Smarter Products Designers

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Designer of the Month

November 2008

Graham Renny
Big G Products

Graham's training as an engineer began as an apprentice and studying at evening classes. Despite suffering with dyslexia, which in the early days was badly misunderstood, Graham worked resolutely to build a successful and rewarding career. He was originally involved in mining and agriculture then later moved into the oil world. His work took him and his family all over the world, including West Australia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, France, Kuala Lumpur, Korea and Ireland.

Graham was married in 1960 to Susan - his childhood sweetheart. Forty seven years later, they have three sons and five grandchildren and have found themselves full time entrepreneurs due to the invention of the Grab-O-Saurus!

Whilst at home in Herefordshire, Graham realised that the painstaking work of picking up horse droppings and garden waste could be made so much easier and less painful! In keeping with his lifelong habit of solving practical problems by simply inventing a suitable device to overcome them, he set about creating a tool which would help with back-breaking but necessary tasks. Hence the Grab-O-Saurus was born!

With lots of enthusiasm from friends, professional guidance, help from their sons and the award of two grants towards the furtherance of the Grab-O-Saurus, Graham and Susan have seen it through from conception less than two years ago, to its manufacture and distribution throughout Britain today. Once Graham realised how popular the device would be - he took advice from his sons and began the lengthy process of patenting. With the help of their patent attorney, UK and US patents were granted within a year and the European patent is expected soon.

For gardeners at all levels, the Grab-O-Saurus has proved to be their best companion, efficiently cleaning up waste - from leaves to fallen fruit to grass cuttings to animal droppings - from the smallest objects to the heaviest loads. Combine this quality with the fact that it puts an end to stooping or bending and speeds up the tidying process, clearly Graham has created a very special new gardening and general purpose aid for people of all ages.

October2008

rob law

Rob Law
Magmatic

Bristol based product designer Rob Law was born 30 August 1977. He attended the University of Northumbria from 1996 to 2000 and received first class honours BA Design for Industry (Product Design).

Trunki is the brainchild of Rob Law and it's a brainchild with a particularly long gestation period. The original idea won Rob a national luggage design competition back in 1998, but it's taken years to build and test prototypes and incorporate feedback from both children and parents. Rob carried on development work while practising as a product designer working in Australia, Taiwan & New York. He set up Magmatic with the aid of a Prince's Youth Trust business start-up award in February 2003 and successfully licensed his design to an established toy distribution concern, which subsequently went bust in October 2005.

Undaunted, he decided to go it alone and received his first stock in May 2006 with a plan to sell mainly online.

Rob's business was given an unexpected lift when a chance blog entry led to an enquiry and eventual inclusion in the prestigious Museum Of Modern Art (MoMa in New York) gift catalogue. Plus a lucrative partnership deal in Japan. Orders have come in from all over the world. One trade customer in the Middle East has bought more than 22,000 Trunkis.

Rob said, "My business plan was quite conservative: this year: the UK. Next year: Europe and the year after, look at the rest of the world. That's the beauty of the internet. It doesn't recognise geographic boundaries and we're achieving all three goals in one. The MoMa and Japan deals are a brilliant demonstration of the power of an influential design blog."

It's also a brilliant example of how the internet can react swiftly to the appeal of a good award-winning, design-led idea, and high quality execution, backed by good quality online marketing & PR.

Rob says, "I've never had to advertise Trunki. I don't see any point in paying for advertising when we have a strong enough idea to get 'free' media publicity. We're delighted with the results." That impressive media exposure got another boost when Rob appeared in the last series of the BBC's Dragon's Den.

And there's no doubt that Trunki turns heads wherever they go. The bright pink or blue cases (respectively named Terrance and Trixie ) have 18 litres of storage space inside. Part of their success has been what Rob describes as an "indiscriminate animal shape. Some think it's an elephant, others a dog or cow. Kids like to use their imagination"

They are made in durable plastic with soft rubber rims and a stable wheelbase. Rob says, "Quality has always been an priority for us, and we have passed the European safety standard, so all Trunkis carry the CE kitemark. Environmental concerns are also important to us, and Trunkis are fully recyclable. But the best way to recycle is to re-use, and by making high quality goods that last, you automatically cut down on waste as Trunkis are passed on to others. Any damaged goods returned to us are cut in half and used for display purposes. We've never put one in landfill yet."

September 2008

Stéphane Vue, Dennis Fritsch and Fred Frilloux Y-PLY "The idea came up a few years ago on a beach in La Rochelle…. A group of friends realised that a fisherman's stool diverted from its normal use could prove really comfortable sitting positions on the sand.
"Why not add some fabric to make a pillow out of it as well… the legs should dig better into the ground…. It has to be convenient, light and fashionable" Each member of the team having a complementary skill (commerce, engineering, distribution, company management) combined with the contribution of a design agency, all this put together gave birth to Y-ply: a smart, simple and stylish product. "It finally took us two years to add the last touch to Y-ply, but when we use it now we wonder why we didn't think of it earlier!"

August 2008

Anthony Broad Salmon Luke - Bowl and Cutlery Set "When our first child, Samuel, was around nine months old he began to feed himself. At first it was finger food. Then, once he could hold a spoon, he demanded to self-feed and would only take a few spoonfuls from us after a lot of coaxing. This turned out to be quite a stressful time for the whole family. Samuel was really frustrated that he couldn't feed himself and we were worried that he wasn't getting enough to eat.
We must have spent a fortune trying every combination of children's tableware on the market. The result? Nothing really worked. Then we had a life-changing idea. If we could not buy something to help Samuel, we would make something. Little did we know that this was going to be a three year journey, during which time we would increase our research group by having another baby. For a long while, our evenings were spent making cutlery and clay bowls of all shapes and sizes which we would test on the children the next day. We kept doing this, making improvements along the way, until we were satisfied we'd solved every problem we encountered. We think the Salmon Luke Me-Feed-Me Collection is the best dinnerware in the world, and the only one to really give young self-feeders a helping hand. We hope it helps you and your family to have happier, more peaceful mealtimes and more time to play, learn and explore together. From our family to yours, Anthony, Kaye, Samuel and Luke

July 2008

Ade Andu Plantpal It all began when Ade decided to start keeping plants, as a novice to plant care he ended up killing a few plants from over watering. He was also away from home a lot and many plants died from lack of watering. Ade's background in engineering and an understanding of fluid flow dynamics got him thinking of finding a solution to plant self watering.
Ade went on to invent the ultimate plant watering system and entered it in a regional competition and won first prize for the best invention. That was the easy part. With a good invention and recognition from a local competition the next stage was to turn the invention into a marketable product. This was challenging but with perseverance and help from a colleague and the local business centre, the first product was ready. They sold some, but this was not the ideal design it was cumbersome and expensive to manufacture. Ade went back to the drawing board and in time discovered a manufacturing process that was ideal. The next stage was to get a financial backer and launch the product, this was even more of a challenge. Ade contacted many distributors and visited many companies with the hope of selling his idea, but faced a lot of rejection. Many times he came across the "not invented here syndrome", but was not deterred! Ade kept on going, entering competitions and winning, and to date has won awards & commendation from 6 UK institutions including coming in the Top 10 in the National HSBC Start-Up Awards. Finally the opportunity came to present his idea on Dragon's Den. Immediately the dragons loved it and 4 out 5 wanted to invest. Ade was offering 25% equity, he would have accepted 30% but they wanted 48% and that killed the deal. Disappointed but not deterred, Ade kept going until he met a bank manager who took a chance on his project and gave him the opportunity to develop and produce the products and packaging. Plantpal is now on sale in the UK, Japan, France, Switzerland, Ireland & Germany. Ade says "With tenacious perseverance and determination I kept the dream alive, knowing that one day I will get a big break and Plantpal will become a standard plant care accessory. Plantpal is now ready to take on the world and the rest as they say is history… Watch out Wal-Mart here I come!"

June 2008

Mark Champkins
Concentrate

Mark Champkins, 30, studied Manufacturing and Engineering (MET) at Cambridge and followed it up with an MA in Design at London's Royal College of Art. "There was a big contrast between the logical thinking required for engineering and the lateral creative thinking used in product design" Mark recalls "I learnt to draw, and notice things". He made a range of crockery that can heat instantly to 60° at the touch of a button - a design that won him British Inventor of the Year 2002.

After graduating Mark was asked to stay on at the RCA to do research into how the design of school environments and equipment could help to improve standards of education in the UK. "I worked with a number of schools that were moving to new premises" he says "And I found that quite often, despite the government investing billions of pounds in new buildings, the absolute essentials for learning had been overlooked in preference of futuristic-looking architecture and equipment". Mark often found children in a new school still fidgeting on the same hard, plastic chairs with the same lack of water provision and the same caterers as in the old building. "The kids were losing their focus for all the same reasons" he says "they were eating unhealthily and just as dehydrated and uncomfortable as they were before".

So Mark set about designing his 'Concentrate' range - from a rucksack that goes on the back of the chair and provides a cushion to the lunch box that protects fruit from bruising to the water bottle combined with pen holder for the child's desk - all these things encourage children (and their parents) to choose more healthy options - which is proven to help concentration considerably.

Mark has been described as the 'Jamie Oliver of the design world'!

Smarter Products will soon be stocking Mark's full range of Concentrate products - so keep a look out for the Chair Pad Bag and Bottle Cooler Pen Holder.

May 2008

Jani Martikainen (MA)
Majamoo

Jani Martikainen owns Majamoo, the Finnish design company that produces timeless, quality tableware and accessories for everyday use.

Born in 1971 in Finland, Jani went on to graduate from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki UIAH with a degree in Furniture Design and Interior Architecture (MA). Jani worked in several design companies in Finland and Russia before starting Majamoo in 1998. Jani says - "Our motto is to combine functional design with high quality materials"

A taster of Jani's latest products:

Kitastick Linking Chopsticks were designed by Jani Martikainen and Risto Talonpoika. These unique chopsticks link together for easy use; great for dinner parties, a guaranteed talking point and a fun way to introduce children to oriental food.

Majamoo Wooden Trivets - Simple and functional pot stands; beautifully designed and handmade from the Finnish birch plywood. Well fitted for hot pots or cold dishes. Pair of trivets can be used separately or nested together. 'There is no apparent joint in the curve and people spend hours trying to find it. Almost too stylish to plonk a pot plant on, these groovy bases are better suited to a coffee table display - if the coffee table can live up to the standard, that is' M.Matthews, Intelligence, Melbourne Magazine 6/2003. This product was awarded a prize in Alvar Aalto's centenary year competition.

Majamoo Wooden Serving Trays - The curvy modern shape of these Wooden Trays draws inspiration from the classic Alvar Aalto design. Made from lacquered birch plywood, these wooden trays measure 17-1/4" (44 cm) across the widest point.

April 2008

Alan Hucks
Hucks Design

Alan Hucks is the founder of
HucksDesign and is keen to
promote the development of
innovative New Zealand design
products.

Alan Hucks is 38 years old and is an industrial designer from Wellington, New Zealand. He has a post graduate diploma in Industrial Design from the prestigious Massey University School of Design in Wellington. Alan also has a degree in Philosophy and Anthropology.
After seven years travelling and working throughout the world Alan returned to New Zealand in 2000 and started his own business designing and manufacturing homewares, accessories and jewellery. His business, Paua2thePeople was also a gallery which featured products from other contemporary New Zealand artists and designers. After six years Alan sold the business and began to develop some of the products he had designed during his time at University.
designchain™ was the result of a furniture paper brief to design storage for something precious. Hucks' Pinot Noir collection was indeed precious so he took the concept of functional art to creating the perfect wine rack. By taking all the necessary criteria for a successful wine rack and adding sculptural and interactive to the list, he created a new product based on the simple, familiar principles of the bicycle chain. As a product it became so much more than a wine rack and has emerged after modifications as a complete storage system for anywhere and for anything that can be placed inside the tubes. Whether stacked, stood up or mounted to the wall, the designchain™ is a revolutionary concept in flexible storage.
Alan Hucks took his idea to the leading design retailer in New Zealand, Matisse, and teamed up with Alan Bertenshaw. Together they founded Hucks Design with the intention of continuing to build a brand based on quality innovative products that solve everyday problems and do it with a sense of style and fun.
Hucks Design plans to introduce and promote fresh design products coming out of New Zealand from young designers who would normally struggle to find an avenue to get their products developed.

Alan describes the background behind designchain™ - "Imagine a wine rack you can place anywhere, store your bottles safely and have fun designing yourself. Think of a bike chain and how it works, how it moves. Enlarge the concept to fit bottles and you have an interactive, fun and functional storage solution to inspire your creative spirit. The designchain™ will allow you to make a sculpture or a design that can be changed at will. You can add more links and create a work of art on the wall if you desire. It can be split up into smaller units and carry a selection of wine with safety. To assemble it is like Lego for adults. By making up sets of smaller links you can attach them together to form a chain. You can leave it with open ends or close it up as a complete loop. Each method will leave you further design options. Versatile and easily managed, the designchain™ will hold your precious cargo safely even when moving or changing the design to suit another spot. The fact that it can be used upright means you can hold everything from flowers to utensils to magazines. The glory of the design is its versatility so go ahead and find your use for it!" Alan Hucks, Hucks Design

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