By design
Michael Smythe's book puts 'number 8' thinking and Kiwiana in their place.
Wednesday, October 26 2011 || Books || BY Amanda Sachtleben
As a freelance design writer I realised I had begun documenting history in the form of obituaries — not the best approach. After gaining my Master of Design Management, which equipped me to strategise our design-driven future, I was invited to teach design history to Bachelor of Product Design students. The much needed reference book was conspicuous by its absence.
How has isolation influenced the products Kiwis have designed?
It is our everlasting point of difference. It has influenced everything from the evolution of a unique Maori version of Pacific design to the reinvention of design driven, global firms based in New Zealand, like Fisher & Paykel. Most importantly our isolation allows us to view developments across many economies and cultures,then think about how to get back to first principles and create something better.
You bust some myths about products dear to our hearts, like the buzzy bee and the jet boat. How could you?
With consummate ease! I have nothing against the myth, but prefer to be accurate with our young history. Besides, the truth about the buzzy bee is far more interesting than the often told story that it was the creation of Hec and John Ramsey — and I really enjoyed interviewing the 95-year-old widow of its original designer/maker. I was very happy to expunge the myth that the Americans introduced it to us.
There remains much to be proud of in the stories of great Kiwis innovating products like the jet boat and the electric fence. We did not invent the basic concepts (Bill Hamilton and Bill Gallagher both read Popular Mechanics magazine) but each is an example of our ability to take new ideas further.
Is Kiwiana kitsch or something we should be
proud of?
Not proud, but it is a healthy expression of our character and confidence if we enjoy it for what it is. It only becomes a problem if we think that is all there is to our manufactured cultural identity. My book concludes that while Kiwiana has probably played an important role in our adolescent evolution, it’s time to move on before we come down with chronic cliché consumption.
Which of our recent product inventions has the biggest potential for global success?
The Yike Bike could become a widely used daily transport option. It has the ‘ihi, wehi and wana’ (a valuable Maori concept of which aspects can be compared to emotional attraction or an ‘ x factor’) to excite those open to new experiences. Its basic concept and detailed design resolution appears to align well with contemporary lifestyles – especially in cycle friendly cities. The real potential for success lies with continuously improving brands rather than single products. I see design driven companies like Fisher & Paykel Appliances, Formway, Methven and Phil & Teds going from strength to strength. Long term investment in IP-rich enterprise, with a deep design led culture, will deliver global competitive advantage.
What’s your favourite design and why?
Singling out one is impossible. I wish I had a set of the Crown Crystal glassware that John Densem designed for our Geyser Room restaurant at Expo 70. I love interacting with Peter Haythornthwaite’s arti-fakt-s Saturn Disc pen holder and swivelling sticky tape dispenser while sitting in my Life chair developed by Formway/Mark Pennington. Beyond life I would like my body to be placed in one of Andrew Hubbard’s Tenderest Nextgen coffins.
