ABOUT

Based in Melbourne, Australia, Eamon Donnelly (pron. AY-mon) is an award-winning illustrator, photographer, designer, writer, publisher and author of acclaimed tome The Milk Bars Book: Milkshakes Memories & Mixed Lollies. Documenting Australia’s Colourful Corner Stores (2018). In a career spanning 20+ years, Donnelly has worked in all facets of the creative industry. He has won international awards for his illustration work (Cannes Lion, Clio, D&AD), spoken at design conferences, makes regular media appearances on the history and culture of Australian milk bars, corner stores and Australian ice cream and confectionary history, and teaches design at the University of Melbourne’s Victorian College of the Arts. His work as a commercial illustrator has appeared in the pages of Rolling Stone, Playboy, GQ, Billboard, and in campaigns for The Walt Disney Company, American Express, VH1, Redbull and Peters Ice Cream.

“Eamon has a knack for capturing moments of Australian life like few others.”
Tim Ross, Australian Comedian, writer, radio host and social commentator.

Eamon’s unrivalled passion for all things milk bars and corner stores has made him one of Australia’s leading experts. For the past 20 years Eamon has been documenting and researching the topic, amassing an unparalleled archive of photographs, historical documentation, interviews, signage, memorabilia and ephemera. His expertise on the subject has made him a much sought-after authority often being called upon by global brands to undertake archival brand research, location scouting, trademark research and signage design. He also makes regular media appearances on television and radio. In 2018 Eamon published The Milk Bars Book; born through Donnelly's passion to tell Australian stories through his artistic practice. The richly nostalgic, colourfully illustrated coffee table book celebrates the iconic Australian invention, the milk bar. It documents the fading corner stores, milk bars, mixed businesses, general stores, and delis all over Australia from as early as the year 2000. Sold out within months of its release, the first edition of the book is an important record of a soon to be lost part of Australian culture, with more books currently in the works.

Selected media has included: The New York Times, The Age, Herald Sun, The Today Show, ABC News, ABC Radio Melbourne / Perth / Darwin / ABC Regional (Victoria / NSW) SBS, Studio 10, The Big Issue, Broadsheet, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail UK, Channel 31, 3AW, Vice, Triple RRR, Jetstar magazine, Monster Children, The Design Files, The Australian, The Weekly Review, 2SER 107.3, Southern Cross News, Geelong Advertiser and Desktop magazine.

Awards

Victorian Print Awards, 2019
SILVER medal for The Milk Bars Book.

D&AD professional awards London, 2011
Wood Pencil / Illustration / Illustration for Press & Poster Advertising / 2011 – Best of the year Illustration for ‘The Wonderful World of VH1′ Y & R New York, New York.

Clio Awards, New York, 2010
GOLD ‘The Wonderful World of VH1’ Print Campaign. Y & R New York, New York.
SILVER ‘The Wonderful World of VH1’ Print Campaign, Individual. Y & R New York, New York.

Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, 2010
SILVER ‘The Wonderful World of VH1’ Illustration. Y & R New York, New York.
SILVER ‘The Wonderful World of VH1’ Print Campaign. Y & R New York, New York.

London International Awards, 2010
Finalist ‘The Wonderful World of VH1’ Print Campaign. Y & R New York, New York.

Desktop Create Awards, Australia, 2010
Nominated ’Golden Plains Music Festival the 4th’ Original Illustration & Type.

Desktop Create Awards, Australia, 2009
Short listed, ‘Final Destination 3D’ Complex Magazine, Original Illustration.

Clients

Advertising Age, Alpha Media Group, American Airlines, American Way, Bauhaus, Billboard, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Blender, Buzz Products, Champion, CBS Interactive Inc, Chow com, Complex, Walt Disney Company, D Magazine, Don’t Panic, Edible San Francisco, Elwood, ESPN, Golden Plains Festival 1 – 5, GQ, Harris Publishing, Hungry Jacks, Is Not Magazine, Jetpilot, Just Group, King Magazine, Lifelounge, Madame Brussells, Maxim, Men’s Health, Monument, Mountain Dew, NewsWeek, Nike 6.0, Orange Coast Magazine, Owl, Movement, Peters Ice Cream, Piping Hot, Playboy, Playboy Enterprises Inc, Poketo, Radar, Redbull, Redbull Music Academy, Friends Of Redbull, Ripcurl, Rodale Inc, Rolling Stone USA, Rolling Stone Australia , Runners World, The String Republic, Sports Illustrated, Suburban, Tango, Communications, Triple J Mag, VH1, Y & R New York, H2O Just Add Water Jonathan M Shiff Productions, Channel 9, Hopscotch Films, Victorian College of the Arts.

Speaking Engagements & Teaching

Nostalgia and the Suburbs, Glen Eira Storytelling Festival, Caulfield Town Hall, Melbourne, 2019.
Ephemera Society Annual Symposium, Camberwell, Melbourne, 2019.
American Express Shop Small launch, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2016.
Print Symposium, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 2015.
Milk Bars history panel event, Customs House Library, Sydney, 2014.
Field Trip, ACMI, Melbourne, Australia, April 12th, 2013.
AGIdeas International Design Conference, Hamer Hall, Melbourne, Australia, 2010.
Billy Blue College of Design. Guest Lecture on Colour Theory and Symbols and Distribution, 2012.
Monash Department of Design, Faculty of Art & Design & Architecture, guest 3rd-year interview panellist, 2012.
The University of Melbourne, Victorian College of the Arts, production design graphics tutor, 2015 - present.

Film & TV

History Consultant, Back In Time For The Corner Shop, ABC TV, Warner Brothers International, 2023.
Graphic Artist The Mule. Hopscotch Films, 2014.
Dir, Tony Mahony. Prod, Michelle Bennett, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell. Production Design, Paddy Reardon.
Graphic Artist Fat Tony & Co. Channel 9, 2014.
Production Designer, Paddy Reardon. Art Director Juliet John.

Miscellaneous Press

2010 Studio Arts Victorian Exam, Academy for Men, Acclaim Magazine, AGIdeas 20th Anniversary Book, Attitude Magazine, Australian Infront, Australian Edge, Broadsheet, Computer Arts, Design Federation, Design Is Kinky, Design Reporter, Desktop Magazine, Drawn, EMPTY Magazine, Expression College SanFran, Graphic Design Style Guide, Jmag, Juxtapoz online, King Magazine, Lost At E Minor, Monument, MX, Nice Produce, Orange Coast Magazine, Poketo, SemiPermanent, The Age, The Bigger Book of Fashion Illustration, The Brag, The Vine, The Week, Threethousand, Thunder Chunky, Trouble Magazine, Trunk Junk Quarterly, V-Raw, WeAreTheImageMakers, Workbook Illustration Annual, WGSN.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions
Art & About Festival, Sydney, Banner Gallery Artist, The Milk Bar, 2014.
Shop here for value & friendly service. Carbon Black Gallery, Prahran, Melbourne, 2013.
Health food of a nation! Lamington Drive Gallery, Melbourne, 2010.

Group exhibitions
Sugar Republic, MYER Melbourne.
Australia Trophy Lives, The Hungry Workshop, Northcote, Melbourne.
Pop Rocks, Urban Uprising Gallery, Surrey Hills, Sydney.
40 Thieves : 3rd Offence, Melbourne.
Milkbars, Laundromats & Urban Beauty, Melbourne Fringe.
Wax Off, Greenwood Gallery, Lorne.
Contains 12 Pcs, Gorker Gallery, Melbourne.
Lamington Drive Group Show, Melbourne.
The Jacky Winter Group Show, Carlton Gallery, Melbourne.
Poketo Australian Series Launch, Robio, Melbourne.
No Comply, No Vacancy, Melbourne.
Heaps Decent, Kings Cross, Sydney.
Extra Cheeese 1 & 2, Sydney.
The Forty Thieves, Gorker Gallery, Melbourne.
Semi-permanent Kids Today, MTV Gallery, Sydney.
Annandale Hotel, Sydney.
Because We Can, Somedays Gallery, Sydney.
12 X 12, Ambush Gallery, Sydney.
The Wall, Surry Hills, Sydney.
The Wurstminster Dog Show, Portland, Oregon, USA.
Supertrash Film Festival, Portland, Oregon, USA.
Life, East Gallery, London, UK.
It’s Nice That, Plymouth, Devon, UK.

Features & Interviews

The Big Issue, Milkshakes, Memories & Mixed Lollies, 2020.
Royal Auto RACV Magazine, Milkshakes & Memories, 2020.
Winning Magazine, book review, 2019.
Herald Sun, History turns a corner, nostalgia fuels new lives for milk bars, 2019.
ABC Radio Melbourne, Weekends with Libbi Gorr, The Milk Bars Book interview, 2019.
Herald Sun, weekend double feature, The Milk Bars Book, 2019.
3AW Melbourne, Afternoons with Tom Elliot, The Milk Bars Book interview, 2019.
SBS, The Milk Bars Book online feature, 2018.
The Daily Mail, UK, The Milk Bars Book feature, 2018.
Studio 10, Channel 10, The Milk Bars Book feature, 2018.
Jetstar Magazine, The Milk Bars Project double feature, 2016.
2SER 107.3 Sydney, 11th October 2014. Australian Milk Bar Panel.
The Sunday Telegraph, 21st September 2014. Milk Bars bring back the joys of the past in photographic exhibition in Sydney.
The Weekend Australian, 20th September, 2014. Melbourne illustrator preserves the suburban Milk Bar 2SER 107.3 Sydney, 20th September 2014. Art & About The Milk Bar.
Geelong Advertiser, 13th September 2014. Streets of our past.
3AW, Nightline with Bruce Mansfield and Philip Brady. Talking Milk Bars.
Inside Art TV, Channel 31, 11th March 2013. Eamon Donnelly’s Milk Bar Memorial.
ABC 774 Melbourne. Evenings with Lindy Burns. Guest interview on Milk Bars.
Broadsheet, Shop here for value and friendly service. Exhibition review, Tara Kenny.
Triple RRR, Guest on radio show The Urbanists, discussing the Australia Milk Bar and it’s history & cultural significance.
The Age, October 27th 2012. Long Goodbye to a Suburban Icon by Chris Johnston.
Threethousand, 2012. Milkbar: A Photographic Archive Vol. Book review by Oscar Schwartz.
The Age. Living in the 70’s.
The Design Files. The Island Continent.
Design Federation. Eamo Donnelly Interview.
The Week. Arts, Where To Buy…Health Food Of A Nation!’
Threethousand. Interview ‘Health Food Of A Nation!’
The Age. Around The Galleries ‘Health Food Of A Nation’
thevine.com.au. A Great Mate Interview With Eamo, ‘Health Food Of A Nation!’
Design Reporter. Michael Desmond Feature, Eamo’s Ocker Funk.
The Age. Interview, Taking A Crack At Aussie Blokes.
Desktop Magazine. Interview, Welcome To Oz!
Academy For Men. Interview with Eamo.
Computer Arts Magazine. Illustration, Today And Tomorrow.
Poketo. Interview Eamo Is Aussie All The Way!!
Acclaim Magazine. Interview Eamo, Gum Leaves & Prawns.
Thunder Chunky. Interview Eamo, The Wizard Of Oz.
Wearetheimagemakers, Interview.
thevine.com.au. 5 X 5 With Eamo.
Jmag. How To Be An Illustrator.
Threethousand. Eamo Needs To Find Marty Monster (Found!)
Attitude Magazine. I Know, You Know, Eamo, Happy Lil’ Vegemite.
V-raw. Don’t Just Dream.
King Magazine, Contributing Illustrator.
The Age. A2, A Matter Of Perspectives.
The Age. A2, Reviews – The Forty Thieves.

Books 

The Milk Bars Book. Volume II: A Sweet History, 2023.
The Milk Bars Book: Milkshakes, Memories & Mixed Lollies, 2018.
ISBN-13: 9780646988337
Angus O’Callaghan Melbourne, 2015. (Designer)
ISBN: 9780646941660
Milkbar: A Photographic Archive Vol. 1, 2012.
Self published.