In a previous post back I talked about the organic and beautiful designs by Mike Hindmarsh,
the New Zealand based designer.
Here's an interview that might be of use to design student and recent graduates or even retailers looking
to collaborate with a designer in crystallizing their vision for their shop display.
Q-What inspires you in your designs?
A-I am, more often than not, inspired by the materials I am using. I work predominantly with plywood and I enjoy the challenge of creating mass from the flat planes of this material (through either stacking, laminating or interlocking)
Q-Do you have a predefined creative process? How do you go about it?
A-The physical parameters of the brief usually dictate where the process starts. Ergonomics or sizes provided by the client. The rest of the design has to fit around this. A recent job was to design a brochure rack. This was dictated by the size and number of brochures displayed, The angle they sit at, how high of the floor they were placed etc. The trick is taking all this into account...and to make it look nice!
If you could give one piece of advice to a recent design school graduate, what would that be?
Try to get some practical making experience in some form. It can really inform your design process if you know technically, how to put a piece of furniture together. It's a big part of the creative process and helped me develop my own style.
Q- As far as the retailer is concerned, which aspects should they have clear before coming to see you.- ? A- Use as much physical info as possible, floor plans, what storage sizes they need etc. They have usually come to me through seeing my work somewhere and liking it, so I don't usually have constraints over looks.
Q-Do you have some advice to retailers wanting to commission their first point of sale display or shelving structure, in order to avoid some common mistakes and make the most out of the collaboration with you ?
A-Make a note of everything you want from the display unit. Do you need it to flat pack? sustainable materials? sizes, weights and quantities of items you want to store? Maximum overall size of stand etc. I can then work through the points with the client and produce something custom made to their requirements.
Q-Have you worked, are you available to work on overseas projects?
A-I have sent ready to assemble shelving overseas before. At the moment I am looking for an overseas manufacturer/marketer to work in conjunction with to produce my designs to a larger market. New Zealand is comparatively tiny and isolated in this regard. Ideally they would have an Environmentally friendly ethos to their business as the designs lend themselves to this through being Flat-packable and made from sustainable materials.
I hope you find this interesting, for further news from Mike Hindmarsh you can check his new blog or his business website.
