Design and the spaces we move through are how I make sense of the world — they’re how I bring wellbeing and care into our environments and everyday experiences.

My journey into design began long before I knew its name. I grew up immersed in art, opera, and movement—learning early that our environments shape our emotions, behaviours, and collective wellbeing. After a double art major in high school and early studies in art history, architecture, and psychology, I was drawn to interior design—not simply for how things look, but for how they make people feel.

From the outset, my practice has been rooted in the conceptual, sensory, and ethnographic dimensions of space—colour, materiality, spatial flow, and emotional resonance. Trained in architectural interior design and strategic business marketing, I have since built a career that bridges design, research, and leadership—spanning APAC, the Middle East, and Europe. From inner-city Melbourne to remote Australia, from Doha to London to Munich, design became my language for belonging—and my tool for helping others feel at home in their spaces, brands, and lives.

Over the years, my work has expanded across interior architecture, styling, retail and branded environments, creative direction, and spatial wellbeing strategy. I’ve consulted for design studios within the A&D sectors, contributed to editorial, nominated for a creative leadership pilot programme, led medical technology strategy units, leveraged brands globally, and advised cultural institutions.

Today, through Yellow Arc & Partners, my Munich-based consultancy, I pioneer wellbeing real estate and evidence-based spatial design. My studio is driven by a belief that design has the power to regenerate human and planetary health—crafting spaces that foster belonging, resilience, and beauty.

My practice is underpinned by ongoing research into how spatial environments influence health and behaviour, supported by postgraduate study in the Master of Design Futures (MDF) at RMIT University, Specialist Certificate in Design for Health and Wellbeing at Melbourne University and Foundations in Neuroscience with Harvard Online. My prior academic foundations include a Bachelor of Built Environment in Interior Design, a Postgraduate Degree in Business Marketing, and specialist training in embodiment movement methods and creative leadership.

I am a certified WELL Practitioner, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), and an arts patron committed to advancing the dialogue between design, culture, and wellbeing. Above all, I am an advocate for empathetic, future-facing leadership—especially for women designing and leading in an era that demands both vision and care.

—Nina Dee Rattenbury