design No Less Worthy, a significant publication documenting the stories of 83 Aboriginal men with links to Western Australia who served in World War I. Despite facing legislative attempts to exclude them from enlisting altogether, these men stepped forward anyway, and served with the same courage and sacrifice as any other Australian soldier.
Their service took them to some of the most brutal theatres of the war, including the Gallipoli Peninsula, the Middle East, and the Western Front. Many endured unimaginable hardship on the front line, and those who survived came home carrying wounds that never fully healed. Physical injuries, pneumonia, tuberculosis, malaria, and the lasting psychological toll of combat followed many of them for the rest of their lives, and rippled through their families for generations.
These are stories that deserve to be told with care, with dignity, and with a design sensibility that honours the weight of what is being communicated. That was the standard we held ourselves to throughout this project.
Working alongside the Department for Aboriginal Affairs and on behalf of the State Government of Western Australia, our team brought together graphic design and print management to produce a publication that is both visually considered and deeply respectful of its subject matter. Every design decision, from typography to layout to imagery, was made in service of the stories at the heart of the book.
To be invited to contribute to a piece of work like this is not something we take lightly. No Less Worthy is one of the most meaningful projects we have had the privilege of being part of, and we are proud that it now exists as a permanent record of 83 men whose service to this country was for too long overlooked.