Guide

Using commissioned Indigenous artwork in a brand system

Schools, councils and community organisations ask this constantly and get very little useful guidance. This is about artwork you have commissioned — not artwork you make.

What this guide is, and is not

We do not create Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artwork, and no template we sell contains any. This guide is about the situation a school, council, sporting club or business is actually in: you have commissioned artwork from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artist, or you are about to, and you need to apply it alongside a logo, on a uniform, on a vehicle, in a report.

It is written as documentation of practice rather than as legal advice, and the section at the end lists where to get advice that is.

Commissioning

Go to the artist, or to an art centre. Aboriginal-owned art centres exist across the country and are the normal route to commissioning work properly; they handle the agreement, the artist is paid correctly, and the provenance is clear. The Indigenous Art Code is a voluntary code of conduct for dealers in Indigenous art, and dealing with a signatory is a reasonable filter if you are unsure who you are talking to.

Budget for it as design work, because it is design work. Artwork commissioned at a token fee and then used across a whole identity for a decade is the pattern this field has a long and bad history of.

Be specific in the brief about scale and application. A painting made for a wall behaves differently when it has to survive at 10mm on a name badge, and an artist who knows the work will appear at that size can make different decisions. This is a normal design conversation and it is better had at the start.

The licence, and why its scope matters

Copyright in the artwork belongs to the artist. What you are buying, unless you have specifically agreed otherwise, is a licence to use it. Get the scope in writing and make it explicit about four things:

• Where it may appear. List the applications: the annual report cover, the website header, the uniform, the vehicle, social media, signage. A licence that says "marketing materials" will be read differently by you and by the artist the first time there is a disagreement.
• For how long. A commission for NAIDOC Week is commonly a licence for that use, in that year. Rolling it into your permanent identity is a different licence and a different fee.
• Where in the world. Usually straightforward, but state it.
• Whether it may be altered at all, and how. See the next section, because this is where most of the damage happens.

There is also a category of rights broader than copyright. Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property covers the cultural knowledge, stories and imagery that a work may carry, and it may sit with a community rather than only with the individual artist. Some designs are not the artist's alone to license. A good art centre will raise this without being asked; if you are commissioning directly, ask.

What not to do to the artwork

This is the practical heart of it, and every item here is something that happens routinely.

Do not recolour it to match your palette. This is the commonest and one of the worst. The colours in the work are the artist's decision and frequently carry meaning. A brand guideline saying "all imagery is converted to the brand duotone" must have an exception written into it for commissioned Indigenous artwork.

Do not crop it to a shape. Cropping a section out of a painting to fill a banner or a circular avatar can remove the parts that carry the story and leave a decorative fragment. If you need a different shape, go back to the artist.

Do not incorporate it into your logo without a specific agreement. A logo is used forever, altered, reproduced at every size, and often registered. That is a very different proposition from artwork appearing beside a logo, and it needs to be negotiated as such.

Do not redraw, trace or "vectorise" it so it scales better, unless that is agreed. A traced version is a new work derived from theirs.

Do not have a non-Indigenous designer draw something in the style. Dot patterns, cross-hatching and similar motifs drawn by somebody without the right to them is appropriation. The same applies to asking a generative tool for artwork in an Aboriginal style; the output is not authored by anyone with a connection to it, and using it is worse than using nothing.

Do not reuse the national NAIDOC poster artwork as your own branding. It is commissioned each year and its use is subject to its own terms. Celebrating NAIDOC Week does not license you to put that artwork on your materials.

Attribution

Attribute in full, and attribute close to the work rather than in a colophon nobody reads. The convention is the artist's name, their language group or Country, and the title of the work, with the year where known.

Moral rights under the Copyright Act give the artist the right to be attributed and the right not to have their work treated derogatorily. Attribution is not a courtesy you can drop when the space is tight; if the space is genuinely too tight, that is a signal the work should not be there.

Where the artwork accompanies a statement about the organisation's relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, write that statement separately and honestly. Artwork is not a substitute for the statement, and a statement is not a substitute for the work an organisation actually does.

Applying it beside an identity

The usual question is how the artwork and the logo coexist. A few things that tend to work:

• Give the artwork its own space rather than overlaying the logo on it. Overlaying almost always damages both.
• Use it at a scale where its detail survives. Most of these works carry fine detail that disappears at small sizes, which is another argument for not putting it in a logo.
• Let the artwork set the colour of what sits near it, rather than forcing the artwork toward the brand colours.
• Keep a full-resolution master and a documented set of approved applications, so the next person to use it does not improvise.

Where to get advice that is actually advice

The Australian Copyright Council publishes free information sheets on copyright, moral rights and Indigenous artwork. Arts Law Centre of Australia provides legal advice to artists and runs a dedicated service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, and publishes guidance on ICIP that is written for exactly this situation. The Indigenous Art Code maintains a list of signatory dealers. Your state or territory arts body can usually point you to art centres in your region.

If you take one thing from this: the licence and the attribution are the parts people get wrong, and both are settled with a conversation and a document at the beginning, when they cost nothing.

Common questions

Can I use Aboriginal artwork in my logo?

Only with a specific written agreement covering that use. A logo is permanent, altered, reproduced at every size and often registered as a trade mark, which is a very different proposition from artwork appearing beside a logo. Commission it as a separate negotiation rather than assuming an existing licence covers it.

Can I change the colours of commissioned Indigenous artwork to match my brand?

Not without written permission. The colours are the artist's decision and frequently carry meaning. If your brand guidelines say all imagery is converted to a house palette, write an explicit exception for commissioned Indigenous artwork.

How should I credit the artist?

Name the artist, their language group or Country, and the title of the work, with the year where you have it, placed near the artwork rather than buried in a colophon. Moral rights under the Copyright Act include the right to be attributed, so this is an obligation rather than a courtesy.

Can a designer draw something in an Aboriginal style for us?

No. Dot work, cross-hatching and related motifs drawn by somebody without the right to them is appropriation, and the same applies to asking a generative tool for artwork in that style. Commission an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artist, or use no artwork.

Does commissioning artwork for NAIDOC Week let us keep using it?

Usually not. A commission for a specific event is commonly licensed for that use in that year. Continuing use, and especially permanent use in an identity, is a separate licence and a separate fee. The national NAIDOC poster artwork in particular is subject to its own terms and is not available as your branding.

Written by BrandLaunch. Last reviewed September 2026.