Design Droplets » Designer Q&A

Sonny Lim Designer Q&A

Raph Goldsworthy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:30:29 +0000

Sonny Lim, Senior Designer at BMW Group DesignworksUSA Singapore, shares his thoughts and advice on the role of a senior designer, working in-house versus working for a consultancy, working across multiple offices, the state of design in Singapore and much more.

1. Sonny, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to chat, could you please give a quick introduction on yourself. (about a paragraph).

My heritage is probably the most interesting thing about me. My parents are originally from Singapore & Malaysia but moved to The Netherlands a long time ago. I was born and raised there so my native language is actually Dutch! That was just pure luck because The Netherlands is an amazing country for designers. Great design community, lots of talent and very self-critical. After graduating from TU Delft and working in Germany for a couple of years, I got the chance to move to Singapore for my current job. It is funny how working as a designer brought me full circle and back to my roots.

2. You are currently a Senior Designer at BMW Group DesignworksUSA in Singapore, can you tell us a bit about BMW Group DesignworksUSA?

There are around 135 people working for BMW Group DesignworksUSA, spread over three studios in LA, Munich and Singapore. Obviously we do many projects for our mother company which includes BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. We also work with a lot of external clients and design everything from consumer electronics to aircraft interiors and yachts. However, as a Strategic Design consultancy we can do so much more than just designing beautiful distinctive products.

We can show other companies how to define their entire product range in order to stand out, how to create new innovative products & services, how to become a design leader, how to be more sustainable and so on. It is much more holistic and mature approach towards design.

You have to look very closely at the world around you. A good analogy would be an architect who creates a city wide master plan rather than designing just one building. Or a graphic designer creating a complete corporate identity and not just a logo. The impact of strategic design on a company is much larger and more permanent.

Personally I think this approach and project mix makes it one of the most exciting design consultancies in the world. And we definitely have the longest name.

3. As Senior Designer, what are your roles and responsibilities, as oppose to the roles and responsibilities of someone who is a ‘designer’?

A Senior Designer takes the creative lead in a project. In other words he pulls and steers the less experienced designers while still creating designs himself. He is also the go-to-guy for any questions, feedback and to get things done. There is a fair amount of project management involved too: reviewing designs, planning, filtering information for the team, translating client/engineering/marketing/vendor feedback to relevant designs and so on. It is really like keeping a lot of balls in the air while trying to be a designer at the same time.

I enjoy the multiple roles and responsibilities and it keeps things interesting. It is very satisfying to guide a design team so they create great ideas as opposed to just focusing on your own work. When I started working I wanted to leave my mark in the design world and get exciting products out on the market. But after having done that for a couple of years, I felt a need to grow creatively. It is only natural that more experienced designers want to take more project responsibility too.

4. You have worked for companies in-house (Sony Ericsson and Adidas) and you now work for a consultancy, can you tell us a bit about the difference between working in-house and in a consultancy? How much of a difference is there in areas like workflows and methodologies?

Working as an in-house designer you usually work on one kind of product and experience everything from the first sketch to production. You really become a design specialist in that particular field. Your daily work is focused on creating the best product possible. As a consequence you learn a lot about designing a real product and the realities of mass-production. You also work closely together with other disciplines like marketing, engineers and developers. You learn how to listen to others and when to fight for your design. I think in-house design departments are great places to start your career. There is enough time and resources to develop your skills. Lots of opportunities to gain experience and to get an idea how big companies work.

On the other hand, a designer can experience many different projects and clients in a design consultancy. It could be a car interior design one week and a context research project the next. BMW Group DesignworksUSA tries to let designers work on as many different kinds of projects as possible. Cross fertilisation of skills and flexibility of mind are key to innovation and creativity. Usually there is less time for a project and deadlines are tight. You learn how to focus on the most important aspects and use creativity tools effectively to generate maximum results in the available time.

5. One of the key requirements in any design project for an established brand is designing the product to fit within that brand (its history, its current state and its vision for the future). When designing for a particular brand, as oppose to designing for a new brand or for no brand, what do designers need to take into account?

The designers need to have a deep understanding how the brand works, what the brand thinks is important, how they want to present themselves. In short: their brand values. More than often brands tend to describe themselves in relatively general terms like high-quality or innovative. It is part of our job to find out how these values translate into a tangible design. How to show a particular quality or value in a product is a creative process too and an essential skill when working with established brands.

6. BMW Group DesignworksUSA is an international team with offices across the globe, what does this mean for designers at the project level?

On a project level it means that every designer can tap into a vast pool of knowledge and experience from the entire company. Sometimes we get up a bit earlier or stay longer in the office so we can talk to the other teams in LA or Munich and share our thoughts. In the Singapore studio everybody is fluent in two or more languages and has worked around the world. That helps tremendously in communication and cultural sensitivity. Occasionally a designer flies to the other studio for a couple of weeks or even months to work on a project.

7. In one of the products you have designed, the Sennheiser OMX 980 earphones, you used materials extremely effectively to create a product with an aesthetic that speaks about exclusivity and luxury. In your opinion how important are the materials used in a design and do materials influence the overall success of a design?

Very important! Materials are often underused in product design. However they are only one aspect of a successful design. On the earphones we started with understanding Sennheiser’s heritage and brand, which spans more than 60 years of audio excellence. They have a simple philosophy of creating the best possible audio product and are commercially very successful. Sennheiser earphones were well built and monolithic but a little austere in their essentiality. I didn’t want to detract from any of that, but I did want to add something more in terms of recognisability. That ’something more’ had to start from the silhouette, what you see first from a distance, to then continue along the surfaces and into the smallest detail.

The idea of aiming for a distinctive silhouette is based on two things. The first is technical in nature: there are many parts that need to come together and the earphone has to be comfortable. We wanted to emphasise how ergonomics and Sennheiser’s sound expertise define both function and aesthetic elegance. We worked very hard to make the earphones as simple and light as possible. For example the OMX980 has half the amount of hinges and moving parts but is more comfortable and elegant than competitors.

The second aspect is communication: defining the ideal design symbol gives the brand incomparable strength.

Every detail, including material, is conceived with quality in mind and expresses a sense of exclusivity, but also the characteristic purity of a precious object. One of the secrets of this earphone range is surface treatment on a very small area. It is the feeling of knowing how to balance convexity and concavity, and the way light interacts with the surfaces. This is where our expertise and finesse in automotive surfacing is visible. Our earphones do not look like technical dentist’s instruments but like objects of desire.

8. Can you talk about your creative process and where you get your inspiration from?

I see design as looking for possibilities and possible futures, instead of only solving present-day problems. Products are a means of get people to behave and to feel in a particular way. Products earn their meaning in their interaction with people. The way you use a product is determined by the context for which it is designed. This context can be the world of today, tomorrow, or may lie years ahead. Future contexts demand new and different behaviours. My creative process is context-driven and I often ask myself questions like: “why does this product exist? And why does it exist in this way? What aesthetic conventions does it use? How has it evolved to be like it is?” The fun part is developing the meaning and a vision of what the product should mean to users. In essence this is the story the product should tell.

9. What are your thoughts on the current state of design in Singapore?

Singapore has a young and compact design scene. There is definitely a lot of attention for design and many people understand its value. In addition it is actively supported by initiatives like the DesignSingapore Council. The quality of design education varies quite a lot but the best design students are able to globally compete on the highest level. One of the biggest obstacles is cultural in nature. Academic achievements and grades are often perceived as more valuable than creativity and there is a lot of peer pressure on the kids to perform. Of course this attitude might lead to well-educated accountants and lawyers but rarely produces good designers. Ideally Singapore would have a design kindergarten where creativity is channeled and given a proper place.

10. Sonny, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

In Asia companies have a tendency to treat design like ketchup. It is seen as an instant and easy way to make a product look good. If companies want to gain a long-lasting competitive advantage, they need to invest time and resources to get their design management right. Deep thinking and taking the time for development lead to great design. There is no design award for speed or consumer recognition for fastest time-to-market.

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Charles Wilson Designer Q&A

Raph Goldsworthy — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:30:16 +0000

In this great to the point interview, Charles Wilson a freelance designer based in Sydney shares his thoughts on how designers should support each other, being a designer in Australia, the current state of Australian design and more. Enjoy.

1. Charles, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to chat, could you please give a quick introduction on yourself. (about a paragraph).

Thanks Raph. I am a freelance designer based in Sydney. Most of my work has been in furniture – particularly with the Australian manufacturer, Woodmark, though I have also designed homewares and am currently working on a range of Architectural lighting.

2. You started out by forming a co-operative workshop with fellow graduates and created a collection of experimental furniture. How important is it for graduates (or even designers with quite progressed careers) to collaborate and support each other?

It can be especially valuable to exchange information and I’ve always had policy of being pretty open. If we’re not forthcoming about suppliers and technologies, brands, trade-shows, etc.it just holds everyone back. As for collaboration – that feels like a nice idea but I haven’t actually done it yet to be honest…

3. You have worked with both Australian (Woodmark, Euraluce and King Furniture) and International manufacturers (Magppie, MENU, Paustian), what differences have you noticed between working for international companies versus local companies?

I couldn’t really generalise except to say that Australia’s isolation is still, saddly, an issue in dealling with companies on the other side of the world. And though there are technologies facilitating imediate and accurate communication, it is amazing the benefits poximity has in doing business.

4. What advice would you give to those who are aiming to work with international or even local companies to produce their design?

Trust is probably the most important thing – Lack of trust has thwarted more good ideas than breach of trust. Try to avoid going in brandishing non-disclosure agreements and patents… If you’re uncertain of what your getting into, find out whether the company has worked with other independent designers before. If so that’s a good start as they would probably depend on having a reputation of treating designers well. If necessary contact one of the other designers to find out what you might expect in doing business with this company.

5. You have been awarded quite a few awards over the years, what affect has this type of recognition had on your career? And what advice do you have for others planning on entering design competitions and awards?

Well I haven’t stopped entering these competitions so my advice would be: Don’t try and be too original – judges generally prefer to play it safe. And best not worry too much about presentation – your idea is probably brilliant enough to be represented in just a few lines. Oh and if the deadline is too punishing, get some rest so that you stay fresh – clarity is important and they’re sure to slip you in a week or so late.

6. You have had a fair amount of press for your work. Apart from the obvious (producing awesome design work), what else do you think designers should do to help themselves get press coverage?

We’re fortunate to have an unusually well developed design media industry in Australia and practically every design publication here is keen to keep abreast of new designs and new talents. My advice is just to email them and follow up with a phone call. And another after that…. and…another.

Otherwise exhibitions and competitions have their own publicity machines so this can be a great way to introduce new work.

7. What are your thoughts on the current state of the Australian design scene?

Something that seems distinctive to the Australian scene is a pronounced and often hostile division between mainstream market-driven design, and that which is informed by a personal, creative expression. I think this divide is naive and unhelpful, and interestingly it is less pronounced in other mature design cultures such as the Danish and Italian scenes. Perhaps this is changing in Australia though – some of the younger design studios are mixing up client/market-responsive design with their own directional work.

8. What has been the biggest challenge associated with creating, promoting and selling yourself and your designs?

I’d have to say persisting in the face of rejections or derailments. Some of the work that I’m most proud of – designs with a real innovation in there function and use – I’ve had the most difficulty finding manufacturing partners for.

Charles, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here a Design Droplets.

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Interview with Pip Jamieson of The Loop

Raph Goldsworthy — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:00:17 +0000

The Loop is the new kid on the block in the online portfolio hosting space in Australia. It also gives companies searching for creative talent some innovative new ways to search. I recently interviewed The Loop co-founder Pip Jamieson to find out more about this fantastic new site, chat about taking the entrepreneurial leap, what creatives can do to market themselves or to land that dream job, plus lots more. I hope you enjoy the interview and take the time to visit The Loop.

1. Pip, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to chat, could you please give a quick introduction on yourself.

Yeah sure. After years of working in media for fantastic brands like MTV and the Brit Awards I recently took the entrepreneurial plunge and launched an online creative portfolio site call The Loop. We’ve been live for just over two months and the sites community is already well over 2000, with traffic doubling week on week. I must admit I still can’t quiet believe how fast it’s taken off.

2. You are one of the founders of The Loop, a brand spanking new site for connecting creative people, companies and jobs. What inspired you and your business partner Matt to start The Loop?

Both me and my partner in crime, Matt, used to work at MTV; Matt in Digital and me in marketing. The idea for The Loop was born out of my frustration in finding fresh creative talent – we were overly dependent on word of mouth and incredible people were slipping through the net.

On the flip side Matt, being the digital guy, was constantly being asked by other creatives for advice on the best way to build their own websites to showcase their work online and promote themselves to potential employers and clients.

We brought these two frustrations together and The Loop was born.

3. What value does The Loop provide to creatives that they can’t get by using sites like Behance.net, Coroflot, Carbonmade etc?

I’m actually a massive fan of international portfolio sites like Behance, Coroflot, Carbonmade etc. They’re great places to showcase creative work, facilitate collaboration and networking. However, what they all lack is connectivity to local employers and local job opportunities, which is the core aim of The Loop. We wanted to provide a platform that not only allows people to showcase their creative work online, and connect with other creatives, but also puts that work directly in front of local employers and clients, with the eventual aim of securing our users that dream job.

Unlike international sites Australian companies can also create profiles on The Loop and showcase their work to the creative community. People can easily search and identify that perfect company to work for. You can search anything from industry to location right down to whether they have a dog-friendly office or flexible working hours. In the end it’s all about improving connectivity in the Australian creative industry.

4. There’s a sea of creative portfolios on The Loop and across the web on many other sites. What advice would you give to creatives to make sure they can grab employers attention amongst this vast sea of creative work?

It an obvious one but keeping your portfolio current and relevant is key. It’s hard as creatives are notoriously overworked so finding the time to keep portfolios up-to-date can be difficult. I guess that’s one of the reasons we launched The Loop. We wanted to create a place where it was quick and easy for the time poor creative to upload new content with minimal hassle. Gone are the days when you had to update a physical portfolio and send out endless cvs and showreels; it’s all there on the site being viewed by potential employers on a daily basis.

I think another trick is to keep your portfolio professional but also approachable. While great content speaks volumes employers are also trying to identify if you’d be a good fit for their company. So writing a good bio and cv can put you ahead of the game.

Finally taking the time to work on personal creative projects that are a good reflection of your skills and the type of work you want to be doing is always a good idea. Unless you are one of the few creatives that has complete creative license over your work, including personal projects in your portfolio – and if you are I salute you – it’s a great way of showing what you are capable of and securing those jobs you want, not those jobs you need.

5. While networking and self-marketing online can be highly effective, what ways do you believe creatives should be networking and self-marketing offline?

While The Loop is a great way to showcase your work, build a contact list, apply for jobs and market yourself, it’s only part of the puzzle. Nothing beats face-to-face networking. Attending industry events like Agideas and Semi Permanent are a fantastic way to meet a tonne of like-minded people and companies, but they can be a bit pricey. Saying that some of the best contacts I’ve ever made is getting on the beers after an industry event, made the ticket price well worth it.

Doing short courses like those offered by AWARD, are great for building contacts and up-skilling at the same time. You can also join networking groups, there are a tonne of them out there, while getting out and about to creative events is a good way to build your profile.

We’ll shortly be introducing new functionality on The Loop that will allow users to set up their own networking groups and events – eventually I want The Loop to become a community both online and off.

6.The various creative industries are highly competitive areas, what practical advice would you give to creatives who are chasing a dream job with a particular employer?

Before you even start chasing and applying for that dream job make sure you have all your ducks in a row. A kick ass current portfolio, a well-written cv (tailored for the employer), some great references up your sleeve and some research on the company is a must. That way when you apply for the job your already leagues ahead of the pack.

If the company you want to work for isn’t currently advertising then taking the initiative and contacting them direct is a great way to go. Chat to whoever’s responsible for HR, try and get a meeting, send them a link to your portfolio and cv and ask them to contact you if an appropriate job comes available. This is actually how my business partner Matt got a job at MTV. He approached them direct and six months latter he got a call back, magic. That’s the great thing about online portfolio and cv sites, they’re always current so when a job does come up an employer has instant access to current skills and projects.

Something unique on The Loop, that we introduced specifically to ensure people don’t miss out on that dream job opportunity, is “Company Alerts”. For example if you’re desperate to work for a company on The Loop – and there are a heap of good ones: Frost Design, Moon Communications, Discovery, MTV, Animal Logic and loads more – and they’re not currently advertising jobs, you can set up a job alert for that company. That way when that company advertisers a job you’ll be the first to know.

7. From an employers point of view, how has the web changed the way companies source and recruit creative talent? What are the pros and cons of this level of accessibility to creatives through sites like The Loop?

Historically Word-of-Mouth has dominated as the key way of securing creative talent. Something like 90% of creative jobs never get advertised and some incredibly talented individuals are not getting their foot in the door because they didn’t go the right university or they don’t have a mate or a relative that works at a great company.

The web is starting to change this. The introduction of online jobs boards like Seek, gave companies a cheaper platform to advertise jobs and recruit talent so increased the amount of positions advertised, but mainly for more corporate jobs like accounting, engineering etc.

For creative positions it’s slightly harder as the convention applications process and specifically the traditional cv doesn’t cut it. Employers need to see portfolios and the time involved with collating and reviewing portfolios has meant word-of-mouth is still dominating.

The Loop will hopefully change all this by giving employer an affordable and time efficient platform that they can use to search for and identify perfect candidates, with the aim of increasing the amount of jobs advertised in creative fields. That’s the plan, and it looks like it’s working with employers already advertising jobs that wouldn’t have normally advertised.

8.You have come from a corporate environment and now taken the leap to be an entrepreneur by starting The Loop. What were/are the biggest challenges in taking this leap?

The hardest part was making the leap and resigning from jobs we both loved to start the site. We knew we’d have to do without a salary for over a year while we developed and launch the site while at the same time sinking our entire life savings into the project. I can’t tell you how scary that is! Especially as we resigned at the start of the GFC and job advertising revenue was plummeting. Everyone thought we where nuts, and there where moments we did too!

But to be honest it’s the best decision we’ve ever made. I now get emails all the time from users who have found work through the site, I can’t tell you how amazing that feels, to know not only is the site up and running, but it’s working – people were getting jobs! It makes the months of eating canned tuna kinda worth it!

9. What are your thoughts on the current state of creative industries within Australia?

The Australian creative industry is going from strength to strength. Growth is outstripping most other industries and we have more and more students graduating in creative minded subjects than ever before. But with this growth comes a greater amount of competition, both locally and internationally. It’s becoming increasingly important to develop networking and marketing skills to ensure you keep developing your skills and seize opportunities.

10. Pip, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

The sites now been live for just over two months, and I pinch myself daily on how well it’s all going! We’re about to roll out a whole heap of new functionality; like messages boards, allowing people to follow other peoples ‘ work, appreciate that work and make comments etc. However, it’s still really early days so if you’re readers have any suggestions or feedback on ways we can improve the site we’d love to hear from them. Just email me direct at pip.jamieson [@] theloop.com.au.

Oh and cheers for the interview Raph, I really enjoyed it!

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Mac Funamizu Designer Q&A

Raph Goldsworthy — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:44:48 +0000

While you may not know Mac Funamizu by name you will probably know his work including the redot winning ‘Future of Internet Search: Mobile version’ concept. Although Mac is not a professionally trained product designer, he is already making waves in the design world, amongst both design fans and professional designers with his fun designs that inspire and mesmerise. In this interview Mac shared his story with us. I hope you enjoy this interview.

1. Mac, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to chat, could you please give a quick introduction on yourself. (about a paragraph).

Hello. Thank you very much for inviting me. I’m honored to be here. I’m Mac Funamizu. I started my career as an English teacher and translator. Back then, I had the chance to discover how important face-to-face communication is. I found it vital to convey the most important information in an efficient manner because people can only pay attention for a limited period of time, especially kids. To get people to understand, you have to improve your presentation skills: what words should be used at what point, in what way, at what speed, how loudly/softly, what should be drawn on a white board, etc. etc. Thanks to all that experience, my communication skills had been improved greatly. I’ve liked English since I was a kid and at university I majored English so I enjoyed seeing my students improve their English. I’d always wished I could help people with the communication skills I acquired, so I was really happy.

One day the school where I was teaching had to make a website and I happened to be in charge of it just because I knew a little about computers. I had no idea what to do, so I bought books and learned after work. Finally I made one with very simple HTML and CSS, which everyone said they loved very much. Then I realized that I could help people that way, too. Communication is not only done by talking face-to-face, but by designing something! Then again I picked up book after book at bookstores and read about web design, typography, color scheme, grid systems, CSS, motion design and studied graphic design applications. After I renewed the school’s website a few times and made some other sites, I decided to do this for a living, so I changed my career to design and became a designer in 2005.

Since then design has become everything to me, which is pretty rare as it is unusual for me to stick to one thing. I usually start and quit things very often.

2. You started off your professional career as a teacher and interpreter, what made you want to become a designer?

Oops, I’ve already mentioned it above.

3. You are an avid creator of concept gadgets, can you tell us about where you get your inspiration?

Whenever I feel that something is inconvenient, I try to figure out a way to solve the problem and jot it down on my sketchbook (Moleskine).

When I don’t have any good ideas on the spot, pretty often I hit upon a wonderful idea sometime later. The secret of this is that you have to work really hard, at least once, to rack your brain for an idea. That way your brain remembers it somehow and keeps working even when you’re doing other things, just like your computer downloading something in the background while working on a Word document. Most of the time I come up with a new idea on a crowded train on my way to work. Another thing I’ve started to find is that the more you’re experienced in designing, the less you work on a computer. The desktop is where I finish work (and get inspired seeing other designers’ works).

Another thing I try to do is to think, play, draw and do things like a child. Kids are geniuses when it comes to having fun even when they’re dealing with something serious. Whatever I do, I try to enjoy myself or to find a way to enjoy myself as much as I can.

4. Can you share the process you go through to create your gadget concepts?

What would you like for example? The looking glass? I don’t remember exactly, but I thought of it was when I was walking in a crowded station (Shinjuku station) and trying to find the signage of a building or something. If you have never been there, you might have no idea but Shinjuku station is always hectic with lots of lots of people and signals. I was then wondering if there was a good way to find just the right information I needed. What if I look through a glass that whites out all unnecessary information and tells me where the sign with the word I input in the device. I thought it would be very helpful. At the same time it would be able to show you the information you find on a map right in front of your eyes. You just touch the object you see through the glass and it recognizes what you’re pointing at with the installed cameras and GPS. And I thought of many other ways to use this device later.

Another way, as I mentioned above, is to have fun. Well-thought out products will be and have already been created by other great designers. On the other hand I didn’t have proper design education (although I want to some time), so I believe the only way I can survive is to make something more fun than any other designer. I always try to make something as 10 times as fun as an ordinary item.

5. In 2009 you won a red dot award for your ‘Future of Internet Search: Mobile version’ concept, this largely happened through the
concept being picked up by the online design community. What tips can you share on how designers can effectively use the web to promote
themselves?

I wrote about this concept on my blog, but the reason I started sharing my designs is to brush up my design skills. Getting my designs exposed to the world, I wanted to know what people think about them. I’m doing it just for fun and am not trying to earn any money out of it. By showing what you’ve got, your skills must be improved if you keep doing it for some time.

To promote myself, I used social networking services like Flickr, Behance Network, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter and a lot of other services (for free). Whenever I find a designer who has great works, I comment on them and try to get in touch with them, asking for advice.

6. Many of your concepts are fun, how important is it to have fun when coming up with design concepts?

Fun design is my raison d’etre. Making something fun and useful at the same time is the biggest strength. I have no design education so there’s no use no matter how much I envy young, talented designers who went to good schools, in trying to irectly compete with them. So I thought about what cannot be done by those educated people and found that by making something that people love, I could make very unique stuff that nobody else can think of. For this, I always think back my teacher experience to come up with what fun thing people would be interested in.

7. You produce some beautifully simple renderings to show off your concepts, what pieces of hardware and software do you use to create your concepts?

Hardware: I use 20 inch iMac, 12 inch Macbook Pro and a Moleskine. Software: I use Photoshop, Illustrator, Google Sketchup and Shade. Most of my design is done in my sketchbook and I use my Mac just for render the sketches into 3D objects on screen.

8. While you produce plenty of sketches and 3d renderings do you ever make physical prototypes to test your ideas? If yes, what do you use to make your prototypes?

For about a year since I started blogging, I didn’t make any prototypes, but gradually I found it necessary and started using paper, clay, cardboard and leather.

9. What are your thoughts on the current state of design in Japan?

I’m not in a position to talk about the state of design in this country, but personally I like it very much. Especially simple and beautiful designs I see these days. I don’t know why, but what gets my attention while I’m browsing websites is designs that are done by Japanese designers in many cases.

10. Mac, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

I’m now working very hard to learn to be a decent product designer and I am looking for a job. So if there’s someone who is interested, please contact me! Thank you very much. It was very nice talking.

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JooYoung Oh – Design Research Interview Part 2

Anna Lorenzetto — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:30:46 +0000

Design Droplets contributor Anna Lorenzetto recently conducted an interview with US based design researcher JooYoung Oh. JooYoung has extensive experience conducting design research for companies such as Dell, Whirlpool and Samsung.

In the following two part interview and accompanying case study JooYoung speaks about the various aspects of Design Research including data analysis and designing tools to support the process. Other discussion points include co-design and involving stakeholders in the research process. I hope you enjoy this interview and please take the time to share your thoughts on it in the comments. ~ Raph Goldsworthy, Editor.

Part One | Part Two (Now reading) | Part 3 – How to do Design Research

People are naturally judging or, discerning. What checks and balances do you have in place in your process to ensure that your influence does not affect the outcomes of the research?

At the beginning of a project the research team does a brain dump and lists their assumptions and then they go out into the field; this either verifies or refutes the assumptions made by the research team.

We also go through a rigorous data analysis once we enter all the data from interviews.

Once you have gathered information, you have all these data points from observing people; things such as their current experience, ideal solutions. Our brains cannot process all this stuff; it has to be organized, in order to see the patterns begin to emerge. We begin with our initial assumptions and then we confirm or refute these assumptions with the use of the gathered data.

The first set of analysis is to visualize the data. You have to create a visual representation of the data and by doing this you will begin to identify the patterns in the data. You check your hypothesis by going back to transcripts to stay objective.

How do you know when you have analyzed the raw data enough?

The process resembles lateral thinking by Edward De Bono. It’s a very intuitive and also a very collaborative process. First, we visualize the data so that everyone on the research team can intuitively understand the information, so that it is not one researcher’s ‘secret code’. By visualizing data, we will make sure that we immerse ourselves in the all data points including the photos, videos, quotes and artifacts from the interview so that we can debate our hypothesis. It often looks like a homicide investigation meeting with all the visuals.

The second step of analysis after visualization is to identify patterns. When the patterns arise you then ask “What does this mean?” And these usually become insight themes. We usually have many insight themes at the end of these from a week to a month’s analysis session. And at the third step, we ask ourselves what framework will best represent all the insights that we have found through sketching up diagrams.

These steps ensure that the research insights are an unbiased, pure and honest representation of the experts – the people.

I really like reading what Elisabeth B. N Sanders says when she discusses participatory design research methods and how people (users/clients) become partners (with designers/researchers) through the use of tools in a process of co-creation. How do you approach the design of tools to support the research process?

I love this topic.

The objective of tool creation is to enable people to express their current and ideal experiences and imagine the ideal solutions. When you interview a participant and try to get to their pain points and their frustrations, it’s not easy to get them to open up to a complete stranger. There are many ways of breaking the ice and I found using stimuli such as words and images help people to open up and recall their memories. When you use stimuli in the interview process it also helps the interview becomes less about the researcher and more about the participants and their stories. Another big advantage of using stimuli is that you gather visual data points as well as verbal. When you are sharing the insights, these visual stimuli can support your points.

There are stimuli for experience that assist people explain their emotions and experiences, and there are stimuli to help people explain their ideal SOLUTIONS. Designing stimuli for solutions very much resembles a reverse design process. We consider all the elements that a design team would consider when developing design solutions such as weight, size, proportion, color, material, shape, interaction, icons, the mechanism, information…etc. Once we make a list of all the elements, we find possible solutions for each element. Then, participants will use these multisensory stimuli to build their ideal solutions. The stimuli are often up to 100 things that represent an aspect of [the] solution. We tell the participants that anything is possible and to feel free to explore and pick things that they like, to paint the picture of their ideal solutions.

Do you think participatory design research can ever answer every question? Do you find this frustrating and does it ever concern you that within the process something fundamental may be missed?

No, not at all. Participatory design research can only answer part of your question and it always needs to be accompanied by observation and trend research so that you can have the complete picture.

What is the typical or optimum size of a sample?

This depends on the market, its segment, and the constraints of budget. I’d say if you have a few segments try to talk to at least 5 people per segment for analysis. I’ve done 5 to 100 sample qualitative research, yet prefer about 15-20 for its manageability. I’d say even if you only have 5 in the sample, it is better than nothing.

What do you find personally compelling about design research? What scope beyond traditional product and service outcomes, can you see where participatory design research can make a contribution?

I sometimes feel like I am a forensic scientist investigating a case. I love going through people’s houses and see what they have in their refrigerators. It is fascinating that everybody has an interesting story and I get to take a good peek at it.

Design research can be used anywhere that requires an understanding of people’s dreams and desires. It does not have to be for money making organizations it can be used within NPOs; it could go back to where it comes from, psychology and psychoanalysis. Another thing I really like to do, is use it in trends forecasting and analysis.

I’ve been working with a nonprofit political activist group called Not An Alternative. One of the projects we’ve done together includes a building occupation event in 2008 for a homeless group. You can see the case study on the Not An Alternative website. I’ve also participated in a lecture series organized by NAA in the fall of 2009; Part of Symbols, Branding and Persuasion: an Art and Politics Presentation Series. I gave a lecture and led a workshop for political activists, about techniques used to brand the ideal experience.

How do you expect design research and design as practices to evolve in the future? What type of future market place would you like to see?

I think that the tools design researchers develop and use can easily be used by anybody doing interviews; teachers trying to open up troubled kids, and even in psycho therapy sessions. I can see the tools used to predict the future trend. I sometimes day dream about traveling around the world interviewing designers and thinkers using participatory tools to gather their vision of the future. How [much] fun would this be?

I’d also love to see more collaboration between design researchers, designers and political activists for social change. Since we had the Art and Politics presentation at the Change You Want to See Gallery, the event organizers and I have been talking about ways to make the collaboration happen. We are brainstorming ideas around workshops that can bring activists and design researchers together.

Jooyoung Oh, thank you for your time today and all the best from Design Droplets.

If you enjoyed this interview, please take the time to share your thoughts and feedback in the comments. Next week in Part 3 of this interview Jooyoung Oh will illustrate typical scenes of the design research process.

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JooYoung Oh – Design Research Interview

Anna Lorenzetto — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:30:44 +0000

In the following two part interview and soon to be accompanying case study JooYoung speaks about the various aspects of Design Research including a definition, it’s benefits and the utilisation of stimuli in the research process. Other discussion points include co-designing, involving stakeholders in the research process and JooYoung speaking about her design practice. I hope you enjoy this interview and please take the time to share your thoughts on it in the comments. ~ Raph Goldsworthy, Editor.

Part One (Now reading) | Part Two | Part 3 – How to do Design Research

Jooyoung Oh, welcome to Design Droplets and thank you for speaking with us today. You are a design researcher who has experience conducting research for companies such as Dell, Whirlpool and Samsung to name a few. I am sure most people involved in design today, have heard the term design research, but, pretend that we haven’t and tell us what design research is about, and the benefits that can come from undertaking the process.

Well, if you view Wikipedia, you won’t find the precise meaning of the term; in fact you won’t find a complete definition anywhere because this is an area that has evolved in the last 30 years, and is still evolving. Basically, it is about getting to the core of people’s dreams and desires in order to acquire an informed view point for product development. Market researchers have been doing this for a while, but design research is differentiated from market research, because we focus on people and their experiences rather than the business side of it – I don’t like using the term users – people [is a better term]. At its core, this is really what design research is all about. Treating people as individuals that exist and experience through their lives, whether they use your product or not.

In design research, numbers and ranking are not as important as meaning behind those numbers. Numbers and rankings can’t tell you why people say what they say, or why people do the things they do. Because numbers can’t give you the insight into what people really desire, we use different methodologies to understand what [a person’s] core experience is and how it can inspire design. People are not always honest. They will tell you what they think you want to hear.

To be able to understand their underlying motivations and their desires, you need the qualitative information. We often do a combination of quantitative and qualitative research. We do qualitative observations and verify [these] through quantitative information. As a design researcher you have to be able to help designers understand what exactly needs to be done.

What are some of the benefits of design research? I guess the ultimate benefit is about the bottom line; what are some of the other benefits?

To be honest, I am a big fan of not relying on making purchases from corporations for various reasons, yet it is pretty much impossible to live a life in today’s world without purchasing a product from corporations. If people have to continue to buy things every day, then it is better for companies to respond with products that are appropriate to our life; there are ways that we can make this whole system work better for all.

So, for example, if we look at moms and diapers, a lot of environmentally conscious moms are reluctant to purchase diapers as a lot of it goes directly to landfill. If companies understand this and come up with diapers that are more appropriate and better for the environment, the company will increase profits [and] the consumer will be happy purchasing their products as well.

This is all good, but, if you stop at the point of mere improvement, you won’t stand out in the world of millions of products. Instead of merely providing better products, design research provides the power of imagining what has never been thought of. This is called the ideal experience. Instead of telling designers what to design we study why the design attributes have to be a certain way. We study underlying desires and how it translates into design attributes. It’s not just about coming up with amazing insights, but also, how to make these insights useful to multiple stakeholders.

Elizabeth Sanders discusses the evolution of product design as having gone from being a features based to a needs based process. Tell us about this.

It’s natural for companies to shift from a functional to an aspirational focus. Differentiating with features and functions doesn’t help you stand out in the market anymore. You cannot invent another mouse trap and expect to succeed. You have to differentiate yourself by creating emotional connections with your target audience. For example, MP3 players all play music and you can endlessly add functions yet the most successful MP3 players are not the ones that have the most features; they all work equally well. Products that are able to steal our hearts are going to stay and people will come back to you over and over.

This then becomes distilling the aspirational into business strategy. Does this mean that research teams will include people from the client company?

Absolutely. Sometimes I would take employees from the client company and I would train them in the steps we were going to take in the research process. If people don’t understand the process or see the value of the insights we discover, they will not act on the research findings. Chances are that you are going to produce reports that nobody cares about.

I witnessed that a lot of my clients who were involved from the very beginning until the end, including methodology development, field interviews and data analysis, were more likely to carry the insights through the whole product development process.

In your description of your design research practice you say that the focus is upon the ‘translation of ideal experience into attributes and ideal solutions (insight translation). Could you explain what you mean by this?

Whatever methodology you use, you want to be able to deliver the insights to the people coming up with the product in a ‘feelable’ form. Sometimes all this amazing data gets lost because it’s in a wordy report format. Insights should be delivered in an experiential form through which people can experience how their target audience feel and think.

The representation of insights and information is extremely important. It should be easy to digest and multisensory. To be able to achieve this, I start designing the research tools [to be] multisensory and experiential. When we provide participants tools that are already experiential and multisensory you have less work to do to represent insights in such a format.

Would you call your practice method a co-designing approach to design research? What are the major differences between user-centered and co-designing approaches to design research?

People mix the two terms all the time. When I use the term co-creation, designers often misinterpret it and think, “Oh, you think regular people can do our job”.

In the co-creation process, designers are still the [design] experts, yet we acknowledge that people are experts of their own experience. One cannot exist without the other. We do encourage non-designers to be creative and express their ideal experience and solutions during the interview process but we never use this information as it is. We turn the information into design cues and principals to feed the design process later.

Do you think that a user-centered approach (where the user is observed by an expert) is vulnerable to a less objective analysis and synthesis of the data compared with data from a participatory approach? How does co-designing avoid this?

You can’t just do co-creation exercises without observation or contextual research. For example, when we were conducting mobile phone research in Latin America, the co-creation exercise was always combined with contextual understanding coming from being there in the participants’ own environment.

A lot of valuable information comes from inserting yourself into the participant’s life. One should always follow Do-Say-Make. Observe what people DO, listen to what they SAY and give them tools to MAKE things that represent their ideal experiences and solutions. Depending on your subject matter, you may plan your approaches. For example, if you are trying to help a company create a new surgical tool, you may want to start with days of observation followed by a co-creation exercise in order to gain knowledge around the particular situation that you are unfamiliar with.

If you enjoyed this interview, please take the time to share your thoughts and feedback in the comments. Next week, Part 2 of this interview with Jooyoung Oh

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Ben McCarthy Designer Q&A

Raph Goldsworthy — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:30:54 +0000

Ben McCarthy is a Sydney born and raised Industrial Designer who currently lives and works (employed by Michael Young Studio) in Hong Kong. In this interview Ben talks about his past and present projects, transitioning his design practice to Hong Kong, design in Hong Kong and writing for Design Magazines. Ben is also the vocalist/guitarist in the band Poubelle International who will be releasing their debut CD on Feb 26 in Hong Kong (be sure to check out their quirky, but very cool video clip).

1. Ben, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk, could you please give a quick introduction on yourself.

I design stuff they make in factories = industrial design. I operate between engineering and marketing, flirting with both. I’m employed by Michael Young Studio in Hong Kong, and I do my own design projects when ever possible outside that. I travel a lot. And I design more than I have to! I have a band called Poubelle International, and we’re launching our first CD next month. The band was started by three designers.

2. Can you tell me about your latest projects and focus?

My latest project was a study of contrasts between Asia and Europe. I spent 4 months of 2009 in Milan, italy, so the project was inspired by the historic artisan culture of italy, vs the technological, albeit unemotional, powerhouse of china. I guess you can say this is my focus of late, showing that there is some fantasic quality coming out of china, its not all toys and PCV pants. The perception is changing.

3. What is the typical process you go through to create your designs and products?

I sit in the bath, hot tub, ocean, lake or swimming pool (where avaibale) and I think hard about it for hours without drawing a thing. Then I drink beer, and play guitar for a while, and generally a solution comes when I’m not paying attention.. Then I hit the computer pretty hard. I’m fairly handy with the 3D work and can resolve the details to direct the factory. I do a lot of renderings to get people excited, and resolve the files for engineers to follow.

But every project is different. The watch was something I helped put together from the start, having a design in mind, a factory, and friends with a brand. The lamp was also self initiated, but was more of an artistic statement than a marketable goal, while my projects for Go Home have been responses to specific briefs.

4. You have exhibited in a range of exhibitions around the world, what essential things do designers exhibiting overseas need to consider?

There’s always a reason not to go. Consider that! And just do it. I’ve met some great friends exhibiting overseas, not just within the industry, if the opportunity is there to exhibit anywhere, I’ll take it.

5. You are currently based in Hong Kong, from a design practice and career perspective what impact has this had? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being located in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong has access to manufacturing that is not avaible anywhere else in the world, ie, The watch project would not have happened from any other city. I had the design, worked directly with the factory, and Workshopped produced it. It was nice to pull a project together like that – its why I came here. The role of the designer is getting bigger, its no longer enough for a designer to sit at home drawing sofa’s and send them to B&B hoping for a 2% royalty. There are many other ways designers can add value to the production and marketing process.

6. How easy or hard was it to transition your design practice to Hong Kong?

Hong Kong is a great city, the British made this place more cosmopolitan than any other asian city – but it’s the access to production that makes it attractive. Its an easy city to live in, so it was an easy city to move to. English is fine, tax is low, food is great, people are friendly on the whole, it’s a productive town, like London, or New York or Milan, people move here to get things done, not talk about it. So moving here was actually a lot easier than I suspected. I think because of the British history, expats are part of the local vernacular more so than other asian cities. For instance, I think if I’d moved to Tokyo, it would take decades before I would feel party of the culture, community etc.

7. What are your thoughts on the current state of the design scene in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong’s design scene is not its strength, its production scene is its biggest asset, and is what draws other design studios to HK. There are some great designers working out of HK, and even large studios overseas with smaller offices here. This fuels some kind of ‘scene’ but its hardly east london. The benefit is the ability to quickly turn ideas around into realities with less bullshit.

8. You have worked for various design studios and manufacturers, what are your thoughts on managing the designer, manufacturer relationship?

All business is about relationships.. possibly even all of life is all about relationships.. I’ve gone into projects without even signing contracts, just because the relationships are sound. The designer manufacturer relationship hinges on an understanding that both parties are adding value to each other. Some designers won’t help factories progress, and some factories won’t think outside the box. The most fruitful projects have been the ones that both parties trust each other and make consessions towards an innovative outcome.

9. You were indesignlive.com’s Hong Kong editor, why do you think designers should write for or contribute to printed or online publications?

I was yes. I haven’t contributed much recently as I spent 5 months abroard in 2009.. my relationship with indesignlive.com was very organic and a great experience. There’s tones of stuff to shout about here in HK, that seems innocuous to locals, but blows peoples minds in Australia. The chance for me to unearth some of these things, while developing a writing technique was something I enjoyed. I’m not a writer, but the time I spent writing for indesignlive made me look into things more deeply, with a new eyes which was healthy, I’d encourage everyone to dabble in some form of philanthropic journalisim at some point, regardless of the outcome, some times its more important to write, than for it to be read.

10. Ben, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

Urm.. no. Don’t believe the hype about the “crunchy credit” if anything, its provided new opportunities for creatives.

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Nick Rennie – Designer Q&A

Raph Goldsworthy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 23:25:38 +0000

In this interview Nick Rennie of Happy Finish Design talks about the challenges of setting up his own studio, showing work at trade shows, his inspirations and developing relationships with manufacturers.

Highlights

“I feel that by getting your work out there is the best way to promote you as a brand, and to open up the opportunity to work with manufacturers you may not have had exposure to, prior to that time”

“For me there is really only one major concern. and that is, that I believe in the company that will produce my work.”

“Australia is probably one of the worst regions in the industry to work. We have almost no manufacturing industry here, so trying to make a living is almost impossible.”

1. Nick, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, could you please give me a quick introduction on yourself.

I am a product designer specialising in furniture and lighting, based in Melbourne, Australia. I work mainly with companies based in Asia and Europe, but also collaborate with certain Australian based manufacturers as well.

2. You founded Happy Finish Design in 2001/2002, can you tell me a bit about some of the challenges of establishing your own design studio?

I guess the hardest part, was the fact that at the time there were very few local manufacturers looking to work with new designers. As a result I decided that I would try and base myself in Australia but look to work with international companies instead. Whilst good in theory this takes a lot of time, energy, but most importantly luck. I had solo exhibitions in Milan as part of salone satellite in 2002, 2003, 2004. this was very important in my development and exposure as a designer, but also extremely costly and draining

Chiku Porro

3. You show your work on the international stage via design fairs and exhibitions, what three key things do you believe designers need to consider if they are looking to show their wares at these types of events?

Firstly that once its in the public domain, its basically public property. So make sure that you are either protected or aware of the legalities involved in this. Each area of the world is different, and you may need to protect the designs in multiple areas, at great cost.

Secondly to not be afraid. I feel that by getting your work out there is the best way to promote you as a brand, and to open up the opportunity to work with manufacturers you may not have had exposure to, prior to that time.

And finally that you have to look at this as a long term project rather than a one time smash and grab. You need to invest time and money in to people and manufacturers trusting you as a designer.

Hotbed Table

4. Can you tell me a bit about the typical process you go through to create products?

It works on two levels.

Firstly as self initiated projects, which are basically ideas that pop in to my head.

Secondly if a client approaches me to design something, then I already have a brief and an end result in mind. This is much more structured and has a definitive outcome.

The process for both, are very much the same though. Once an initial idea is formed, its basically researching on the internet to make sure there is nothing similar. I find the best websites are stylepark and architonic. (These are both great databases of current products). Then its just working through the details, until I am happy with the final form. Making mockups, renderings etc, until I am ready to present

Idee Chair

5. You do a fair bit of prototyping and manufacturing of your products overseas, what are your thoughts on creating lasting and successful relationships with overseas manufacturers?

The most important part about working as a designer, are the relationships you have with the people in the industry. A design is only part of the equation. I have spent the last ten years travelling to Milan and Japan, with the main emphasis on creating and nurturing relationships within the industry. I have found that a company is more willing to collaborate with someone they trust, than an unknown entity. I guess when it comes down to it, its all about trust. And this I feel is the only thing that is important when working with someone. They trust in your ideas and originality and you trust the fact that they will produce your product to the highest standard. Initially though, there can be a leap of faith on both or one side, and this is also something to take in to consideration.

Mushroom Light

6. You sell your designs around the globe, what things do you believe designers need to consider when they are looking to export their wares?

For me there is really only one major concern. and that is, that I believe in the company that will produce my work.

Know that you may get burnt by some people, but don’t let this hold you back. the companies that I deal with, have all been fantastic.

Although there is another major problem to be aware of.. and that is the industry of design copies or rip offs… But that is just as likely to take place in Australia as any other conutry

Cubrick Storage Units

7. Which creative people are you inspired by? And why?

Locally Helen Kontouris is number one. We have travelled together for a long time now, heading to the main shows, and its fantastic to have someone in the same position as me. Our success and failures continually drive each other in. There is infact a great little community of Australian designers I find really inspirational. Adam Goodrum, Simone LeAmon, Jim Moody, Lucas Chirnside, Thomas Coward, and I bunch more I cant think of right now.

Internationally, I am lucky to have made some great friends with similar designers in japan. Jin Kuramoto, Teru Yanagihara, Yusuke Seki, Hiro Tsuboi to name a few. This is my Japanese family and their work and enthusiasm continues to inspire.

From the famous designers, Jasper Morrison, Konstantic Grcic, Sam Hecht, Naoto Fukasawa, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec and Tokujin Yoshioka,

I like simple designs, nice, clean and well thought out. I find these designers the best proponents of this style.

Spoon Daybed

8. What are your thoughts on the current state of Australian Design?

I think it is now in an incredibly healthy position. When I first went away to Milan in 2000, the only Australian designer anyone knew was Marc Newson. Now you could go to all the major manufacturers and they could name two or three more. Last year was a massive year for aus designers with major international manufacturers. The quality of work is world class, and I think the new generation is going to really make its mark.

It can however always improve.

Squash Bowl

9. What was the hardest part of getting to where you are now?

Where do I start???

Ill divide this up in to two parts.

Firstly the continual belief in that this is what im supposed to do. And sacrificing pretty much everything in the pursuit of this dream.

Secondly the financial side of things. Unfortunately, Australia is probably one of the worst regions in the industry to work. We have almost no manufacturing industry here, so trying to make a living is almost impossible. An example is that for me, the best three furniture designers based in Australia, don’t actually make a living from royalties.

Twist Bowl

10. Nick, thank you for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

Just to continually support Australian design. If you have the choice of a local or internationally designed product. try and go local.

And finally and probably most importantly buy original products, NOT inferior copies.

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Drew Smith – Designer Q&A

Raph Goldsworthy — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:00:54 +0000

Drew Smith is a design strategist, trend analyst and journalist hailing from Sydney, Australia. Drew has worked and lectured in Europe, the UK and Australia. Currently freelance, Drew writes DownSideup Design, a blog where he muses on design strategy and trends in the automotive industry. He has worked for clients such as Toyota/Lexus, Volkswagen, Kia and The Movement Design Bureau.

In this fantastic interview Drew shares his thoughts and insights on a variety of topics including the current state of the automotive industry, how designers can be more strategic and the future of design education. Enjoy and please take the time to leave your thoughts and musings in the comments.

Highlights

“The automotive industry is at a real crossroads and there’s enormous potential for positive change by thinking deeply about personal mobility and whether the car, as we currently know it, is the best solution.”

“Australians have a tendency to see design as an elitist pursuit concerned simply with the aesthetics of things.”

“It’s vital that young designers start building the networks that will allow them to tap into the best emerging practice from all over the world.”

1. Drew, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, could you please give me a quick introduction on yourself.

It all started when I was 6. There was a Porsche 928 parked across the road from the family home. After a brief conversation with my mum about whether it was a sports car or a race car, I decided a) that I was in love and b) I wanted to be involved in the car industry, whatever it took and I began drawing cars anywhere and anytime I could.

After an Industrial Design degree from UTS in Sydney and a Masters in Automotive Design from Coventry University in the UK I now work as a design strategist, primarily within the automotive industry, helping design and marketing teams better understand the cultural and technological changes that will affect their future product line-ups.

A typical project might include in-depth research into emerging social or technological trends and seeing how these will impact on the exterior or interior concept for a vehicle, benchmarking existing vehicles for perceived quality or brand relevance or analysing trends from the furniture, consumer product and automotive shows to inform and influence future concepts.

2. You currently blog your musings on design strategy and the automotive industry at DownsideUpDesign, how does blogging inform your design?

There’s two components to the interaction between my blogging and my work as a design strategist.

Firstly, to be able to blog, as you well know, one needs to be well informed, particularly when I’m talking about developing trends and how they might apply to the car industry, so I end up doing enormous amounts of reading across many different topics and media types. In that lies the very essence of how blogging informs my design strategy work: to help clients make strategic decisions about future products, I must be able to inform them of emerging social and technological trends and how they’re going to impact their customers and, by consequence, their product development cycle. Reading-to-blog helps me achieve the depth of knowledge I need to be able to assist them.

Secondly, blogging is a fantastic way to reach an audience of people who, although not necessarily working in the same industry as me, are interested in the same things I’m talking about. Because of this I can connect with these people either through comments on my posts, email or – if I’m really lucky – in person. When that happens, it’s incredibly powerful because I can very quickly test my ideas out, refine them or blend them together with the ideas of others.

3. What are your thoughts on the current and future state of the automotive industry, in terms of Design?

I think the automotive industry is at a real crossroads and there’s enormous potential for positive change by thinking deeply about personal mobility and whether the car, as we currently know it, is the best solution to all the mobility issues we face.

For a long time now I think there’s been a level of complacency within the automotive sector. Brands have capitalised on years of relatively easy success to branch out into ever-smaller niches or indulge in lazy evolution that does nothing for brand capital but allows them to turn a quick buck. The examples are manifold, Porsche and it’s Cayenne being the most well-known, but as the conditions for owning a car become more difficult I think consumers will be increasingly discerning about where they choose to spend their money. Car makers will have to work harder than ever to get mainstream customers to part with their cash so I’m hoping that this will lead to a refocusing on developing vehicles that solve more problems than they create or, perhaps more realistically, simply create less problems!

We’ve already seen the downsizing trend take hold in Europe which has seen car buyers moving down one or even two sizes of vehicle (say, from an Audi A6 to an A4 or even A2/A3). Just because down-sizers are trading down in size, however, they don’t want to lose the features or prestige of the car they’re leaving behind. Brands like Audi, BMW and VW have managed to create products that ease the transition back down through the product portfolio by making sure that their small cars look and, just as importantly, feel as good as their big ones so the sense of compromise is greatly reduced.

I don’t see the downsizing trend reversing any time soon and there were signs at the Frankfurt show that manufacturers are looking to provide even smaller products that are far better suited than the traditional car to the urban context, where over 50% of the world’s population now lives. The Renault Twizy, for example, is a 2-seater urban runabout that, to sit in, feels just like a much larger car, removing a psychological barrier to its adoption.

On the flip side, there are signs that some companies will simply squander this opportunity and continue to operate as they have been for the last 100 years. In my view, they’ll do so at their peril. One of the things that nearly brought down the Big Three (GM, Ford and Chrysler) was the stifling bureaucracy and stubbornness that ensured that when they really needed to change, and fast, they were stuck resolutely in the mud.

To that end, it’s been fascinating to watch the small start-ups like Aptera, Fisker, Local Motors and the like as they’ve adopted a much more agile approach to designing and building cars.

Local design and production is another interesting trend that I think will have legs, particularly as the financial and environmental cost of international supply chains becomes unmanageable. We’re already seeing the beginnings of this shift with Local Motors in the States and Gordon Murray’s T25 city car, which has been designed from the outset for local adaptation and production.

For me, though, the really exciting developments will look at automotive design beyond the vehicle (perhaps this is better termed mobility design). It’s my hope that we will start to develop – in earnest – integrated systems, rather than individual products, that will still permit us the freedom of the car ownership model while mitigating the social an environmental impacts that come with millions of individually owned vehicles.

4. You have worked in Europe as a Design strategist in the automotive industry, what is this Design strategy business all about? And how do you think Australian designers can be more strategic?

For me, strategic design is about integrating design at the very core of the business model. I think designers have been viewed, and indeed I think many of us have, to date, viewed ourselves as providing the end product. Anything beyond or before that is the responsibility of the market researchers, the sales and marketing team, the management team etc.

Design strategy is about taking our unique mix of problem solving skills and applying them to aspects of the business beyond simply creating a product in order to foster a holistic brand or business presence. It’s been really enjoyable to witness how the insights that I gained from the development of a product or a system can be used to develop and support a business model from start to finish.

I think the most important thing Australian designers can do is to start viewing themselves as having a fundamental role in the business of business. It’s no longer enough to view the delivery of design work as the end result. One of the quickest ways into this mind-set is to start reconciling brand values with design output, because if Apple has demonstrated anything, the strongest marketing material is the product you put into customers’ hands.

There are so many brands out there that speak one language but deliver another in their products. For brands to build strong, lasting and profitable relationships with consumers it’s imperative to remove the discord between the espoused and the experienced. I think industrial designers are amongst the best people to achieve that.

5. What do you believe the Australian design scene can learn from the European design scene or vice versa?

I think where Europe really excels is in the level of design awareness, both at an industrial level and more broadly in the public conscience.

Looking at the business side of design, there’s a far greater level of shared understanding between manufacturers and SMEs and designers and both the EU and national governments are working to improve this all the time.

While in England, I worked in a consultancy that accessed both EU and UK funding to connect designers with the manufacturing sector in the West Midlands, the once-thriving industrial heart of the UK. Because of rising labour costs and the explosion of the eastern European and Chinese manufacturing industries, you could see the lifeblood of this area draining away with each factory closure.

Working with both established designers and design students from Coventry University, we would run design interventions with these companies, helping them to see how they could take their machinery, processes and, most importantly, their invaluable knowledge and adapt them to new, more profitable product areas.

It was fantastically rewarding because, on the one hand, I witnessed the strengthening the manufacturing sector as they began to see the impact of design on the bottom line. On the other hand, students who might have been generalists on graduation learned valuable, industry specific skills.

When looking at the issue of public awareness of design, I think Australians have a tendency to see design as an elitist pursuit concerned simply with the aesthetics of things. We need to better demonstrate how design can positively impact other aspects of our existence, things like quality-of-life, the environment and the economy. We also need to better publicise design – and the Australian design industry – to encourage people to expect good design, not just be pleasantly surprised when they happen upon it. It’s not just a question of educating the public either. Our governments need to be encouraged to take a pro-design approach to the development of infrastructure projects and cultural initiatives so that design becomes an integral part of how our cities and states present themselves. The state of public design and architecture in New South Wales at the moment is such that it can make a grown man cry, despite the best efforts of Paul Keating!

What can the European scene learn from us? To communicate a sense of fun! Perhaps because there is such a strongly established, historical design conscience in Europe, there can be a creeping sense of stolidity in form, colour and material selections in European products (the mercurial Dutch aside, of course). Australian designers tend to be a little more experimental and, while not always hitting the mark entirely, there’s an authentically care-free spirit that runs through many of our products that sets them apart on the international stage.

6. What are your thoughts on the current design culture and design consciousness of Sydney?

You’d have to be a Melbournite to ask me that! Look, I’ve always used a little analogy to describe the difference between Sydney and Melbourne to the people I’m met on my travels and it goes like this:

Sydney’s the brassy, busty blonde in a sequinned Versace gown that’s slit up to here. She’s beautiful, glamorous and above all she loves to party.

Melbourne, on the other hand, is a tad more demure, a rich brunette dressed in Prada, thinking somewhat more deeply about the world around her.

Both characters, without question, have their merits. Having lived in some fairly grim European cities, Sydney’s youthful exuberance and devil-may-care attitude is so beguiling and refreshing but I sometimes wish we could be a little less light-hearted and take the business of design more seriously. That’s an area where Melbourne, in the Australian scheme of things, really excels.

I think that things will start improving for Sydney as our institutions get a handle on the importance of strategic design. Having just completed a semester of teaching at UTS, I had a great opportunity to sit and chat about the future of industrial design with my fellow lecturers along with other design professionals. The recognition of the importance of strategic design and the will to develop its practise is there, we just need to integrate it into teaching and promote it’s usefulness to industry and businesses alike.

Also, as I’ve said previously, I think Sydney also suffers from a lack of appreciation or awareness of design which means that, more often than not, we’ll accept second best. In the public realm we rely far too much on our natural assets, the bridge and the opera house!

Drew's MA thesis project, the Renault Helios, explored the integration of OLED displays into vehicle surfaces to facilitate customisation.

7. Having lectured in Europe & at UTS in Sydney, what are your thoughts on the future of Design Education?

The UK, where I previously lectured, and Australia both seem to be engaged – for better or worse – in a balancing of the economy, previously heavily dependant on manufacturing, to one increasingly built on the delivery of services. The challenge for educators is how to prepare industrial designers to productively interface with both.

We still need to teach the traditional design skills that enable the development of manufactured goods but there needs to be a greater focus on developing strategic and research skills that will enable young designers to dovetail their unique approach to problem-solving with broader business objectives. There are murmurings of a greater synergy between UTS’s Business and Design schools and this, to me, would be a really exciting development.

It also seems obvious to me that industrial design students are ideally placed to capitalise on the inexorable rise in the importance of interface design to the overall product design process. There are so many examples of great 3D design being let down by an awful 2D interface or vice versa. Students should be able to go out in to industry feeling equally at ease with both, allowing them to encourage a unified experience for the end user.

8. What key skills and traits will Australian Designers need in the future to remain relevant as China becomes increasingly focused on innovation and design as opposed to manufacturing?

Not having worked in China, or indeed with a Chinese company before, I’m hesitant to hold forth on this one but no matter where you work in the world, it’s your cross-cultural skills that will help you through the door and keep the machine of business well oiled.

When I was growing up, I was fortunate to spend some time in France and became pretty fluent in French. Despite the main language of the automotive design sector being English, having a European language to call on has broken down many barriers and allowed me to make connections that otherwise would have been lost in translation. The same will also hold true in China. I’ve also heard that understanding Chinese business etiquette is a key to success in that market, as in many ways the approach to negotiating and signing off on deals is radically different to ours.

Underpinning all of this, of course, is the need for designers to cultivate the openness, tolerance and generosity of spirit that is inherent to anyone wanting to make the world a little (or a lot) better.

9. Being geographically remote, how do you think Australian Designers can continue to remain internationally relevant and at the cutting edge of design?

As much as the internet has broken down many of the barriers that kept Australia somewhat in the dark by allowing us to stay on top of developments in design practice as they occur, there’s really no substitute for going out and gaining real-world experience in different parts of the globe.

As Australian designers, we need to take every opportunity to collaborate with designers and manufacturers in other parts of the world. In so doing we not only get to experience different approaches to design process and gain cultural insight but, in line with the answer to your previous question, we gain a better understanding of how to work cross-culturally.

Whatever way you chose to get your fix, be it a university exchange, working overseas for a couple of years or participating in shows or conferences, it’s vital that young designers start building the networks that will allow them to tap into the best emerging practice from all over the world.

Drew at work, photographing a Ford Fiesta for a design benchmarking project.

10. Drew, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

There’s always more than one way to skin a cat!

I always wanted to be the guy on the studio floor, sketching furiously day-in, day-out, but it was never going to be my bag. Thanks to some wonderfully supportive thesis supervisors, Nick Hull and Cherrie Lebbon, I saw that there were other ways to help shape the future of automotive design. Now, working as a design strategist, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Oh, and the Porsche 928 is still my favourite piece of automotive design.

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Daniel+Emma – Designer Q&A

Raph Goldsworthy — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:00:43 +0000

Daniel To and Emma Aiston (AKA Daniel+Emma) are the Adelaide based design duo who have gained notoriety in the global design community for their product collections Shapes and Solids. In this interview they share their design philosophy, talk about where they believe Australian design is headed and more. Enjoy and don’t forget to take the time to leave a comment or two sharing your thoughts on their interview.

Highlights

“We see no need in creating big bold statements, instead we would rather design things that are more humble and undemanding…”

“…as designers we should be having fun and reflect this sentiment in each piece we make.”

“Exhibiting…not only allows you to see the big companies but also meet with other young designers that you can speak to and gain information from.”

1. Daniel and Emma, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, could you please give me a quick introduction on yourselves.

We (Daniel To and Emma Aiston) met whilst studying Industrial Design at the University of South Australia. After both graduating in 2007, we spent almost 2 years gaining experience with various design studios in London (Thorsten Van Elten, Committee, Marc Newson, Philips Design). After launching our first series together ‘Shapes’ at 100% Design London last year, and then taking the same collection to show during Tokyo Design Week at 100% Design, we returned back home to Adelaide, Australia. ‘Solids’, our most recent collection was launched during London Design week this year. This collection was also shortlisted for the Bombay sapphire Design Discovery awards where we came runner up.

2. You have both worked for internationally acclaimed design houses including Marc Newson & Phillips Design, how have your experiences working for big name design houses informed your current design practice?

Where ever we have worked we gain experiences both positive and negative. Each experience has taught us different skills, some on business structure, some on how to work together as a team and some on what not to be.

Solids

3. Can you tell me about the typical process you go through to create products?

Some ideas take months and others seconds. One thing that remains constant is that we work together. It might be one of us that has an idea first but we build on this collaboratively and nurture the design until it is something we are both happy with.

4. Can you elaborate on your design philosophy of ‘just nice’ ?

This is something that every design is entitled to. We see no need in creating big bold statements, instead we would rather design things that are more humble and undemanding, things that are lovely to look at and hold, that make you smile, something that you just have not because you need it but because you want it.

Stationary Container

6. You have recently returned from 100% Design London 2009, where you launched Solids, can you tell me a bit about Solids and about your experiences at 100% Design London?

Solids is a collection of desk objects based on basic 3D shapes, which was a natural progression from our first collection, Shapes, which was based on 2D graphical forms. For us this years 100% Design was better than the previous even though it was smaller, the atmosphere was more intimate and we felt as though the whole show flowed more freely. We exhibited in the 100% Futures section that promotes emerging designers and gained many valuable contacts that we would not have made if we just showed in Australia.

6. Why do you believe designers should be taking their wares to design shows/fairs like 100% Design?

While in university we only saw what was happening in other parts of the design world through the internet and magazines. By going overseas it has given us several opportunities to really see what the design world was like beyond the glossy paper. Exhibiting at 100% Design not only allows you to see the big companies but also meet with other young designers that you can speak to and gain information from. On the other end of the scale, when you exhibit in a big hall like 100% you get to be exposed to the main design magazines and buyers from all over the world.

Rubberband Ball

7. What has been the biggest challenge creating, promoting and selling your collections Shapes and Solids?

Having no idea what to do! We are currently dealing with many aspects to being independent designers that we didn’t think we would have to tackle for a little while yet! For instance at the moment we are grappling with the idea of manufacturing ‘Solids’…and then all of the promotion and sales that will go along with it. Neither of us are particularly good at being a salesman or woman so it is all a bit out of our comfort zone.

Clock

8. What is the key skill you believe Australian designers need to focus on developing?

Original work.

Dinner Set

9. Can you share your thoughts on the current state of design in Australia?

We believe Australia is beginning to establish itself as a nation interested in design and hopefully in the next decade we can see it grow. For us to be involved in the building of a proper design community in this country is very exciting. We are very passionate about staying in Australia, especially Adelaide and working from a place that we love doing what we love!

Fan

10. Daniel and Emma, thanks for taking the time to talk with me. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

I think for us we try not to take things too seriously! We are adamant that as designers we should be having fun and reflect this sentiment in each piece we make. For us we try not to place too many expectations on the work we do, and just go along for the ride…….which at the moment is a bit like being on a rollercoaster! Our advice would be to enjoy the little things in life, and take time out to smell the roses!

Radio

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Simone LeAmon – Designer Q&A

Raph Goldsworthy — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:00:59 +0000

Simone LeAmon Portrait Photograph Tobias Titz

Simone LeAmon is a Melbourne based interdisciplinary designer who runs the O.S INITIATIVE design consultancy. Simone has worked on a diverse range of design projects including interiors, furniture, products and creative direction for Australian and international clients.

Highlights

“Someone once said to me that either; the work is the story or the story is the work. If you can see evidence of both, a project can be truly satisfying.”

“The scope for self-marketing and promotion is considerably larger now with the Web. The forums for exposing your work are multiplying all the time. This said, you still need a strategy – and you need an angle.”

“More designers should write and publish – but, it takes time to develop a line of inquiry.”

“Australian designers are under-exposed both nationally and internationally. Design festivals only achieve so much…….”

1. Simone, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, could you please give me a quick introduction on yourself.

In the first person! O.K, I’ll do my best, excuse me if I don’t sound witty – it’s been a long week.

Central to my practice is the creation of experiences. It is this capacity to move people – emotionally and mentally that draws me to design. This said, it took me several years to formalise my practice as a designer. I commenced my career in the contemporary arts studying sculpture at the VCA. This training emphasised an engagement with concepts, materiality and process. Principally, it facilitated experimentation and exploration.

This led me to the coveted studio of Susan Cohn where my training continued. From this time on my practice embraced art, craft and design dialogues and inevitably took on an interdisciplinary character. Intent on forging a career as both artist and designer I felt the need to formalise my qualifications in design receiving a masters in industrial design from RMIT University. In the ensuing years I co-founded n+1 equals studio and pursued several international projects courtesy of arts grants and studio residencies.

Inspired and encouraged by the people I met in Milan while living there (2001) I looked for engagement with design manufacturers and galleries. Since that time I have established my own design consultancy called O.S INITIATIVE and worked on a diverse range of design projects including interiors, furniture, products and creative direction. I live in Melbourne and work with Australian and international clients and when I can I go overseas to the Fairs for business.

Simone LeAmon. Lepidoptera, chair 2009. Stainless steel, automotive textiles, polyester cord and foam. 110.0 x 130.0 x 120.0cm. Photograph Sean Kelly

2. One of your more recent projects that Design Droplets readers are probably familiar with is the Lepidoptera chair, can you tell me bit about this particular project?

Someone once said to me that either; the work is the story or the story is the work. If you can see evidence of both, a project can be truly satisfying. This was my experience with Lepidoptera, produced for the Cicely and Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award at the National Gallery of Victoria in March this year. Traditionally the Rigg Award has focused on overtly creative and conceptual forms of craft and design – it isn’t about the perfection of 20th Century design philosophies. Hence, the project delivered an opportunity to practise what I enjoy most, that is; to develop a conceptual underpinning for a work and see where it leads. To this end, Lepidoptera was a journey – and when I completed the prototype I thought; mmm, you’re strange – but I really like you.

In 2008 I visited an automotive textile manufacturer on the outskirts of Melbourne. I was shown a vast collection of stillage (textile remnants) which had been developed for the interiors of Holden, Ford and Mitsubishi vehicles manufactured in Victoria over the past decade. I was intrigued and suggested to the company that I could do something with it, a couple of weeks later it was in my studio. For several months I entertained different design ideas, curiously none were furniture. When I was selected for Rigg Award I knew it I had to use it – the references to automotive, material by-product and Australian manufacturing was irresistible.

Regarding the title: Lepidoptera is the species name for butterflies, translated from Greek it means ‘scale’ and ‘wing’ thus, the chair draws on the anatomy of a butterfly’s wing to inform the lamination of the textiles and the structure. I had read earlier in the year how the concept of ’structural colour’ as evidenced in a butterfly’s wings was inspiring research in the areas of automotive paint (millions of tiny scales in layers of differing densities make the colour). Further reading into Australian butterflies and I learnt that there shifting habitats are assisting current perspectives on climate change. When pieces of information start to fall together in this way I get excited.

Simone LeAmon. Lepidoptera sketch 2009. Ink and oil pastel on paper. 30.0 x 40.0cm

3. Through out your career you have received a large amount of press for your work, apart from impressiveness of the work itself, what else do you to do make sure your projects are picked up by media and press?

I learnt the value of marketing oneself and work when I was making and exhibiting artwork in the mid 90’s. Starting out in artist-run spaces (galleries operated by artist collectives) I did all of my own marketing and promotion. I learnt from my peer group that making contact with arts writers, journalists, curators and collectors was critical to the overall success of your exhibition. A review in the paper brought relative notoriety and it assisted the development of your career. I also had a part-time job at Craft Victoria which facilitated many introductions. I graduated to writing the media releases for the Craft Victoria exhibitions and spoke to the press on a week-by-week basis, needless to say I learnt a few tricks.

The scope for self-marketing and promotion is considerably larger now with the Web. The forums for exposing your work are multiplying all the time. This said, you still need a strategy – and you need an angle. Targeting the media is essentially establishing dialogues with editors, journalists and publishers. You forward stories to people not the medium. If you pursue self-styled ‘gorilla’ marketing you still need an angle. In general, Australian designers manage the media themselves and few have any media training (this explains a lot). I can spend hours of my week responding to media requests from all around the globe. Whether responding or selling a story I understand that it is a critical aspect of my business – I live/work in an attention economy. When I catch up with my peers overseas during the Fairs they are often moaning about how much they are paying their P.R agent! It is an eye-opener to the cult of design and of personality. If you have an agent (they take a percentage of your income) manufacturers and the media assume your sought after. I would like an agent because of the time it would save me!

Simone LeAmon. I Wish, candle holders 2007. 316 Stainless steel. Dimensions variable. Photograph Tobias Titz

4. You have also written for, and been published in, various publications, how important has writing been to the progression of your design practice and of your career?

I believe it is important that designers have a voice. I recall reading essays in art school by the American artists Robert Morris and Donald Judd from the 1960s and 70s and I assumed it was part of a creative’s job. Writing was a means of spreading your ideas and ultimately promoting your brand of philosophy. I witnessed Susan Cohn write on the subjects of kitsch, technology and street jewellery and engage academics to write her catalogue essays. I began to write in the company of curating exhibitions for Craft Victoria – the texts weren’t great but they found an audience. Soon I was being approached by peers to write on their work. Young and emerging they knew how valuable it was to have someone to reflect on their work and go public with it. Only this was before the World Wide Web hence, we would send the texts to every art magazine in Australia! Few were printed.

I am accustomed to writing on my own work, the work of others and more recently on design issues in general. It can be immensely rewarding particularly when you have the opportunity to expose the wonderful work of a colleague or peer. For several terms I delivered an elective in industrial design at RMT called ‘design writing’. Many of the students who attended the elective now write for design blogs and magazines. I love reading their articles; there voices are full of enthusiasm and supported by great thinking. More designers should write and publish – but, it takes time to develop a line of inquiry. I am tired of reading mere opinion which does little more than polarise the community.

Simone LeAmon. Xeno, floor lamp 2008. Computer visualisation.

5. Can you tell me a bit about your design philosophy?

More?

O.K, lets put this in some context. I am drawn to design because it manifests in all facets of contemporary life. I am particularly fascinated how it (design) mediates all forms of capital including natural, cultural, fiscal and social.
I have always had passion for products that tell a story through process and material; I look for the narratives underpinning production techniques and materials. However, for me the most compelling aspect of design is developing a concept that communicates to the client and respective audience/market. Design is an opportunity to connect with people, listen to their needs and deliver experiences which reflect positively on society and of course the designer. Design should inspire peoples and cultures to grow, transform and look to the future.

Simone LeAmon. T-Light, table lamp 2008. Computer visualisation.

6. You currently lecture in Industrial Design at RMIT University, what are your thoughts on the current state of Australian design education?

You could drive a truck through the gaps in Design education in Australia. In my view one of the principal omissions is that there have been significant changes in the technological, economic and political landscapes – issues of sustainability, globalisation and the rapid mutation of design tools and manufacturing mean that little regard is given to these critical topics. It isn’t a reflection on the education institutions per se but more the acknowledgement of the rapidly shifting environment delivered in these three major areas. Gone are the days of mastery in one specific area. The Australian experience needs to enter the education system at some point.

Simone LeAmon. Glide, mousepad 2009. Wool felt and stainless steel. Photography Jeremy Dillon.

7. What are your thoughts on the current state of the Australian design scene?

Designers work in silos and for those designers focused on product most practice in relative isolation. This is an issue. Effort to establish a cross disciplinary dialogue and collaborative working sector is required if we wish to establish a scene comparable to other nations. The circumstance for product and industrial designers is exasperated when there is no national body or organisation. Investigations into the role of Design in local, regional and export markets need to occur to attract venture capital into the sector.

I often think that Australian (product) designers should be household names as like many Australian fashion designers. Shouldn’t we be investigating similar models to the fashion industry? What has stopped venture capital entering the sector thus far? We must remind ourselves that thriving design scenes exist in the company of healthy commercial frameworks. Australian designers are under-exposed both nationally and internationally. Design festivals only achieve so much…….

Simone LeAmon. Bodywork, female motorcycle suit 2003. Computer visualisation.

8. There are some people who would consider several pieces of your design work to fall into the realm of art, what are your thoughts on design versus art? Where is the line between the two?

It is true that people are often divided when speaking of my work – and, honestly I enjoy the conversation, practice should occur in the company of debate. Unfortunately, I find the arguments somewhat predictable these days. Once upon a time you could separate the two by means of intent, function and production but those days are long passed. The cultural and economic frames of both art and design (and craft) are shifting and many would suggest that they are morphing towards each other. We can’t afford to rest on our laurels, hybridity is reflected everywhere – in thinking, theory, science and biology so why not in production?

9. What was the hardest part of getting to where you are now?

Interestingly, it is the passage of time. It has taken longer than I anticipated to get where I am now.

10. Simone, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

Thank you – and keep up the great work!

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Designer Q&A with Ross Didier

Raph Goldsworthy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:09:50 +0000

Ross Didier is a Melbourne based designer, he runs Ross Didier Design which designs one-off pieces for architecture-specific spaces and ranges for manufacturing production for a wide array of clients. In this interview Ross shares his thoughts on dealing with manufacturers, design for manufacture versus design for one off and sustainability in the Australian furniture industry.

Highlights

“Be prepared, be very, very prepared!”

“By creating great dialogue, I have found opportunities to clearly hear what the client wants and then share my own creative philosophies to a final stage.”

“It would be good if the Australian creative scene could be packaged in some intellectual way…”

1.Ross, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, could you please give me a quick introduction to yourself.

Hi Raph. Good to meet.

Firstly, can I mention that I like your business name. An old friend of mine, that I catch up with once a year, somewhere in the world for a good old creative chin-wag, were talking of such topics of persistence and time a few months ago in London. We were discussing how signature styles develop and concepts mature over time like a dripping tap.

We were detailing this idea of filling the bath quickly where the temperature of the water was either ice cold or boiling hot and then how much energy was required to maintain these temperatures over time compared to the gradual drops of a dripping tap filling the bath at room temperature.

It was a really fascinating topic that left a morning hangover but I really like the journey of creating a body of work over time.

As for Ross Didier : a contract chameleon specialising in product design.

Tiller Chairs

2. Your business stems from family manufacturing enterprises that started out in the 1930s, can you tell us a bit about the transition from manufacture to design service?

A difficult one to define as manufacturing and design are so inter-linked and over 70 years I suppose different personality types that drive a business also carve their future course.

Dice

3. You have exhibited at design fairs including the Milan Salone Satellite and the ICFF, what types of things do designers need to consider if they want to exhibit their wares at these types of shows?

Be prepared, be very, very prepared! Exhibiting internationally is an exhilarating opportunity but very expensive.
You really need to define the agenda that you’re going for and then sometimes wait years to receive results.

Obelisk Sofa

4. What advice do you have for designers who are new to dealing with manufacturers?

I like the relationships that have developed with some manufacturers. The personal link has been the reason why projects have grown and why others have had an expiry date. I find that if the relationship takes root it can be brilliant.

Udder Chandelier

5. You hold BA degrees in Fine Art Sculpture and Industrial Design, what are your thoughts on design versus art?

Design is a conceptual sell out and Art no longer has a relevant voice! Aarrrgh, always a good battle for debate and always capable to ruffle a few feathers but I think it is an inspirational topic to keep alive. Some designers like to blend the two seamlessly and blow over the subject with irrelevance but I like to keep the differences clear.

Elfin

6. You design products for architectural and interior projects, can you tell me a bit about designing for an architectural or interior design project as oppose to designing for straight manufacture and distribution?

Designing for architectural and interior projects is approached as site specific, loaded with all the concerns for one-off practicalities and sometimes fitted installation. Product planned for factory multiples is very much designing for market positioning where choice of materials, manufacturing technique and intended market volume, all effect the final result. When designing for a site specific space the aesthetic is already directed to some degree: the building may be all glass and means that electrical wires need to be concealed from view, or an outside court yard may be very large which requires a grand sized bench to accommodate or simple form chairs are used on mass in a public seating foyer so it does not appear too busy as a single installation. Products for straight manufacture have different priorities, and I often find have a lot more of my own personality imbedded.

Connected Table

7. Two important parts of a project where you are designing for a client are, clear communication and providing support for the client, can you tell us a bit about how you go about this?

I worked in a factory once that had an old poster about making a swing. It showed a picture of what the designer conceived, what the engineer would construct, how the manufacturer would make, what the accountant thought could be afforded, what the children desired, what the council thought appropriate and then finally what the client really wanted. Now, it’s obviously not that easy but this has really stuck at the back of my mind about designing to brief. By creating great dialogue, I have found opportunities to clearly hear what the client wants and then share my own creative philosophies to a final stage.

Lush

8. What are your thoughts on sustainability in the Australian furniture industry?

An undefined area at present and a little messy in management but at least it has started and is on the radar. I look forward to the day when you can confidently specify standard product that is sustainable without question. When all timbers are responsibly plantation grown, plastics and metals have been recycled where capable, polyurethane foams replaced by alternatives, no toxic additives handled by humans and all energy gained from non-depleting sources. These are industries that can grow incredibly and the current combined efforts between scientists, manufactures, inventors and designers are creating a new Renaissance.

Bombala

9. Which up and coming Australian designers do you think people should be watching and why?

I see new designers and older established designers that I think are worthy of more industry credit. The world in general should be watching Australian talent as more are positioned on the international platform and defiantly making ripples on the world scene. It would be good if the Australian creative scene could be packaged in some intellectual way and take on the world like Droog did in Holland, New Britannia did in UK, Belgium, Denmark, etc, but this takes government initiative and guts.

Tongue Lounge

10. Ross, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

If you ever need to make the choice of working on a prawn trawler or for Matt Blatt, definitely widen your career horizon and go to sea.

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Designer Q&A with Jesse Diephuis

Raph Goldsworthy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:00:29 +0000

Jesse Diephus has almost a decade of experience in the automotive industry, having worked in the USA, Japan and Australia for companies including General Motors and Holden. Jesse currently runs JD Synergy Design and also participates as the Senior Designer on AutoHorizon’s FR1 Project. Jesse’s interview offers great insight for anyone looking to gain entry into the highly competitive area of Automotive Design.

Highlights

“Automotive Design is basically a highly specialized sector of industrial design and the process is very similar to product design. In one studio there may be as many as 8 designers working on 2 to 3 projects at a time. One major difference from Automotive Design compared to Product Design is that it is difficult to change something late in the development process.”

“I would also recommend to those who are interested in automotive design to be aware of the other roles necessary to develop a vehicle. There is a lot of work that goes into research and development behind the scenes that most people don’t know about and it would be in your best interest to know about these other professions.”

“It is important to listen to what other people have to say about your designs including Non-designers. Most customers are not designers and they see things very differently than we do.”

1. Jesse, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us, could you please give us a quick introduction on yourself.

Thank you Raph, I appreciate the opportunity to participate on Design Droplets. I have been designing professionally for almost 9 years. I’m originally from the US, I graduated from the Art Center College of Design (ACCD) with an industrial design/transportation design degree.

My industrial design career began as soon I started my internship at Mattel in Los Angeles, where I got the chance to work for HotWheels as a Toy Designer. My automotive career began when I was offered a position to work in Tokyo for a Japanese Automotive Design consultancy called Milai. Upon returning to L.A. in 2001 I worked as an Industrial Design freelancer, developing design sketches and sometimes working on Alias models. Eventually I was recruited to work for GM in Detroit. Following an eye-opening 3 year automotive experience in Detroit I decided to further my international experience and signed on with Milai again in Tokyo.

Now here in Australia, during the last 3 years of my career I have worked as a Creative Designer with the Holden Design team in Port Melbourne. Additionally, I have been participating as senior designer on the FR1 project for the AutoHorizon in Docklands.

FR1 Chassis Direction 2007

2. You are our first automotive design interviewee here on Design Droplets, can you tell us a bit about the automotive design field? How does it differ from other forms of product or industrial design?

Automotive Design is basically a highly specialized sector of industrial design and the process is very similar to product design. In one studio there may be as many as 8 designers working on 2 to 3 projects at a time. One major difference from Automotive Design compared to Product Design is that it is difficult to change something late in the development process. A major change late in the program can potentially affect all the other components within the vehicle from the suppliers to engineering of vehicle architecture. So when we begin a program I think we utilize more designers upfront to contribute to the initial phases in order to ensure that we have considered is more than one style.

Due to the number and complexity of parts I think Automotive Design adapts new technology more readily than any other product. There are always newer, better or more efficient ways to integrate features along with improved safety and comfort controls. When these technologies overlap it can also sometimes affect the overall design.

Most car development programs take longer than product design. It may take anywhere between 1 ½ – 5 years depending on whether we are working on a Production program or developing a showcar. There are many things to consider relative to cost and product planning for future audiences. This is why we need strong forecasting information before we set out to design our vehicles. I have personally attended some of these Foresight seminars and I found them to be very insightful as a guide in considering future markets. Forecasting becomes very difficult when you start speaking of faint signals or distant scenarios that are 5, 10 or even 15 years into the future. Since there are no crystal balls, the best thing we can do is to try and reduce the risk.

FR1 Chassis CAD Front

3. You have worked in design in various parts of the world including Japan and the USA, how do the design cultures in these place differ from the design culture here in Australia?

It is difficult to compare cultures but I can tell you that Japan was an amazing experience. I had never imagined that so many people could be living in one place! There are many interesting things to observe in a city such as Tokyo. I often noticed all the gadgets and neon signs against the old world traditional architectures. Australia is also beautiful place, and from what I have experienced so far I find it very comfortable living here and I find the newer architecture to be very modern. Design-wise, what I have observed in each of the cultures is that everyone is very capable in regard to automotive design. In Japan I did see a greater variety in the small cars than compared to the US. In the US they tend to drive pickup trucks more so than anywhere else I have visited. Here in Australia it is more common to see a Ute instead of a pickup, but I think Australia also has an advantageous diversity in the smaller European and Asian cars which are not offered in the US.

FR1 Headlamp Model exploded view

4. What are your thoughts on the future of automotive design?

I am very interested in the newer technologies and I spend time considering how to adapt some of these into both automotive and other design industries. Sometimes there are clear-cut needs that require a specific product but investment costs can be a major hurdle. I hope to see more involvement with Government for funding Design and Development projects in Automotive and Transportation Design. There are still areas untapped in terms of Personal Mobility, Food Distribution and Emergency Services. I think it would prove to be a worthy investigation as to how we could better utilize some of the latest technology for transporting people, goods and services.

In terms of impacts on future Car Designs, I think robotic technologies and crash avoidance softwares will begin to change things in a new way. Ideas currently being explored in Personal Mobility such as Toyota i-Swing, GM PUMA concept and the Honda Asimo & Walking-Assist devices were all initially developed outside automotive design arena. Now they seem to be interacting with the studios more and I think this will open doors for even more opportunities in the future.

FR1 Chassis CAD Side View

5. Every facet of the design industry has a slightly different development process. Can you talk about the typical product development process in the automotive industry?

Most studios begin the process the same way with a design brief. The Design brief is the document which outlines the program intent. Normally it contains an analysis of all the forecasting work, market research, competition comparison charts, product positioning statements and key engineering hard-point criteria to consider all before the sketching begins. For production programs we usually sketch over existing models or have an underlay of a rough Alias model to draw over. We do this for several weeks in a competition between other Designers (and sometimes other studios). The initial sketches and development renderings are presented in quick succession. This process is held over several weeks with formal reviews and there are target dates that must be signed off on by Design Manager, Design Chief and the Design Director. Once theme selection has taken place the designers are allocated skilled clay modellers who take the 2D information to sculpt a scaled-down clay model for the studio to evaluate. Then working as a team it takes a combination of Engineers, Designers, Clay Modellers and Digital Modellers (Alias CAD) to refine and improve what the brief has called for. Each Designers sets out to realize their creative vision for the brief.

FR1 Chassis update June 2009

6. What advice would you give to students/professionals who want to pursue a career in automotive/transport design?

Besides studying design, I would also recommend to those who are interested in automotive design to be aware of the other roles necessary to develop a vehicle. There is a lot of work that goes into research and development behind the scenes that most people don’t know about and it would be in your best interest to know about these other professions.

Most car designers gravitate towards sports cars and that’s Ok, as long as you recognize that it’s a niche market for these vehicles. But when you attempt to design an efficient car for the Indian market, as an example, it is actually more difficult because it has more criteria to adhere to and it involves strict cost restraints. It is actually a little easier to design an expensive car because the cost is usually expected to be higher. My advice then is to learn about lots of different types of cars including the more economical cars for places like India and other future markets.

FR1 Hero Chassis Render

7. Can you share your creative process and design philosophy with Design Droplets readers?

When I start a project I try to think of where the company has been and also what I think the company is capable of. I want to excite people within the organization with where the product could go, so a clear vision is needed in order to pitch a design succinctly in a formal presentation.

It’s really up to my sensibilities to measure the potential in a product and to project a vision for a concept through illustrations, so I have to know the limits for how far to take to creative license. I also try to add some elements that that make it unique.

When I search for a direction for which to take a design I have to resist the temptation to put too much in or I could risk over-cooking a design. I look for inspiration everywhere, and I try not to repeat what already has been done by someone else. It is common to find similar ideas or themes that have been executed before, so the important thing is that the ideas and sketches work in harmony with the overall design brief.

I am fascinated with the mechanical aspects of cars. There are so many different ways to integrate technologies or combine material these days. F1 race cars are the ultimate in this regard. I always get inspired by reading science and technology forums where they highlight remarkable breakthroughs. Sometimes I will take an opportunity to suggest, integrate or propose what may have been overlooked for a vehicle.

I think to achieve a successful result in any car design requires the consideration for the whole thing. Customers will appreciate outstanding designs for both the Exterior and the Interior. It requires an ability to step back from the product and to be able to consider the end users and to consider all the steps on how to fulfil a market demand.

FR1 Chassis Render

8. What skills do you think students coming out of Design School need be equipped with?

Drawing skills are essential. You would have a hard time convincing non-designers in a car company to share a common vision without seductive sketches and illustrations depicting new form languages.

Design presentation skill is also something that I would recommend knowing more about. When I was in school it was discussed, but I don’t think that there was enough emphasis on it.

Digital skills are the norm these days, so if you don’t know how to use Photoshop software or understand basic Alias modelling skills, my advice would be to stay in school until you have learned them well.

One skill you might not learn in school is the ability to receive criticism. It is important to listen to what other people have to say about your designs including Non-designers. Most customers are not designers and they see things very differently than we do. It is also more professional to respectfully receive a critique rather than retort or refuse advice.

9. Digital visualization, CAD and rapid prototyping are starting to become tools that are accessible to almost anyone, how do you think this will influence product design in the next 3 -5 years? How have these tools changed the way you design?

Alias AutoStudio is now the standard software for car designers. However I hope see a time in when this will be replaced with something more intuitive. I welcome it! I think there are many developers trying to come out with different ways to generate digital surfaces. Analysis tools and rendering tools are getting better all the time. I know there are softwares which can calculate load paths now, and it would be great to see something that allows both the freedom of intuitive form-modelling that was combined with capability to share data seamlessly with engineers. In 3- 5 years I would expect this type of software to greatly improve the design process, to speed up development time and also to become more affordable.

New Wing development 2009

10. Jesse, thank you very much for your time and for sharing your knowledge and experience with Design Droplets readers. Before we wrap up do you have any final comments, thoughts or advice?

If you are going to become a designer then learn how to sketch and keep sketching.

If you want to study Automotive Design, try to appreciate the basic engineering principles that go into primary structures and try to understand how parts are manufactured.

Study automotive history and learn where different cars come from and how they were initially developed.

Know about part lines intersections on a car and try to understand the different ways components like seats and steering wheels are packaged.

Talent will get you in the door.

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Designer Q&A with Duann Scott

Raph Goldsworthy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:53:30 +0000

Duann Scott is a Designer based in Adelaide, South Australia, a PhD candidate at the University of South Australia and a writer for Ponoko’s blog and for the For-Tommorrow Blog.

In this interview Duann shares his views on design in Adelaide, working in bespoke design, the impact of the Prosumer and mass custimisation on design.

Enjoy reading and please leave your own thoughts in the comment.

Highlights

“I have found the opportunities to apply an industrial designers skill set have come from quite diverse areas, none of which have involved mass produced items.”

“We do need beautiful objects that are constructed to last and will be kept and treasured for generations. The cheap construction and disposability of an IKEA chair or shelving system locates that item as rubbish, waiting to be disposed of. The timeline of many products is so short that they are designed for obsolescence in 2 years. This is an unacceptable waste to think of our surrounding objects being so temporary.”

“Most consumer configurable mass customisation now is purely cosmetic, just ticking a box, this will change as 3D printing of consumers designs gets integrated into the manufacturing process,, and not as an aftermarket mod or hack.”

1. Duann, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us, could you please give us a quick introduction on yourself.

Thanks for giving me an opportunity to discuss my current research, I am a Designer currently based in Adelaide, South Australia. I studied Industrial Design at the University of South Australia, Louis Laybourne-Smith School of Architecture and Design, graduating with an Honors Degree. Since then I have worked with a few local multi-discipline design firms as well as numerous freelance projects, along with contributing to the Ponoko and recently the For-Tomorrow blog. I am also undertaking a PhD part time at University of South Australia, School of Communication.

2. You are an Industrial Designer in Adelaide and a PhD candidate at the University of South Australia, can you tell us a bit about the Adelaide design scene? Where it’s been, where it is currently at and where it is heading?

Because of Adelaide’s geographic and economic location in Australia and the world, I have found the opportunities to apply an industrial designers skill set have come from quite diverse areas, none of which have involved mass produced items. There are only a handful of ‘pure industrial design” studios in Adelaide which work on plastic injection moulded products and although there are two manufacturing areas to the North and South of Adelaide city, much of the work undertaken there is engineered, but not designed. This limits the opportunities available.

Since graduating I have worked on permanent museum exhibitions, touch-screen kiosks, architectural visualisation and animations, retail interiors, wayfinding systems, interpretive centers, web-sites, large scale public sculptures, earthmoving machinery, playgrounds and advertising. The closest to pure industrial design I have worked on is photorealistic 3D renders for product packaging and bespoke furniture. Of the 32 or so students that graduated in my year I know of one only that is working on ‘product design’ in Hong Kong, and another couple who develop their own conceptual range that they take to 100% design and enter in competitions such as Bombay Sapphire (congratulations Daniel.Emma 2009 finalists). So the education and training for industrial designers in South Australia does not reflect the opportunities available to the students once they graduate, perhaps if there was a broader ‘design studies’ that could then refined as a masters post graduate stream this may increase the employability and success of the students.

The Design Collaborative of SA (DCOSA) has recently been established to bring together Industrial Designers in SA and this is a great initiative to build the community, along with the local chapter of the DIA which is much more established with interior designers and architects. What is missing in Adelaide is a design culture found in the broader public that you find in Melbourne for example. The JamFactory, set up by the Don Dunstan government in the mid seventies is the major government funded space for contemporary craft and design and has a focus on designer/makers, which does not cater for the ‘industrially designed’ object. There is a new bi-annual design market Bowerbird Bazaar launched on the 9th of October 2009 which should spark some more interest in Adelaide.

Imagination Mind Twist Render

3. In your PhD you are looking into product branding, globalisation & personalisation. Can you talk about how these areas affect and influence the industrial design profession and vice versa?

I started the PhD in an attempt to explore a greater depth of research than I was have been able to in my professional practice. I have felt as though I only had time to do the bare minimum research to get a job completed as quickly as possible, and was starting to get frustrated as my curiosity was never really satisfied. Undertaking the PhD has allowed me to be overwhelmed by research, to look in great depth and attempt to understand the social and political drivers behind what is an incredibly interesting time for all design disciplines. My professional practice as mentioned previously has never been pure industrial design but there has been some minor crossover on a few projects, where an understanding of emerging online and technology driven trends has helped inform design decisions. I have also used Shapeways online 3D metal printing to make customised furniture hardware for a project with Khai Liew, that I would not have been aware of without my research.

Envision Engineering Manual

4. You currently work for Khai Liew Design, where you work on bespoke furniture with internationally acclaimed designer Khai Liew. Can you tell us a bit about the world of bespoke furniture?

Working with Khai Liew on bespoke furniture is an absolute pleasure as the foremost focus is pure, refined aesthetics and absolute attention to detail in craftsmanship. We work over the concepts repeatedly until the detailing is absolutely perfect, using the best craftspeople we can find and the finest quality materials. Our workshop is just down the road from our studio/showroom so we constantly check in as the pieces are being constructed refining the design, the process continues up until it is delivered to the client.

Although there are a few pieces in the showroom that we have made multiples of, most are made to order as a client commission. Khai and I discuss the clients needs, usually with a site visit to their house and from there we develop a concept. We have the privilege of having very trusting clients who give us free reign to develop the design as we see fit and rarely are there any client directions other than the dimensions of the space, or a specific artwork or sculpture it is to compliment. We use 3D CAD to develop the design as far as possible, along with cardboard maquettes, full scale prototypes, then the final piece of furniture.

Khai is not a ‘trained designer’ but has an amazing wealth of knowledge of the history of furniture design from years of finding and restoring Australian Germanic hand crafted furniture of the 1830s to the 1900s along with mid century Danish pieces that he imported and restored. We also use a 14th Century 3-way mitre joint in many of the tables and chairs which is a link back to Khai’s Chinese via Malay heritage. I am continually humbled, learning much from Khai about the history of art, design and architecture as well as looking at contemporary design with the benefit of his experience. We also have a relaxed lunch every day in the shed behind the showroom, with a tablecloth on a second-hand dining table. That’s nice too.

Nanny Rocker Concept

5. There has been much discussion in the design world about how designers should be questioning the real of needs of consumers and the world in general, in ways such as “does the world really need another chair or product?” As someone who is involved in creating bespoke design, what are your thoughts on this?

We do need beautiful objects that are constructed to last and will be kept and treasured for generations. The cheap construction and disposability of an IKEA chair or shelving system locates that item as rubbish, waiting to be disposed of. The timeline of many products is so short that they are designed for obsolescence in 2 years. This is an unacceptable waste to think of our surrounding objects being so temporary.

I understand that the cost of a bespoke chair designed by an artist at the top of their game is beyond the means of many people but perhaps a bespoke chair designed by a local emerging designer is not. Any item, be it a chair, a shoe or a coaster is less likely to be disposed of if it was made specifically for you, or has sentimental value. Even if you ‘design it yourself’ using a mass customisation configurator like NikeID to ‘personalise’ your own sneaker design, or an online service such as Ponoko to realise your own design, these are the objects you are more likely to cherish and not dispose of at a whim.

Khai Liew Double Dutch

6. You also write about the field of mass customisation, as a blogger for Ponoko. Can you tell us a bit about how blogging informs your own design practice?

Blogging for Ponoko is a parallel stream to my PhD research which forces me stay on top of contemporary design and any developments in the field of mass customisation, prosumer design, 3D printing and consumer empowerment. The nature of most blogs I read in order to stay aware, and especially twitter is by nature quite fast and shallow, so the difficulty is in giving the blog depth by considering it in relation to the slower stream of peer reviewed journal articles. It also forces me to consider an international perspective of what has become a globalised market and community. Writing for Ponoko has given me exposure to a network of peers that I may never meet, but that inform both my research and design practice.

I have also just begun contributing to a blog for Sydney based, and online mens fashion store For-Tomorrow which will focus purely on Australian and New Zealand Industrial Design and Furniture. It is important that sites like these give peer support and promotion to designs and designers that may not get exposure in mainstream press. It also gives me another opportunity to look at the Australian Design scene with fresh eyes whilst building a network of contacts.

SPUD - South Australian Museum Touchscreens

7. With the rise of mass customisation and the prosumer we are beginning in several ways to see the destruction of the profession of industrial design, do you agree with this or do you think the profession will evolve or become strengthened?

I do not think that desktop publishing has destroyed graphic design and likewise I do not see that Industrial Design will fall into ruins. There should be some movement towards design for modularity, configuration and modification,and this can get very complex, defining what can and should be able to be changed and how far. Most consumer configurable mass customisation now is purely cosmetic, just ticking a box, this will change as 3D printing of consumers designs gets integrated into the manufacturing process, and not as an aftermarket mod or hack.

What will be interesting is how we deal with the digital CAD files for 3D printable parts as 3D printing is slowly becoming more accessible. What happens when these 3D files are shared on peer to peer networks and manufacturers lose control. What happens when a disgruntled designer posts a 3D cad file on Pirate Bay so that a patented product can be printed using MakerBot or Shapeways.

8. Prior to your work at Khai Liew Design previously worked as an Industrial Designer & Project Manager, can you tell us a bit about Project Management in relation to the design profession?

Project management is not really my favorite part of the entire design process, especially when it is an inherited project, with inherited problems and an inherited budget. I would much rather pump CAD than Excel. But as you gain experience it makes sense to guide a design from concept through to realisation. I really do hate Excel.

Michael Kutschbach 2007 Adelaide Festival Sculpture

9. Can you share your creative process and design philosophy with Design Droplets readers?

I think we should use the tools of our time to design the products of our time. Prior to studying and practicing design my focus was on music composition and performance with projects ranging from playing in rock bands, to an experimental improvised outfit using home made and modified analog synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines with ‘one take’ recordings (Modula on Surgery Records), through to using a computer and software to record and compose, layering and filtering live instruments such as Rhodes, violin, flute, clarinet and vocals (Toby-1 on Surgery Records). In all instances my focus was on experimenting to see what the instrument or technology can do but then try and humanize it rather than being a cold experiment. The same is true for my interest in design; where with music time is the canvas within which you must compose, with design the canvas is space.

10. Duann, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

Thank you again for the opportunity to talk a little about what I see as some exciting times for design, and I welcome any discussion that may arise, or any input anyone may have into the research I am currently undertaking.

These might also interest you.

Designer Q&A with David & Matt from Mothers Art Productions

Raph Goldsworthy — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:12:10 +0000

Designers David Gargiulo (left) & Matt Gardner (right) © Photos Ponch Hawkes 2008

In this interview Industrial Designers David Gargiulo and Matt Gardner from Melbourne based Mothers Art Productions, a company specialising in the design and build of public art, commercial art, and exhibition design for zoos and museums, talk about their design processes, interesting projects that they been involved in and ‘must have’ skills for Industrial Designers in Australia.

Enjoy and please take the time to leave your thoughts, comments and feedback.

Highlights

“We’ve often got to find suitable solutions for bizarre projects. We never see the same project twice so we often need to take a new approach to each project.”

“I think it’s the level of creativity that exists in Melbourne. From the street art, to the small design companies, through to the architecture, it’s a very healthy creative scene, and there’s plenty to inspire.”

“No two days at work are the same, and there is always something new to learn. I guess that’s what keeps it a fresh and exciting career.”

1. David & Matt, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us, could you please give a quick introduction on yourselves.

Matt: I did high-school in Hobart, then studied industrial design at Swinburne, graduating my honours year in 2005. After that I did a small stint of contract work helping design a one-man ‘hydrofoiling’ racing yacht called Bladerider, which was then produced in China & is sold around the globe. They’re almost entirely made from carbon fibre, so they’re very light-weight (and very expensive!) and move very fast over the water. I then started at Mothers Art after earlier doing some work placement with them. I’ve been here since then, with a few smaller design projects with friends & some big overseas trips in-between.

David: Like Matt, I am from industrial design background. I am originally from New Zealand, where I studied product design, and had a great opportunity to work on a range of collaborative product design and development projects. In 2008, I had the opportunity to exhibit a range of products/projects I had been working on at the Milan Design Fair including a Decomposing Garden Gnome, along with a few projects exploring the application of theatre techniques in the design development process. A year ago I completed my Masters in Design, and shortly after joined the creative design team here at Mothers Art where I have found myself continually working on exciting new projects.

Public art concept. (c) Mothers Art 2009

2. You are both Industrial Designers at Melbourne based Mothers Art, can you tell us a bit about Mothers Art?

Mothers Art originated around 26 years ago. We’re based in Spotswood, in Melbourne’s inner west. We specialise in the design and build of public art, commercial art, and exhibition design for zoos and museums. The commercial side occasionally branches into props for television & print advertising. Film and TV used to be a much bigger part of our work, but that industry has changed with the development of CGI.

Donation boxes for Healesville Sanctuary & Werribee Open Range Zoo. (c) Mothers Art 2009

3. What are some of the Mothers Art works that Design Droplets readers might be familiar with?

The most familiar work we’ve done would be the fish sculptures which was a big part of the River Event for the Commonwealth Games here in Melbourne in 2006. 72 of them were floated on pontoons along the Yarra River. We’ve worked on projects with all three zoos under the Zoos Victoria brand. Other pieces include a 6.5m sculpture of the iconic “Luxo Jr” lamp for Pixar that sat outside of ACMI at Federation Square. That now stands at the Pixar headquarters in San Francisco. We also produced the ‘Super Mario’ light box that took up the same spot on Flinders St. The Christmas tree that stands in the CBD is another work of ours that people would recognise.

Large fish sculptures on the Yarra River for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Photo (c) Ponch Hawkes 2006

4. What are the typical types of projects you, as industrial designers, are involved in at Mothers Art? What is your role there?

There’s really no such thing as a typical project at Mothers Art; It could be a large sculpture for an event promotion that lasts only a few weeks, or it could be fitting out an exhibition space or visitor centre, with a 10-year life-span. Or public art, which needs to last indefinitely outdoors & be really sturdy.

Our roles stretch between concept sketches & designs at the front end, through to design development and then construction drawings (usually for our in-house workshop).

We’ve often got to find suitable solutions for bizarre projects. We never see the same project twice so we often need to take a new approach to each project.

Public art concept. (c) Mothers Art 2009

5. What has been the coolest project that you have had the opportunity to work on at Mothers Art?

Matt: Mine is actually a 6-metre Christmas bauble we did for Auckland City council. The cool bit it that we based a 6m sphere on a dodecahedron, a geometric shape made up of pentagons. We did that so that it could break down into curved half-pentagons for easy transport in a shipping container. It was great fun working with that shape; I’m not a maths-head, but you find some really magic stuff when you’re working with geometric shapes & spheres, etc. We built it in very small pieces & it all came together really well.

David: Personally I enjoyed working on the donation boxes for Healesville Sanctuary and Werribee Zoos, as it’s nice to think that objects can help with raising money for animal causes.

A 6m Christmas bauble for Auckland City Council. (c) Mothers Art 2007

6. Can you share your personal creative process and design philosophy with Design Droplets readers?

David: I guess my creative process is primarily concerned with the end consumer and the experiences that can unfold around a design outcome. I have recently been exploring how the application of theatre techniques can aid the design process, and hopefully get a chance to play further with this in forthcoming projects.

Matt: Mine is in the product design area, which I did a lot of in university & plan to get into in the future. I enjoy coming up with concepts that are based on existing products that may not have really evolved much in the past few decades. It’s exciting trying to completely re-design products like footwear or apparel.

An interactive Iroquois helicopter as part of the Australian War Memorial's Discovery Zone. Photo (c) Ponch Hawkes 2007

7. What is the best thing about the Melbourne/Australian Design community?

Matt: To put it simply, I think it’s the level of creativity that exists in Melbourne. From the street art, to the small design companies, through to the architecture, it’s a very healthy creative scene, and there’s plenty to inspire.

8. In your opinion, what is the best thing about working in Industrial Design?

David: No two days at work are the same, and there is always something new to learn. I guess that’s what keeps it a fresh and exciting career.

Matt: The ability to branch off into so many areas using the skills you have. I’m a big fan of movie special effects, fashion design, product & apparel design and a few other areas. All of these and plenty more are essentially within reach for someone with an industrial design background or training.

The workshop at Mothers Art in Spotswood, Victoria

9. What do you think is the ‘must have skill’ for Australian Industrial Designers?

David: I believe that collaborative ideation will continue to become an important part of the design process for future creative generations. The ability to see opportunities where design can make positive changes to the way we interact with the world around us is a great skill to have.

Matt: I’d say flexibility: the ability to cover a range of skill areas or ways to express your ideas.

10. David & Matt, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

David: I guess that some of the best outcomes are produced when everyone’s working together, and valuable ideas come together from all dimensions of the team from project managers to fabricators. Mothers Art is very cross-disciplinary and I guess that is one of our strengths. Having a great team allows us the ability to generate results through a diverse range of projects.

These might also interest you.

Designer Q&A with Tim Cox

Raph Goldsworthy — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:12:09 +0000

In this awesome and inspirational interview, award winning New Zealand Industrial Designer, Tim Cox shares details on some of his latest projects, thoughts on Industrial Designers and Engineers working together, his Design philosophy and his take on the current state of New Zealand Design.

Enjoy and please take the time to leave your own thoughts in the comments.

Highlights

“Have fun and you can’t go wrong!”

“Design is about finding a balance between your own personal perspective and that of everyone you what to benefit.”

“I think New Zealand could do with being more aware of the process products go through to get on the shelf. It seems only a small proportion of people have any idea of what really goes on and why it is necessary to design products and invest in the process.”

“The main thing is to enjoy it, don’t let design become a monotonous task”

1. Tim, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us, could you please give us a quick introduction on yourself.

Firstly a big hi to the team at Design Droplets! Thanks for the opportunity to share a bit of what I’m up to. To all the readers and keen designers I hope this can be of some enjoyment…and if your lucky inspiration!

Picture this: it’s the year 1999, you’re in sub Antarctic conditions because for some peculiar reason you are hanging out in Mataura, New Zealand. Then suddenly your blinded by some skinny white boy charging around in Canterbury shorts trying to chase down a run away lawn mower. That’s basically my early days in a nutshell. It’s about as removed as you can get from the design scene but an awesome upbringing all the same. The rural lifestyle was a big influence down there as was my amazing family who encouraged hard work, creativity and loads of music. I had a design slant from early on which I developed through my study at Massey University in Wellington. More often than not I was burning the midnight oil while learning how to party to make to up for the constant over kill of work. Now mature and grown up (of course!) I work for iDesign Solutions, a consultancy based in Christchurch, an environment where you can’t help but have fun and somehow manage to be really productive!

2. You recently won the Dyson Product Design Awards in New Zealand with Tretech, your concept for an ultrasound tool set designed to quickly measure the commercial worth of forests, can you tell us a bit about the project?

Tretech was the outcome of a yearlong project and was my final and most resolved work before taking the big step into industry. Through the family business I had the chance to use many tools of the forestry trade and realised there was vast room for improvement. I undertook four months of research with forest technicians and professionals to help clarify what changes were necessary. My intent was to rethink the entire process so that data could be collected more efficiently, with greater accuracy and above all with more consistency.

The outcome of the project is more accurate and relevant data for less cost, at the right time. This benefits all parties involved in the growing, harvesting and processing of timber by allowing more effective planning and execution. On top of issues such as performance and function, the project was also about building a form that had an aesthetic relevant to the user, which conveys a sense of pride and technicality.

Tretech is the converging of new and existing products that includes the benefits of new technology in a more user orientated and practical sense.

Tretech Systems - Complete tool set for standing tree evaluation

3. You currently work designing rock crushing equipment, this job must certainly involve a large portion of work with engineers – many Industrial Designers can get stressed out working with engineers or have trouble engaging in successful dialogue with them – as engineers have tendencies to change large portions of their designs, can you tell us about how you navigate the designer engineer relationship?

Haha I love this question! I’ll set things straight first. Unfortunately the company I was designing for got hit by the recession in a hard way. Many positions were made redundant due to a lack of demand across the entire aggregate industry. This meant there was inadequate finance to sustain a complete redesign project; the outcome meaning my position was also made redundant.

However to answer your question, I would say the best thing to do is accept that engineers will always think in different terms, but rather than clash heads about it, turn it into a benefit. For example, I work with four engineers who share strong opinions and will often attempt to ‘take the piss’ out of industrial designers in a round of meaningless but hilarious banter. Step one is to join in. Accept their perspective but don’t let it go unchallenged! To do this is criminal! Once you begin to realise what they are aiming to achieve, make it work with what you are doing. Always provide an alternative solution as opposed to saying ‘that just doesn’t look good’ or ‘people won’t like that’. Ask them to help you work through a problem. If they can be involved through the whole design process there shouldn’t be any need to change large portions of your design, disagreements will be ironed out as you go.

The thing is to clearly communicate your opinion with justified reason for everything you do. Don’t style a product for the sake of it, this will only get engineers knickers in a tangle as they struggle to come to terms with curves you have used when it could be a square box…(I am enjoying writing this!)

Realise that as an industrial designer what you have to offer is very valuable. Every product will require human interaction in one-way or another, and therefore it should always be designed with this in mind. Talk all the time to the engineers about your design intent and why. Engineers are generally smart people and will be able to understand your perspective if you let them hear it first!

You will find yourself developing some valuable skills in debating, stand up comedy and of course design in both product and engineering aspects. Have fun and you can’t go wrong!

Sketches during the development stage - Ball point pen, coloured pencil and Marker

4. In your opinion, what is the best thing about being an industrial designer? And what is the worst?

Being an industrial designer requires having a varied and well-developed skill base. I often appreciate being able to not only design a product but present and convince others that it will be the best solution. Our job is interesting and constantly changing as the world develops around us. We have a large and exciting part to play in how all this change happens…however this soon equates to responsibility so as designers we must be aware of why we design and what our motives are. Are you designing to benefit others or to simply create stuff that gets you noticed?

There aren’t many bad sides to being a designer although industry certainly presents it challenges. Having your design process crammed into a week isn’t nice and soon turns your brain in a mangled mess. Its tough when people simply don’t understand what we do and why we do it. This means our allocated resource can be somewhat limited at times.

Sketches using sketchbook pro - There were done towards the final design stage.

5. Can you talk about your personal design philosophy?

I wrote the following statement for an exhibition back at university and oddly enough I still agree with it. In an indirect way it describes my own approach to design and the philosophy behind what I do.

“Design is about finding a balance between your own personal perspective and that of everyone you what to benefit. If you get this right you will have a solution that doesn’t need explaining or justifying, rather a product that installs a desire to be used and appreciated”.

I’ll leave that up to you to decipher.

Transponder and Resonating hammer

6. Can you give us a quick walk through of the typical process you go through to come up with a design?

Before I begin design I like to be well informed. I find it hard to design when there are just no limitations to what a product should do or be like. This means doing some good solid research that involves the end user.

I then go through the process of identifying the top priorities in the form of design criteria and a brief that serves as the driver and direction for the design to come. Brainstorming ideas and visualising these into concepts through sketching and 3d studies is always fundamental to a well-resolved design process.

Throughout my entire process I am gathering new information and will implement anything of benefit during the development and detailed design stage. I am always reminding myself of the core need behind the project and will refer back to the brief constantly. Final design for any client is just the beginning, there is so much more to be done to commercialise a product so it pays to be conscious of all aspects involved with taking a product to market. I find myself feeling far more satisfied with my design if I take the time to learn about what is happening and going to happen at all stages of the process.

Lunar Lighting, created using polypropylene sheet held together by a system of tabs.

7. You drew on your families own history in the New Zealand Timber Industry to create Tretech, where else do you draw inspiration and insights from?

As most designers will be aware, there is an underlying urge to look at anything from the cutlery at your favourite restaurant to the lines of a passing car. You know how you find yourself searching for part lines or scratching your head at how amazing or pointless an object may appear. I find this kind of inspirational. I like learning from things around me, and simply being observant to a point that it rubs of on my design.

I enjoy people and seeing what they do, wear, drive, use and all that good stuff. Music, Fashion, Culture, Nature, Sport and a good bit of beautiful New Zealand all form a large part of my design inspiration.

Flow Sound, illustration work during the design of a speaker system

8. What is your take on the state of the New Zealand Industrial Design scene? What are the best things about it? What is it missing? How could it be improved?

For a small country we do well, there is definitely a pool of very talented and creative people out there. Unfortunately it is only a very small industry and that struggles to support emerging talent that leave design schools every year. It’s a shame that New Zealand can’t retain more of its own designers. I know a lot of amazing designers who are striving hard to get work and I wish they could all have the chance to put their stamp on the New Zealand and Global design scene.

I think New Zealand could do with being more aware of the process products go through to get on the shelf. It seems only a small proportion of people have any idea of what really goes on and why it is necessary to design products and invest in the process. Very little time and resource is put into this area but this is improving!

Render using illustrator and photoshop. Exploring drawing style to create mood and energy.

9. What do you hope the future holds for yourself & Tretech?

I am going to make every effort to learn more about design and people. That means working for companies that will push the limits and go beyond what everyone expects. I want to continue getting work experience and make that a global adventure to expand my design influence. When the time is right I would like to start up my own design consultancy that will be renowned for great design!

I am also aiming to commercialise the Tretech product which has had a lot if interest to date. I am dealing with investors now to get this underway. It’s a big step into the unknown but I am enjoying it and learning a lot about the business and legal side of product commercialisation.

Outside of design I hope to release some music and gain another kilogram haha…mission! Watch this space!

Framework furniture - 2008

10. Tim, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

Cheers to all who take the time to read this and to Design Droplets for letting a Kiwi invade your space!

To everyone, work hard at what you do. The main thing is to enjoy it, don’t let design become a monotonous task! Give yourself plenty of balance between your job, social time and get outside! Fill your week with all sorts of cool stuff, that way your head will be bursting with ideas and creative things just waiting to get out. Go watch some bands, ride your bike, splash out on some new jeans, hang out with your mates and then put all of that into your design.

REMEMBER…Work to live, live to design!

Tim

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Premier’s Sustainability Awards 2010

Designer Q&A with Lisa Vincitorio

Raph Goldsworthy — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:26:33 +0000

Lisa Vincitorio is a Melbourne based freelance Product Designer who has designed for Italian design factory Alessi and Australia & New Zealand based Corporate Culture. You may recognise several of her designs including the famous Fruit Loop and her latest creation for Alessi, Zucch.

In this interview I chatted with Lisa about her take on design, career challenges and design processes. Enjoy and be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments.

Highlights

“…it is extremely important to exhibit in trade fairs because it is an opportunity for the world to see what you are doing. It is also a fantastic opportunity to meet international manufacturers”

“…it is most important to have inspiration, passion, confidence and perseverance. Inspiration, and Passion for design, new technologies, and making a difference.”

“Design is not something you choose, but something that chooses you.”

1. Lisa, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us, could you please give us a quick introduction on yourself.

Thank you for having me. I graduated from BA Design – Industrial Design at RMIT in 2003. In 2004 I exhibited my graduating pieces (including the Fruitloop) in Salone Satellite at the Milan furniture fair with RMIT University and Kjell Grant. It was there that I was able to make contact with the Product Editor for Alessi, but taking the Fruitloop to their stand at the fair, and commence my relationship with the company through the manufacture of the Fruitloop. In 2004, I also exhibited the Urchin at Tokyo Designers Block and was awarded a prize. Last year, as a director of Melbourne Movement, I helped to send a collection of students to exhibit in Milan once again. Since the launch of the Fruitloop in 2005, I have worked on a number of projects with Alessi, the latest being Zucch, which was launched in October of 2008.

2. You have are one of the youngest designers to work with Alessi can you tell us a bit about your experience with Alessi?

Working with Alessi is an exciting experience. The company as a whole is extremely passionate with design and pushing the boundaries. This aspect is a designers dream, as nothing ever seems too hard, and they will work with you to make your design intent a reality.

Fruitloop – Manufacturer Alessi 2005

3. You have exhibited in the Milan and Tokyo, how important is it for Designers to be part of trade fairs? And why?

I think that it is extremely important to exhibit in trade fairs because it is an opportunity for the world to see what you are doing. It is also a fantastic opportunity to meet international manufacturers, which may otherwise be impossible given our geographical distance from the rest of the world.

4. Can you talk about your personal design philosophy?

Design is the practice of creativity and provides the opportunity to enhance the way we live.

As a designer, I have the opportunity to have a positive effect on people and the environment. Design becomes my virtual forum to the world.

Urchin – Exhibited in Milan and Tokyo 2004

5. You have been featured in many design magazines, how can the press can help young designers?

The press is an important way to launch a young designer by familiarising the industry with you and what you are doing. It is also a good way of associating the designer with their work.

6. Can you tell us a bit about the process your go through to come up with new designs/products?

I go through a different design process depending on whether I am presented with a specific client brief or not.

If I am, then the first step in my design process is to research the client requirements, and intent, and feasible technologies for the project. Then I commence to generate concepts, whilst engaging the client. I then develop and detail the project ready for manufacture.

If I do not have a specific brief my initial design process is very emotive. It is dependent on mood, feeling. I try to create a creative atmosphere through music to encourage a successful conceptual phase. After this phase I transform the concept into a model using the PC, and research methods of manufacture. I generally like a physical item to gauge proportion, so I then will have the model prototyped.

Louu – Coffee table exhibited in Milan 2008

7. Can you talk a bit about some of the projects you are currently working on?

This year I launched a collection of tables with Australian & NZ Furniture Supplier, Corporate Culture. I am also working with a Danish product supplier on a series of architectural hardware and accessory products.

8. What do you think is the most important skill for Australian Industrial Designers to possess?

I think it is most important to have inspiration, passion, confidence and perseverance. Inspiration, and Passion for design, new technologies, and making a difference. Confidence in yourself, your work and capabilities, and confidence to take a chance in what may better your career. And perseverance to continue on with your passion, even if you feel that it does not seem to be leading anywhere.

I think it is also important for designers to be gutsy ,put yourself out there, and not shy away from meeting with people that may be able to produce your products. I may not have had the opportunities I have had thus far if I didn’t take the fruitloop to the Alessi stand at the Milan furniture fair.

Zucch – Manufacturer Alessi 2008

9. What has been the biggest challenge in your career so far?

This year I have taken the chance to commence my own freelance design business, which has proven to be a challenge. My main challenge has been marketing my services both locally and internationally. I have also found that the freedom associated with running your own business requires a great deal of discipline and structure. Having always been employed by a company, I have had to ensure that I create the structure required to maintain a successful and productive environment.

10. Lisa, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

Yes, Design is not something you choose, but something that chooses you. You are drawn to it. Be inspired, push the boundaries and persevere.

Array coffee table – Supplied by Corporate Culture 2009

Array Side table - Supplied by Corporate Culture 2009

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Designer Q&A with Colin Redmond of Interphase Design

Raph Goldsworthy — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:00:32 +0000

In this interview Colin Redmond, designer of SKOOT (a hubless scooter) and DuoCycle (a hubless bike), from Interphase Design in Australia talks about why he started interphase design, role playing in design, fun in the office (and design) and what the future holds for SKOOT, Interphase and himself.

Enjoy, please leave your thoughts and feedback in the comments.

Highlights

“How will we live in the future, how will we communicate in the future, how will we travel, how will we go about chores? From my experience, Industrial Design offers fun solutions, but at the same time ticking the boring corporate boxes of social, environment, economical, cultural, science, technology, political, education and most importantly foresight.”

“When it comes to fun in the end product, I’ve been known to add quirky features into a design so that it may resemble something phallic from a certain angle, or have a cheeky message moulded into a component. I try not to make it too designery abstract – after all we’re not all design aficionados.”

“I hope in some small way design is put on the map again in Melbourne – or vice versa.”

1. Colin, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us, could you please give us a quick introduction on yourself.

Thanks Raph, it’s great to be here – I love Melbourne this time of the year, Spring is about to pounce on us, the AFL finals – there’s a real buzz. Well about me, I started my industrial design career with a VW scholarship to study Car Design in Europe. After this I worked with Audi helping on the tail end of the original Audi TT project and designing for their premium models the A8 and yet to be made Q7. After my visa ended I came back to Australia to do a post grad in Industrial Design – I was still only 21 years old. When I finished, I actually didn’t want to go back to Europe, so I stayed in Brisbane thinking I could change the Brisbane Design scene working at a Plastics Manufacturer.

I later started an internal Industrial Design firm within the company and we started charging for our design time. Back then this was unheard off, as the ‘design service’ was considered just another overhead or cost centre. Similar to an accounting department or a marketing expense. We called the design office -Toast Factory and our clients were Airwalk, Coca-Cola, Coopers, Aunger, Arnott’s, Bacardi and Coffee Club. After this I was burnt out and actually took a break waiting tables, whilst I hatched new ideas. I was inspired by the sail boats that glided past the restaurant. Waiting tables was great, I met some amazing people that help fund future projects, it also helped ground my ego. So in about 2002 I started Square Spots, a gourmet design haus, I called it – I designed a Tea Light for relaxation and rejuvenation. This won a Queensland DIA, Best Use of Lighting award. It went on to sell all around the world. The light was made from Recycled PP – with the success of that I quit my waiting job and started consulting more.

I consulted in a variety of industries before being asked to start an R&D company for Poolrite Equipment. My task was to redesign the entire range of over 300 products and to advance the design on 3 fronts in order to increase the company’s bottom line. The new products had to be environmentally sensitive, sexy and technologically advanced. The later bothered me, but the we chose applicable technology, not just technology for technologies sake. During this 3 year tenor we won numerous awards, the highlight being a Germany Award for Environmental Design. The team consisted of 15 staff from marketing to engineering and we created a handover package for the production team to take up. Reaching my peak at Poolrite I decided to try something new.

So I started a prototype company called Plastic Ink, this aided my passion for advanced design concepts – through Plastic Ink I had the great fortune of meeting some extremely talented material and behavioural scientists. These interactions later led to the creation of InterphaseDesign an Industrial Design company making Advanced Concepts – because I like pushing the envelope.

The SKOOT CAD close up

2. You are part of interphase design, a group of Industrial Designers & Engineers located in Melbourne, can you tell us a bit about Interphase?

I started Interphase Design in 2009 as a vehicle to take advanced concepts to manufacture. A lot of the ideas are part of a system, not just a plastic stylised box – too many times Industrial Design is used for styling a housing of electrical bits – but we can offer so much more. So we choose to work with a lot of smart people and we give them the credit of the design, engineering, advertising etc. An Industrial Design process is very involved and you need a lot of people to bring an idea to customers. So the group fosters this shared mind-set. We operate from a very small office with a growing puppy called Ruby, she’s an Airedale Terrier. She helps bring some grounding to a design project my breaking the intensity when we get to the end of a project.

3. Skoot is your uni hub scooter design that you are currently working on getting out into the world, can you talk a bit about your Skoot journey?

SKOOT was an idea I formed during my time with Audi in Germany. I loved cars, I loved cycling, I loved design – but I was frustrated that there wasn’t a solution to the environmental issues associated with cars and the congestion issues associated with travel. There had to be a better way to move over mid range distances using existing infrastructure. I’ve been searching for the right wheel system since 1998. In 2006, I finally found a way to make the idea suitable for use. Then in 2008 I redesigned it further to make it a mass-produced reality. The journey has just begun – watch this space…..

SKOOT CAD full shot

4. What other exciting products have you got coming up/in the works?

The next couple years we have booked up with simple ideas made effective with complex electronics. They have serious implications – but do it in a fun way. Like the Richard Hoare ‘a bit more’ button on a Breville toaster, no one likes burnt toast!! Our products are based around our core interests of travel, style and robots. We love robots but don’t understand exactly how they work, like most things in life I guess. Our main release for 2010 will be a commuter hubless bike, this can been seen on my twitter page.

5. Can you talk about your personal design philosophy?

I’m really big on Role Playing – not the Jap Anime Dungeon and Dragons way – but scenarios. How will we live in the future, how will we communicate in the future, how will we travel, how will we go about chores? From my experience, Industrial Design offers fun solutions, but at the same time ticking the boring corporate boxes of social, environment, economical, cultural, science, technology, political, education and most importantly foresight. The holistic solution an experienced industrial designer offerers pays off positively over longer terms in more aspects of life. So for me it’s important to travel as much as possible, meet different people and to have fun doing it – after all we’re designing for others. For the actual design of a product, I really try to capture a style that is pushing the boundary, but is still acceptable. In this way I find the product can have the longest life-cycle and therefore reduce the environmental waste associated with consumerism. This might be done by changing material, process or configuration. Inspiration will come from the weirdest of places. Alot of the time it might jut be words from an article or chatting with friends.

Sanitation unit, Pre-Production prototype used in S&P (accountants) New York

6. Can you tell us a bit about the process your go through to come up with new designs/products?

Oops – I think I answered this above. But we like to immerse ourselves in the ‘end users’ experience. We relax and throw around ideas to improve the status-quo. We start the very long and detailed process of design on a level keel, knowing we’ve moved in the right direction. As for coming up with new ideas, they generally happen when you least expect it, often it’s from meeting people at different events/conferences etc. I’m constantly amazed by the highly intelligent and interesting people out there – but their ideas aren’t getting made, released, marketed etc etc. I try not to design for myself, because I think design is more about them/others/those – it’s ultimately someone else’s life you’re trying to add value to.

Hubless Bike - the DuoCycle

7. It seems that you like to infuse fun into your design, how important do you think fun is in design?

I try to keep fun in the office as much as possible, it’s not always easy with time and budget restraints and pressure and Ruby dog. Changing the routine helps revitalise engines. When it comes to fun in the end product, I’ve been known to add quirky features into a design so that it may resemble something phallic from a certain angle, or have a cheeky message moulded into a component. I try not to make it too designery abstract – after all we’re not all design aficionados. For instance we designed a pool chlorinator chamber that looked like a hand grenade, because these things, if not designed, installed and operated correctly can explode. People in the pool industry referred to it as the grenade – a bit of fun for everyone and orders actually increased as the nickname was easier to remember than the catalogue serial number. This particular design became officially known as the most chlorine efficient producing chlorinator on the market by US Swimming Pool Association.

Arama Tea Light, re-release from 2003

8. What do you think is missing from the design scene in Australia? If anything?

There are a lot of things missing in the Australian Design scene, and it’s not the designer – it’s the public awareness, appreciation and integration of Design thinking into everyday life. If you go to Lyon, you see these magnificent designs for public transport, they aren’t to everyone’s taste – but they were designed on design principles and people love them. They weren’t engineered, they weren’t economised, they were designed with people in mind first. As a result they are appreciated, the upkeep is reduced and the longevity extended.

Real SKOOT please stand up.

9. What does the future hold for you, Skoot and Interphase Design?

At the moment I see a large Andrew’s Hamburger with the lot and a chilled White Rabbit ale from Healesville. SKOOT is getting the final runs of the very expensive world wide patent process, license deals are progressing and it’s getting ready for production, it’s expanding the model range, creating accessories and I hope people can enjoy it. I hope it gives people a smile. I hope it brings more people together. I hope in some small way design is put on the map again in Melbourne – or vice versa. As for InterphaseDesign, I plan to keep it intimate and sitting on the edge of design circles.

Copper Display Tree, with silicon hooks, for Scoogle shop - hand made european eyewear

10. Colin, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

The best lesson I’ve learnt, after being yourself, is – When you’re right, you’re not always right.

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Q&A with Michele Azzopardi from Design Victoria

Anna Lorenzetto — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:00:19 +0000

Michele Azzopardi

In this interview, Design Droplets New York correspondent and contributor Anna Lorenzetto spoke with the Director of Design Victoria, Michele Azzopardi.

Design Victoria is a Victorian State Government initiative that aims to increase the competitive skills of Victorian designers in local and export markets and develop the innovation and excellence capabilities of small to medium enterprises (SMEs). Design Victoria also have a fantastic website that is full of informative articles for both designers and businesses.

Follow Design Victoria on Twitter.

Highlights

The term design is used in a variety of contexts. It is quite commonly used in reference to an aesthetic value, which doesn’t necessarily reflect the value and power that good design can have. While aesthetics are important, they are only a sum of the parts when it comes to design.

Skills shortages pose a potential barrier to the increased dissemination of design use – the design industry may be significantly hindered if consultancies cannot meet demand for their services and if businesses cannot recruit designers to fill in-house positions.

There is a strong correlation between a company’s ability to launch new products, services or processes and the importance it places on design.

1. Michele, welcome to Design Droplets and thank you for speaking with us today. You are the Director of Design Victoria; for those who are unfamiliar with Design Victoria, could you give an overview of the organisation and what you and your team are responsible for.

Design Victoria is a State Government initiative that aims to increase the competitive skills of Victorian designers in local and export markets and develop the innovation and excellence capabilities of small to medium enterprises (SMEs).

The Case for Export - This publication was recently launched to inspire and assist Victorian designers to export their products and services with confidence

Through a range of informative and practical programs Design Victoria is helping design professionals and SMEs achieve commercial success.

Design Victoria’s Business Ready program delivers seminars and workshops that empower Victorian designers, design consultancies and in-house design teams with skills and knowledge to grow their business and better engage with industry. The events target various design disciplines including urban and landscape, industrial, multi-media, graphic, architecture, interior design, fashion and textile and design management and are tailored to address knowledge and skill gaps identified in the industry.

Through the Design Ready program, Design Victoria demonstrates to Victorian businesses how to use design to create innovative and profitable products and services to improve their competitiveness. This occurs through workshops, seminars and the Business Immersions program, which provides funding support for eligible businesses to receive hands-on design expertise to solve a business challenge and improve performance.

In the Design Knowledge program we conduct research and develop and distribute information that provides a better understanding of the cultural, social, environmental and economic impact of design, and practical, design-related resources for businesses and designers. This program is steadily developing a world-class body of localised knowledge on design, including how it is successfully being used by private and public enterprises.

Design Victoria is currently in our third year of delivery and to ensure we achieve the highest standard of outcomes in the delivery of our programs we partner with professional associations, leading business experts, industry peak bodies, tertiary education institutions and government.

2. Design is difficult to define; it’s an ambiguous term – a noun and a verb, it’s the doing, the result and the practise and it is now used to describe a multiplicity of ‘stuff’ from tampons to organisational planning. Is design a bastardised version of its former self and has it simply become a marketing ploy? What do you think people think of when they hear the word ‘design’? How does Design Victoria define design and which design disciplines does Design Victoria focus on?

Melbourne First Aid - This brand and identity was developed through Design Victoria's Business Immersions program, where a small business is partnered with a designer to produce a solution to a business problem through design. In this case, graphic design agency, Studio Round, developed a new brand and identity to assist Melbourne First Aid in export markets

The term design is used in a variety of contexts. It is quite commonly used in reference to an aesthetic value, which doesn’t necessarily reflect the value and power that good design can have. While aesthetics are important, they are only a sum of the parts when it comes to design.

Design is a capability that transforms products or services to improve their function, efficiency and style. We work across a broad range of design disciplines (as identified above) in identified knowledge and skills gaps areas, including intellectual property, sustainability, business development and export, to equip them with the ability to grow their business and better engage with industry. Further to that, Design Victoria focuses on increasing the proportion of design-using businesses in the Victorian government’s priority industry and research sectors which includes biotechnology, information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing technologies, energy and environmental technologies and retail.

3. Why has the Victorian State Government decided to focus on design; why at this point in time and what are the hoped for outcomes of this effort?

Although the Victorian Government has long recognised the importance of design (identifying it as one of state’s strategic capabilities in its 2002 Innovation Statement “Victorians. Bright Ideas. Brilliant Future.”) the inception of Design Victoria was inspired by two reports published in 2003 which highlighted the number of people employed directly and indirectly in design in the State [of Victoria], and the vital flow-on effect of design and its ability to inspire and transform other industry sectors.

Through the Design Victoria Strategy, the Victorian Government is encouraging the design-led growth of Victorian industry through a comprehensive strategy backed by a $15 million investment over four years. Design Victoria aims to drive design excellence, create a more globally competitive design sector and encourage the design-led growth of Victorian industries, enriching the economy and the Victorian community.

In 2008 we launched the research report “Five Years On. Victoria’s Design Sector 2003-2008” which examined the characteristics and capabilities of the design sector, how small to medium enterprises use and value design, and the impact of design on Victoria’s economy to enable industry and the design sector to benchmark and improve performance. It found Victoria’s design sector to be highly competitive, contributing $7 billion annually to our economy and accounting for over $300 million in design-related exports. Importantly, it found that there is potential for significant growth.

4. Why is design important?

Design fosters a culture of innovation and creativity not only in business through the development, presentation and branding of products processes or services but it also touches and enhances our lives through enriching cultural and social experiences, uniquely shaping Victoria’s future as an enjoyable, creative, vibrant and sustainable place to live, work, play and visit.

5. Who should drive the use of design, the consumer or commerce?

Both. Business inevitably designs products and services in response to consumer needs and wants. However, design by its very nature fosters new innovations and can create consumer needs.

6. In the United States, where the ‘industrial designer’ was created, there is a 90 year history of designers working with and for commerce to further sales; design is seen (in the US) as an embedded cost of getting a product to market and design as a function is woven into the strategic planning of businesses and retailers. A great case in point is mainstream retailer Target which has dedicated in-house design teams working across many diverse product categories, but which also makes use of outside industrial design consultants. How does a country like Australia, where this is not the case, make up for ‘lost ground’? How do you enculturate a mainstream commercial sector into embedding design as an ‘on-road-cost’ and not an ‘optional extra’?

It’s certainly something that will take some time – to change the mindset so that design is considered integral to business, as important to the bottom line as R&D or marketing.

Oscar Furniture - This chair design was also developed through the Business Immersions program. Oscar Furniture, a manufacturer in the lift-assist chair market, was partnered with industrial designer agency, Ideation. Having previously developed a medical procedure chair prototype for the healthcare industry, Oscar recognised they required assistance with the functionality and marketability of the design.

Although the number of Victorian SMEs using and benefiting from design is positive, there are opportunities for a greater use of design. Our research identified several barriers to businesses using design – many don’t understand the value a trained designer can add to their business while other non-design users cite a lack of perceived need. The ‘pay back’ from using design is also not apparent to many businesses. If it were perceived that good design would save time and increase profits in the long run it would seem likely that they would find the time and resources to engage design consultancies.

Design Victoria is demonstrating to businesses the value of design and the ways it can be used to achieve higher business gains through market share, profitability and improved competitiveness. Our Design Ready seminars and workshops aim to impart this knowledge and equip businesses with the necessary skills to embed design into their business.

Oscar Furniture

We are also building a world-class body of localised knowledge on design. This wealth of information showing the benefits of design to business can be found on our website – there are some really good case studies there that document the experiences and outcomes of businesses working with designers to solve business problems.

7. Design Victoria’s report, “Five years on, Victoria’s Design Sector, 2003-2008”, refers to the Design Innovation Ladder (developed in Denmark), a tool that is used to demonstrate a company’s level of design activity. The report highlighted that only 4% of businesses in Victoria are positioned in the top level of this ladder, signifying that those businesses use design to drive innovation and that 72% of businesses are positioned in the bottom tier, where design has little or no presence in the business overall. Can you give us a profile of what a business in the top level looks like? What are your hopes for the other 72%; what reduction is Design Victoria aiming for?

Victorian businesses are embracing design at a similar rate to countries of comparable populations, such as Ireland and Denmark (an early design leader). In 2004, 36% of all business in Denmark made some use of design; in 2008, 37% of all businesses in Victoria (totalling 69,000 organisations) benefit from using design services. While Victoria compares well internationally, there are opportunities for still more effective use of design and greater business value for those organisations currently on the lower rungs of the ladder.

SMEs with profit growth of 90% or more over the past three years, were more likely to use design than other businesses, and much more likely to be on the higher rungs (3 and 4 ) of the ladder. Common to those businesses positioned on the top rung of the Design Innovation Ladder is the valuing of design as a strategic, core business activity – a large proportion credit the introduction of new products and services and increased sales volume to the use of design.

Through the Design Ready and Business Ready programs, Design Victoria is working to develop the design innovation and excellence capabilities of SMEs positioned on these lower rungs, creating innovative Victorian industries where design underpins competitiveness and export performance, to progress them up the Design Innovation Ladder.

8. The report also states that, “…a new generation of industrial designers are [sic] required to exploit emerging opportunities in the environmental and energy sectors”. Can you explain what this means and what the future implications will be for established designers, young graduates and the role of design education?

Skills shortages pose a potential barrier to the increased dissemination of design use – the design industry may be significantly hindered if consultancies cannot meet demand for their services and if businesses cannot recruit designers to fill in-house positions. The research looked at the extent to which recruitment of suitable personnel was a problem in design consultancies and businesses with in-house designers. Concerns are around those staff available, lacking the right skills and not enough graduates in relevant disciplines. The situation was amplified among industrial design consultancies with 59% indicating it is a problem.

Skill shortages in design need to be addressed, particularly within the industrial design sector. This is essential to underpin and ensure the success of new growth industries, including environmental and waste management and alternative energy products and services.

9. There is a clear correlation between the demand for a company’s goods and services and its use of design. Can you give us an explanation of the relationship between profit and the use of design?

What is Eco-design? is an online eco-design resource for industrial, graphic, fashion and textile designers

There is a strong correlation between a company’s ability to launch new products, services or processes and the importance it places on design. Analysis by the UK Design Council found that a portfolio of design-led companies outperformed the stock market average by 200% over a 10 year period.

Businesses that embrace design are better prepared to open up new local and export markets, attract investors, meet the changing demands of markets, improve sustainability practices and business processes to become more competitive. They profit by using design to build brand and identity, reduce production costs, increase price premiums and to create innovative and profitable products and services.

Obviously there is a more complex relationship between innovation, design and business success than simply the greater the influence of design within an enterprise, the greater the success it will have. However, our research contributes to the growing body of international research that clearly demonstrates that users of design are more likely to show a growth in profits, and to show a higher rate of growth of profits than non-users.

10.Michelle, thank you, but before we wrap –up, some really important questions for you. You travel a lot, list for us some hits and memories:

(a) What and where was your most memorable meal?
An Indian Banquet at Raffles Hotel in Singapore where the flavours and fragrances were so exact, delicious and memorable.

(b) What place superseded your expectations once you got there?
Most recently the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria.

(c) What is the best airport to be stuck in and why?
I don’t believe any!

(d) If you were despatching your nemesis where would you send them?
Somewhere where I wouldn’t have cause to happen upon he or she…

Michele Azzopardi, thank you for your time today and all the best from Design Droplets.

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Designer Q&A with Annemarie Jamieson from Box & Dice

Raph Goldsworthy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:44:01 +0000

Annemarie Jamieson is a Project Manager at Sydney based Box & Dice. Box & Dice is a modelmaking and prototyping company. In this interview I had the chance to chat with Annemarie about what Box & Dice does, common mistakes that Industrial Designers make when utilising prototyping services, the disadvanatges of computers and CAD in prototyping, and lots more.

You also get a peek at the inside of the modelling workshop at Box & Dice, as they have been kind enough to provide some great photos for your viewing pleasure.

You can connect with Box & Dice on Twitter.

Highlights

“What has happened, though, is that people have become entranced by these technologies and sometimes forget the old tricks and processes that in different situations can achieve a better or quicker outcome than getting on the computer – hard to believe but sometimes it’s true!”

“Another pickle that designers find themselves in is when they decide how much something costs to prototype before consulting us and then make promises to their client. We spend a good hour or more on the more complex quotations and we’re the experts! So it’s not likely they’re going to get their guesstimate just right. We are always happy to tailor the project to the budgets and needs of the client, but the earlier you can get us involved in your estimates, the better.”

“We are certainly seeing the rise of the “everyman” designer. We have a bit of a saying around here, that if someone comes to us and says “It’s never been done before” then there’s usually a very good reason!”

1. Annemarie, Welcome to Design Droplets. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us, could you please give us a quick introduction on yourself.

Thanks Raph, great to be chatting with you. To introduce myself I guess I’d have to say that I’m an Industrial Designer turned Project Manager for a modelmaking and prototyping company here in Sydney called Box and Dice. I spend my days in our studio and workshop collaborating with designers and engineers looking to see their hard work in design coming to fruition for the first time as a working prototype or display model. I really enjoy seeing products emerging out of raw materials each day, it’s such a buzz to hold something in your hand that’s only existed on screen up until now. The learning process is also really fascinating. The strangest things end up happening when you move into 3D, things don’t fit that looked fine on screen or the scale totally changes once it’s in your hand, things like that end up surprising me every day – and surprising the designers too.

Main prototype assembly and work bench area

2. You are part of the team at Box & Dice a prototyping and modelmaking workshop in Sydney, can you tell us a bit about Box & Dice and the team there?

Sure. Box and Dice just celebrated its 21st birthday last week so we’ve been around for a long time now. We have two directors, Rick and Allan (aka Speed), who are legends around the design community and have seen it change and grow over the years. Rick comes from a toolmaking background and is the technical dictionary here at Box and Dice – his knowledge on every process under the sun never seems to end. Speed comes from an Industrial Design background and is always coming up with new ideas or ways things can be done, so it’s lucky we have a workshop on hand that he can try all that design thinking out in!

Kalina and myself are the Project Management gurus, aiming to keep our clients happy and our projects on track and running smoothly. I suppose we’re the bridge between client and workshop. The guys in the workshop have a really diverse range of skills with most of them coming from toolmaking or patternmaking backgrounds originally as well as a couple with some serious CNC experience behind them. Between the 5 of them they’ve got 50 years of experience in the modelmaking and prototyping industry (just counting their time here at Box and Dice), and that’s not to mention Rick and Speed’s 42 years between the 2 of them. So I guess I’d say we’re experienced!

Grinding back a metal frame

3. What services does Box & Dice offer?

Traditionally we’d call ourselves a modelmaking and prototyping company offering a complete service from start to finish, this really just means that we have a very flexible workshop and love tackling unique and one-off projects. Our real strength is that we don’t just make parts, we make them work together. When we quote to make something, we include getting it to a point where it is actually doing what it’s supposed to, assembled and ready to go. A lot of other services just make the parts and leave their clients to make it work, and as I said before there is always a surprise to deal with in prototyping, so that just isn’t a helpful approach.

To be more specific about our services, we offer 3D CAD modeling and design detailing, CNC machining, CNC turning, manual machining, silicon moulding, vacuum forming, SLA/SLS finishing, high end painting, polishing, sheet metal bending and rolling, assembly work and the list goes on. So it’s a really diverse range of services that is all brought together under the one roof. Anything that we can’t do here we have a partner that we work with on, and our strong relationships built over many years help us to offer those services with confidence as well.

Spraying acrylic lacquer

4. Can you give us a brief case study of how Box & Dice can help Industrial Designers?

I suppose I don’t want to mention any particular projects, no favouritism here! But so many projects travel the same course that I can give you some general principles, 1. prototyping brings up a lot of issues and prototyping solves a lot of those issues, 2. Box and Dice can’t stop getting involved with the designs that we meet, use us for our knowledge and experience, 3. sometimes we’re the only people who can help – we honestly get that a lot.

Injection Moulded Silicon Replica Implant for Cochlear

5. There are three Industrial Designers at Box & Dice, how do they contribute to Box & Dice?

While all three of us would say that officially we’re not working as designers, unofficially that’s not really the case. Our contribution to Box and Dice is mostly in the form of being able to bridge the sometimes large gap between the big ideas and concepts that designers come to us with and the nitty gritty of what happens in the workshop. Having a design education is vital for us to understand where our clients are coming from and to work with them through some of the detailing of their design and decision-making about manufacturing processes and constraints.

Compound angle machining on a manual vertical milling machine

6. What is the most exciting project you have had the pleasure of working on while at Box & Dice?

That’s a super hard question because I reckon we get about 5-10 whacky project enquiries through the door every day and nothing is ever the same as something we’ve seen before! I can think of one project that came to us from an Interior Architect. Like anything satisfying or exciting I’d say it was more hard work than pleasure, but the end result almost made up for all of the heartache along the way. It came in as a series of sketches and renderings showing a final concept for a cave-like, metallic nightclub installation, no mention of any CAD data, detailed design work or anything concrete. The concept caught our attention and we naturally got to brainstorming about how something like that could be done. Over a few internal meetings, all before putting together a quote of any sort, we’d pretty much resolved a workable approach to the project.

I can tell you that what came after was probably the most grueling and challenging project we’ve attempted in the 5 years since I’ve worked at Box and Dice, just such a huge scale to work on, but the detailing of every section required such careful attention. We came to a few points where it was hard to see a way forward, which is when people like Rick, with his ability to solve any project, are a total God-send. Anyway, we got there in the end. The result is pretty jaw-dropping (there are few photos on the Box & Dice Flickr account) and we can’t really believe that we did such a good job of recreating the original vision – it’s great to even surprise yourself! So yes, exciting and rewarding but maybe not so pleasurable?!

Folded metal modular wall fitting in Soho Nightclub, Kings Cross

7. Computers have brought many benefits to the prototyping process and the production process (eg: CNC, CAD, reduced lead times & increased complexity), as well as opened the door to many new technologies (eg: SLS & SLA). What disadvantages, if any, are there to utilizing computers & CAD in prototyping & production?

There are so many benefits which you’ve mentioned that computers and new technologies have brought to modelmaking. Things that took us days before or even some things that were impossible to achieve at all are now done fairly simply and with little effort – so that’s great. What has happened, though, is that people have become entranced by these technologies and sometimes forget the old tricks and processes that in different situations can achieve a better or quicker outcome than getting on the computer – hard to believe but sometimes it’s true! So that’s one disadvantage, getting caught up in it all at the expense of rational choices about using the best combination of processes.

Pouring urethane resin into a silicon mould

8. Computers & the Internet have also led to prototyping technologies being extremely accessible to not only trained designers, but also to the mass market (an excellent example of this is Ponoko). What impact do you think this will have/is having on the Industrial Design and Prototyping industry? Is this impact positive or negative?

We are certainly seeing the rise of the “everyman” designer. We have a bit of a saying around here, that if someone comes to us and says “It’s never been done before” then there’s usually a very good reason! It takes a designer or engineer with a good command of manufacturing processes and how to detail a design well to come up with a product that will prove useful, resilient and enduring. There’s no use having something that looks fantastic as a prototype but is either impossible to produce or otherwise after production is found not to work or not to prove enduring, and you won’t find many manufacturers in China who will challenge you on the quality of your product. So I think we need to continue valuing the work of the Industrial Designer and the development process that they pursue because the last thing this planet needs is more junk! On the other hand, I’m a great fan of Ponoko and the creativity it inspires.

Painted block model of Victa mower

9. What are some of the common mistakes that Industrial Designers make when utilizing prototyping services?

From our experience their biggest mistake is making a supplier decision solely on price – too often we have people come to us with a shonky model that they desperately need us to fix in time for their super important meeting. By the time we’ve undone and redone the work it would have been cheaper, not to mention less stressful, to have us do it in the first place. You get what you pay for people!

Of course there’s lead time. When we receive a CAD file it’s not simply a matter of plugging it into the CNC machine and out it pops – there is time spent programming, setting-up the machine, running the machine and then afterwards cleaning it up and doing any finishing work (it’s the same with SLA and other similar processes to an extent). It’s one thing to need something in a hurry, that’s OK and we thrive on busy-ness, but it’s another to expect a complete model to be finished in less time than it takes for the machine to run!

Another pickle that designers find themselves in is when they decide how much something costs to prototype before consulting us and then make promises to their client. We spend a good hour or more on the more complex quotations and we’re the experts! So it’s not likely they’re going to get their guesstimate just right. We are always happy to tailor the project to the budgets and needs of the client, but the earlier you can get us involved in your estimates, the better.

Then there are a few minor pointers that we find coming up at different times, like specifying materials that aren’t readily available in Australia, or changing the brief or parts list after the quotation and expecting the quotation not to change (that’s an interesting one to navigate!), or specifying wall thicknesses or other dimensions that just aren’t possible, things like that. We find it works best when designers involve us in their process and ask us questions about materials and tolerances and the like before finalizing their design work. They get a lot out of the process and we end up with parts that are possible to make, it’s a win-win!

Really it’s all about dialogue, and the earlier the better! Less stress, better outcomes.

Vertical milling machine with main workshop area in background

10. Annemarie, thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at Design Droplets. Do you have any final thoughts or advice for Design Droplets readers?

Yes, I read a comment by a wise sage (@Penzacola) on Twitter…“Skip prototyping is like going into a fight holding a bigger gun than the other guy, but with your eyes folded and ears muffled”.

Router cut plywood Flex Hammock (designed by Adam Cornish)