JONESCHIJOFF Studio Visit Februaury 2009

On a Tuesday in early February 2009, Design Droplets editor Raph Goldsworthy, armed with a voice recorder, pen and black moleskine went deep into the wilds of Footscray to chat with the founders of JONESCHIJOFF. The Melbourne based Industrial Design studio responsible for the Mantra Kitesurfing bar, the new range of equipment from Quest Audio and creating homes for the toy range Animalz; about where they came from, where they are heading and everything in between.


On a hot, muggy, overcast Tuesday I am headed out to the now converted Docklands Cotton Mills. As I drive up and down Moreland Street searching for the Cotton Mills buildings, I finally realise that the street is in fact split by the Docklands Highway.

I park the car and take a brisk walk over the Highway, dodging oncoming trucks transporting containers to the docks. I arrive at 91 Moreland Street. A sprawling mass of 1880s red brick buildings, once one of Melbourne’s biggest cotton mills, then converted to a rubber and glass factory and now a creative hub. Hidden amongst this eclectic collection of converted warehouses and factory spaces, situated on the Footscray side of Maribyrnong river, Carl Jones and Mike Chijoff are beginning to build their two person partnership JONESCHIJOFF into what will one day become an Australian design powerhouse.



I stroll through the arched entrance. Head down a wide lane-way and discover their studio ,number 47, is off to the right. Buzzing in through a heavy iron door, then climbing several flights of rickety iron stairs (described by Carl & Mike as akin to what climbing the stairs into the death star must be like) I wander down a barren hallway to a blank unmarked door. Behind it I find the founders of one of Melbourne’s hottest up and coming design studios perched on stools at the edge of the studios kitchen bench, chatting over a couple of drinks.

The studio is quiet today. The normal hustle and bustle has not yet taken hold (they only recently moved into their new residence). I am told that the new space is more than twice the size of the old studio. It is light, airy and spacious. Although the space is well laid out as a workspace, it is not all serious at JONESCHIJOFF. One end of the studio features a table tennis table and comfortable chairs. The other, a group of desks with computers humming away. And in between, the afore mentioned kitchen, which is the heart of the place. Where I am sure many a Friday night afterwork drinks session will be held.

We sit down to get into the more serious end of my visit. As the interview unfolds it starts to become clear why these two are in the running to build Australia’s next Industrial Design consultancy powerhouse. While both Mike and Carl’s careers prior to JONESCHIJOFF and their personal approaches to design are quite different, although in many aspects similar, it is clear that they both have one common passion that unites them. The drive to create amazing products, great design and an awesome company.

Who are JONESCHIJOFF?

Carl and Mikes partnership emerged in the second year of Industrial Design at RMIT University in Melbourne, where they first began to work on commercial projects together. During their time at University JONESCHIJOFF slowly began to take shape and after being structured as a partnership for a few years, they are now incorporated as a Proprietary Limited Australian Company. Though they are a company, Mike makes it clear that it a lot more than that. Its also a friendship. “I couldn’t imagine not doing it, not having Carl to work with, doing it on my own. No way! Its sounds corny but it’s like a marriage. Someone to share the successes and failures with and all that. You really rely on each other.”

The JONESCHIJOFF philosophy is one of simplicity. “Simplicity is the ultimate thing we strive to achieve. One project we worked on, a client came to us with a prototype. It was quite complex. What we did was strip all the mechanics out, tear it back down to the simplest element and make it a one piece clip that you can, basically throw. It was a cord winder that you just threw out. We simplified the whole design.”

While in the design sense Mike and Carl strive for simplicity, in terms of their clients its a whole different game. They are not looking for just a project, A “thanks very much we’ve designed your thing now you can go away”. They are seeking to form strong relationships with their clients that allow them to “implement change from within”.

“We are really about connecting with the clients. The way that we have found the best to create impact and a sustainable design practice, was to make changes from within an organisation. We will deal with virtually any client. We would rather have a client that we can create a strong relationship with, one of trust, so we can start to implement changes from within. That way you have a lot more influence on the the product, the materials and the processes. As long as you can create or show them the benefits, then you can make significant changes.”

Prior to studying Industrial Design Carl worked in Construction Management. “That was my first course straight out of school. I completed it, got out into the building industry and sort of landed in commercial interiors. Originally as an Estimator, then as a Project Manager. I spent six years here in Australia and then a year over in the UK. I then lost my job in the UK because the company I worked for had all their eggs in one basket. It made me realise that I wasn’t exactly happy doing what I was doing, but as a hobby I was inventing things. I started looking at what sort of career that would get me into. That’s when I found industrial design, so I applied to RMIT from over in London.”

While it took Carl a while to happen upon Industrial Design, Mike “always wanted to do industrial design”. However “the year I applied the marks went up. So I actually couldn’t get into the course. I then ended up getting into Material Science. So it’s quite pertinent that what were doing now which is great.”

“After graduating I got into the steel industry as a metallurgist, quickly got out of that and into the production side of things. This led into the planning side and some management. What I realised was that everything that I did and what I enjoyed about the role was the designing. As a production planner you come in, everything is in shambles, so then your saying okay, do this, move this here, shut down this machine, ramp this up and you’re trying to manage the customer expectations versus production expectations – so essentially you’re doing design. I stared to do this continuously and that’s the element I realised I enjoyed.” After marrying and spending a period overseas, Mike and his wife “felt like we were about to buy a house, have the two point four kids and end up living the Suburban 9 – 5 life. My wife said what do you really want to do and I said industrial design and she said go for it. That was that catalyst.”

While both Carl and Mike took different paths to reach industrial design, they both had a dream of their own practice. “There was always the intention, for both of us, of setting up the practice. Carl and I get on well and I think that balance of different personalities really helps. And that we just clicked.”

It really is the different personalities that has helped to build their practice. When asked about their favorite part of the design process Carl is quick off the mark. In a very serious tone he says “The accounting”. After a slight pause, a grin spreads across his face and he continues. “I like the early stages. The brainstorming and the highly creative things. The creative process where you are actually asking questions, having a look at what the problem is and applying as many different solutions to it as possible. That’s where I am in my element.”

While Carl is really into the ideation and problem solving, Mike gets right enjoys the business side. “I actually enjoy the process of taking something to market. So the actual relationship with the client, seeing them – you know from where they started to where they ended up – them seeing the value that our design brought. At the end of the day it’s about a really happy client. It may not be literally what they foresaw but they’re ecstatic about the results.”

All about Challenges.

Although Mike and Carl both have extensive experience in Project Management and are both exceptional Designers, prior to launching JONESCHIJOFF neither were experienced in running their own business. Through the process they discovered what many designers who start their own businesses discover, that the design is really only a small part of the overall picture.

“When you start you don’t have systems in place so you try, one to do design work, two at the same time build up your systems and get proper procedures going, and three get more business in the door. The design is a small element of it and although its what you do there’s a whole back end which is the actual development of your practice, your business – accounts, contracts, legal insurance, finding studio space, finding more work, cashflow, managing outside help – consultants you get in, managing client expectations. There’s a whole range of issues.

It’s not just the design, its actually running a design business. From our perspective we are really happy to relinquish the design to someone else. We want to get the best people involved and have the best industrial designers working for us. Specialists that exceed our capabilities, because we know we’ll produce amazing work. You get the right people involved and you’ll have a great outcome. Its really about creating a business that you see in the future as compared to oh look we’re just doing this now and working on this. In that case you’re really looking at the micro. The big thing is to step back and look at the bigger picture and say how will we actually get to where we want to be. That’s the hardest part, mapping ahead and trying to work it out. But its fun. Essentially you’re still designing, its just a different problem.”



While at JONESCHIJOFF there are many challenges on the business and design sides. There are also the challenges of executing the designs, such as manufacturing difficulties. JONESCHIJOFF utilises both local and international manufacturers. For this fledgling company the challenges presented on this front are numerous. Lately on both the international and local fronts, they have been dealing with manufacturing issues. Being so early in the year they have had their run in with Chinese New Year and the Christmas period. “Nothing gets done in January because one, Australian manufacturing shuts down for the last week in December and then for at least the first two weeks of January. Then the Chinese New Year happens in the last two weeks of January.”

While for their local manufacturing they have the advantage of being able to visit directly and with ease, the Chinese manufacturers present a challenge. “Most communication is via email, Skype, texting and talking with webcam. Technical drawings are by far the most important thing when dealing with China. You need to be really detailed in your drawings and have no ambiguity, no room for error. It’s come back to our philosophy of keeping it simple, making the communication really simple as well. A photo is a great replacement for a thousand words. You can write about it, but there’s nothing like a big picture identifying the fault and all the changes that needs to be made. It’s about trying to remove any ambiguity, not just technical drawings. They send prototypes over and we take photos, mark it up on the photos, or actually put labels on the things where they’re not exactly right and send it back to them. Sometimes we arrange prototyping here to get the prototype looking perfect, exactly how it needs to be and say guys this is exactly how it should look.”

Knowledge

Since starting in University with only one client, JONESCHIJOFF has experienced rapid organic growth. “We find work mainly through word of mouth because that’s how we want to work. Because of the sort of service we provide we’re not about going out there and flogging our wares. Its about people connecting with us as much as we connect with them, it’s like our website tried to represent that by actually capturing the essence of us. The sorts of clients that we want to work with are collaborative, open minded and willing to change.”



While other industrial design studios in Melbourne, like Sprocket, work in very specific areas JONESCHIJOFF have a very broad range of clients. “We don’t have a specific market that we go for so as far as industries go, we range from the carpet industry to toys to pro-audio to soft goods. The nice thing about it is that cross pollination allows different sorts of ideas to come. When you’re working with different clients that have different challenges, rather than potentially getting stagnant by working in the same field and then starting to apply the same logic because you become too comfortable, it means you don’t get pigeon holed and develop into just a sports shoe designer or just a packaging designer.

Some of our clients are first time inventors, others larger companies. Some have used design businesses before. Some have had a good experience, some have had a bad experience. It’s really mixed. Some have used graphic designers before to sort of do industrial design work, usually packaging work. So sometimes it’s first time experience using industrial designers. We don’t have a preference as to the type of client we would work with. It’s more the attitude.”

While JONESCHIJOFF are predominantly working as consultants to other companies, there are several other aspects to their business which include their own in house range of products and their teaching. Both Carl and Mike lecture at the RMIT Industrial Design Program in Melbourne. They have run several studios and electives ranging across all four years of the degree. Being both professionals and lecturers they offer up some great advice for students.

“When you are a student it’s a matter of finding your passion. Whatever it is, pursue it, because when you do you will become successful. You will do it because you enjoy it, not because you have to. You may be industrial design taught but you might lean toward the handmade area, you’ll follow that and find that you’re actually applying the industrial design logic to what you’re doing. It gives you that edge, find how to use that edge. Find your niche, find your own style. Find what you love doing and become good at it. Then you’ll never have to work again in your life.



It’s like Brittany Veitch. I Love her work, it’s absolutely amazing. She has a totally unique style. All her toys are hand made and I love collecting her stuff because it’s just so unique and she has a real passion for it. I’m a really big believer that if you build it they will come. It’s kind of like it you follow your passion the money will take care of itself, it really will and you will become successful. It’s that passion that will build your identity, flow on from there and it may be a catalyst for something else.”

Carl and Mike also believe that design students are lacking in two key areas. “Business skills and project management. Even though not all students are going to be leaving to start their own practice, actually understanding what a design practice entails will go a long way to help a student going out into the work force. Essentially that is what they’re doing, they are going into a business. Be it a consultancy, freelance or in-house. It’s a business and it’s about making the design pay for itself, a return on investment. So actually understanding how design fits in the bigger scheme of things and understanding about things like invoicing. You don’t need to know the nitty gritty, but to have an understanding of business is definitely beneficial.

Being aware of the number of hours that they actually spend on a project is also something students need. Everything in the commercial world has a budget, you never have an unlimited budget. Being able to manage the time properly and achieve results within the allocated time is important. Students need to be good all rounders and I always say there’s no jobs at all in industrial design for a mediocre designer. You have to be damn good at what you’re doing. You have to love it, you have to have a passion for it and you have to pursue it with as many late nights as possible to get it.”

While they have an excellent selection of clients and exciting projects to work on with the consultancy side, JONESCHIJOFF is also busy developing its own product range. “We’ve got our consulting side, but we’re also got our in-house projects and that’s developing essentially our own range and Intellectual Property.” This range includes three extreme sports products for the US and European markets.  All three of these innovations are “in quite early stages. One’s in the patenting stage at the moment. From our perspective these are products that we could just manufacture and distribute. But we have a different model to that. Essentially we develop the innovation and then we pair that innovation, through licensing, with carefully selected partners.” Another innovation recently conceived and designed by Carl is the worlds first rackless pannier bag (Done for Knog prior to the formation of JONESCHIJOFF), which has just entered the market. It is something that Carl is particularly proud of. “One of my favourite projects is my pannier bag, which I did back in 2006, it was released at the end of 2008. So it’s good to finally see some people riding around the streets with them.”

From all that Mike and Carl have said during the course of the interview it is clear that JONESCHIJOFF are certainly pushing the boundaries as a design consultancy. As I wrap up the interview, head out the door, back down the ‘death star stairs’ and make my way out of the Cotton Mills it coccurs to me that in many ways JONESCHIJOFF is a lot like its founders. On one hand a seasoned professional and on the other a new fledgling that is just beginning to soar. Through this unusual combination, their clear vision for the company, their sheer passion and determination, they are definitely on the path toward becoming a force to be reckoned with in the Australian Industrial Design consultancy scene.


To check out the JONESCHIJOFF Website, click here.

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