About Design Intuition

Design Intuition is a design studio where creativity comes out to play. Past projects include design research for incremental and radical innovation, development of novel design methodologies, industrial design, user experience (UX) design across product-service systems, medical device product development, consumer appliances, consumer insights, graphic design, content creation and more (so much more… created under NDA)! On my blog, you’ll find awesome products, design inspiration and DIY ideas to ignite your imagination.

What is Design Intuition?

“Design Intuition is the ability of a perceptive and compassionate designer to assemble their inner knowledge and past experience into new patterns that lead to the (seemingly magical) discovery of innovative new design solutions. An intuitive design process combines inspiration, insight, imagination, and iteration with a skilled designer’s underlying core instinct. Design Intuition thus has the potential to generate creative solutions to some of the world’s most challenging design problems, as well as the ability to elicit elements of surprise and delight from apparently simple design solutions.”
– Jessica Lea Dunn

Jessica Lea Dunn is a true creative powerhouse, as an industrial designer, stylist, photographer, and social media content creator. It’s on this solid design foundation that Jess has built her visually stunning Pinterest account, followed by close to 2 million people.

She is constantly on the hunt for cleverly designed products, and appreciates the beauty in everything from mass produced items to niche artisan pieces. Jessica shares her findings on Design Intuition, as well as across her socials.

With a vibrant and colourful style that’s professional with a playful twist, Jess creates fresh content that delights her audience every time. Her deep understanding of what makes content shareable and her exceptionally versatile aesthetic makes her a highly sought after partner for a wide variety of brands. In fact, she is one of the best when it comes to understanding what content works well for her audience, regularly producing top results for brand partners in their Pinterest campaigns.

Work With Jess

Biography

Want to know even more about me?
(Enough with the third person already!)

I’m an Aussie girl from a small coastal town on Australia’s east coast, who now calls beautiful Sydney home.
I went on study exchange to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2007 and returned in 2009 to live and work as a designer in Jakarta at a non-government organisation turning recycled post-consumer waste into colourful bags and accessories. The sales of these products funded scholarships for the children of Jakarta’s trashpickers, who are among the world’s poorest urban dwellers.
During 2009, I also married the love of my life, Antok, in an epic village wedding with over two thousand guests and spectators.

In 2010, we came back to Australia together, and I graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney with a combined degree in Industrial Design and International Studies, achieving First Class Honours and being awarded the University Medal in Industrial Design.

Also in 2010, I began working as a designer in early-end product development for the world’s leading tech-driven medical device company. I’ve since worked on many cutting-edge projects, have been granted numerous patents and helped design and bring to market several multi-million dollar products that save lives. This is the kind of life-changing work that inspires me every day, and in late 2017 I moved on from this role to begin studying for my PhD in Design Innovation.

As a passionate product designer, my first experience of online fame happened in 2011 when my graduating design project, a folding motorcycle helmet, went viral around the globe. Due to the success of this project, I also had the chance to speak at the Apple store in Sydney CBD at a “Meet the Designers” event!

Then, in 2012, I became one of the most followed people on Pinterest in the world, and the second most followed Pinterest influencer in Australia.

Antok and I grew our family with our gorgeous (and spirited) little girl Alira in 2013 – and let’s just say that life has never been so busy!

Since 2013, I have partnered with interdisciplinary design leader Alexandra Crosby to bring design students from the University of Technology Sydney on an annual Global Studio to Indonesia to learn about culture, context, alternative design definitions, design thinking and to collaboratively work on projects that attempt to solve important design problems within the community. Alexandra and I also collaborated on the Indonesian Australian Design Futures project in 2016, bringing Indonesian and Australian designers together for international exchange, ideas and skills sharing, workshops, a community hack-a-thon, and most importantly, imagining new design futures.

In April 2017 I travelled to Milan to visit International Design Week in partnership with the Lexus Design Awards. This incredible trip was one of the highlights of my design and social media career. You can read my ultimate guide for visiting Milan Design Week here.

In late 2017, I embarked on a PhD in Design Innovation at the University of Sydney.

In 2020, my husband and I became family YouTubers, quickly going viral and sustaining our audience through a pandemic.

In 2021, our family were blessed with Zahli, who has brought us immeasurable entertainment and joy.

And in 2026, with a few career adventures along the way, I finally finished that PhD!

Want to know more?

GET IN TOUCH

A few of my favourite things:

  • Beautifully designed functional products
  • Creative play with my little girl Alira
  • Podcasts (especially 99% Invisible)
  • Organic tea (have you tried Pukka?)
  • Natural health and nutrition (I’m gluten-free forever)
  • Vintage shopping (it’s treasure hunting!)
  • Yoga (my sacred time reconnecting mind, body, spirit)
  • Beach days (can it be summer all year round?)
  • Exotic textiles (I’m in awe of Batik Rifa’iyah)
  • Crystals (my grandmother collected gemstones)
  • Travelling in Indonesia (Yogyakarta is my second home)
  • Supporting amazing charities such as this.

PS.
Have you seen some of my most popular posts here? I wrote about this awesome cloud concrete toilet roll holder, these cute Lego men to hold your cables, this awesome DIY branch coat rack, and these easy Halloween food ideas.