Design+Creative Direction
Furniture Worx New Zealand wanted to start manufacturing their own products locally. They asked me to design an affordable cafe chair. The result was stackable, durable & lightweight chair that utilized the strengths of local manufacturers: tapered steel tube & molded plywood. There was a lot of youthful energy in the cafe industry at the time, so I made the first products in bright colored plywood to reflect that energy.
In the mid 90s I tried my hand at designing & producing apparel. The goal was to produce functional outerwear that utilized natural & environmentally sensible materials & processes. Waxed cotton, silk & wool insulation were used to provide protection, comfort & warmth. Leather trim added a nice finishing touch. The products worked well & I felt they provided a much needed alternative to the synthetic, soul-deficient outerwear of the time. The apparel line never got off the ground, but the knowledge I gained became very useful when I went to work for Nike years later.
Aesthetic Lighting (New Zealand) wanted a new commercial lighting system that could be highly customized & produced locally. The Blade Lighting System was the result.
A large aluminium extrusion carries various customizable components, including energy efficient fluorescent tubes & incandescent spotlights. This design is still in production 20 years after it’s inception & is sold internationally. It received the Premier Luminaire Design Award at the IES lighting Awards in 1995 & put Custance Associates on the map for product design. This was my first design job & I was fortunate to learn fabrication basics from a great team.