Friedo Ligthart migrated to Australia from the Netherlands in 1982, and received his Bachelor of Art in Graphic Design from Monash University in 1994. Friedo’s professional design experience spans publishing, packaging, and branding, including identity creation for various organisations. Friedo’s first position as a designer was with Designpoint, a company run by a Monash lecturer familiar with and impressed by Friedo’s student work. At Designpoint, Friedo designed books, both inside and out, for major clients including Pearson, MacMillan, Melbourne University Press and Longman.

In 1996, Friedo shifted his focus to working on the design of major identities and publications for Cato Partners, one of Melbourne's top design firms, well known for its work for Australia's largest companies, including Coles and the Commonwealth Bank. Friedo returned to the Netherlands in 1998 and created design concepts and identities for Du Bois Ording, one of the largest packaging companies in the Netherlands, then expanding into corporate identity. In 1999, at Ontwerpbureau Pheonix (Design Agency Pheonix) Friedo returned to publishing and created annual reports as well as newsletters for the ING Bank (NL).

After brief employment with The Ball Group, in July of 2000 Friedo founded his own studio, Ligthart Design. As a sole trader, Friedo ensures that, for both print and the Internet, Ligthart Design maintains market focus with simple, clean and conceptually sound design.