November 2011

Kick start summer with our colourful new issue of homestyle which is on sale this week.

We're loving the outdoor cabana at the Gregorys' home in Whangamata as featured on our cover. Create your own with our picks below:

TOP LEFT TO RIGHT: Cushions in Parquet, Christo and Peggy designs printed to order from Sparkk, Citta San Filipe Glass Jug $29.90, Citta San Filipe Glass Tumblers $28.90, Citta Moroccoan Beach Bag $39.90, Sunnylife Bamboo Serving Tray $49.95, Papaya Jardiniere Atriums from $45.

Are you keen on gardening, but not too sure about the mechanics? Anxious about powdery mildew or wanting to prevent rust? 

Yes? It sounds like you need to attend the Daltons School of Gardening, a series of free public workshops in Auckland.
On Saturday, November 26, award-winning landscape designer and celebrity gardener Xanthe White, featured in the next homestyle magazine, will talk about what you could be doing now to discourage diseases in your garden. Take along your affected plants for the Daltons expert to identify.

Classes are held the last weekend of each month at Daltons Landscape Supplies yard, 1 Morrin Rd, Mt Wellington. The next class is Saturday, November 26, from 2 to 4pm. For more details click here!

See the next homestyle for Xanthe’s amazing garden created for Daltons in Matamata, plus you could win a landscape plan for your garden. Dec/Jan issue out November 28.

Like the idea of fresh eggs from your backyard, but don't like the look of regular chicken coops? Then this is for you! The clever people at www.nogg.co  have designed a modern chicken coop that looks more like sculpture. The nogg transcends ideas of what a chicken house usually looks like and is designed to encourage domestic farming while adding a touch of playful elegance.

In our current Oct/Nov issue of the magazine we talked to product designer,  Catherine David about her designs and what New Zealand Made and sustainable design means to her. Check out the extended version of the interview below.

What was your first product to hit the market?
My first product to hit the market were a range of hand printed, cotton, black and white cushions with black piping. I had been coveting some Timney Fowler fabric from the UK, which was horrendously expensive so I thought I could commission a screen printer to do a New Zealand version of this. I then spent many hours in the library choosing the images and cutting and pasting them together to be photocopied for the film work for the screen printer.
    After commissioning the printing of the fabric with my chosen designs - mainly from old wood block drawings of fish, butterflies and astrological images - and having the cushions sewn up, the first shop to buy them was ASKEW. I was very proud. After the cushions came slippers, bedlinen, pyjamas and sleeping bags! Years later, I am still told that people still use my bedlinen and what good quality it is and why am I still not doing it.

How do your designs come about?
The concept develops in both function and form, and then the image develops in my head. After discussion with manufacturers and investigation into materials and suppliers I then work with all the contributing elements until the actual product emerges. It is very much a team thing.

What process do you go through to create each product?
I have in mind what it is I intend to create. I then get on the phone and ring around different factories talking to people and visiting relevant manufacturers. Usually I meet up with them and discuss my idea. In the early days I would quite often come across people who just weren't interested in someone trying to develop and manufacture a product here in New Zealand - this has changed over the years!
    The product is always very clear in my head, even though I studied architecture I find I am better at describing and discussion, than solely focusing on sketching and doing working drawings.

What inspires you to create the designs that you do?
My inspiration comes from everything around me. It can be the colour of the grass on the way to Coromandel or the deep blue sky in summer. It can be an old book or a leaf skeleton lying in the bush - I could go on and on.
    The most important aspect to design is that there needs to be an element of relevance. Design relevance, to me, means the design of the object has to communicate to the consumer on a subconscious level. Good design is a global language.

Do you believe that consumers are searching for sustainable items?
Definitely. Consumers are educating themselves more and more when it comes to choosing the material of the product they are buying, and are making considered decisions as to the eventual disposal of the product.
    My design philosophy, from the advent of my business, has been product purpose rather than creating something which will exist solely for decorative means. If utility and function are key reasons for something, there will most certainly be the element of sustainability. Another issue of sustainability is the capacity to endure. So the use of quality materials for longevity is important.
    We had one of our customers who had had a Splash-Out! shower curtain (a subsidiary of Catherine David Designs - designing and manufacturing shower and bath curtains) for seventeen years return to replace it. They were fully intending to purchase, believe it or not, the same design - which was by this time out of print, so they were encouraged to buy another design, which they did.
    
What does NZ Made mean to you?
NZ Made to me means a product should have design integrity and be manufactured here. The product needs to be a considered item that has been manufactured thoughtfully and is not only reflecting the well-recognised ingenuity of the people but also reflecting and respecting the qualities of the land.
    Elements of ‘kiwiana’ are often physically applied to a product creating something that is to be read literally as a New Zealand made product eg: silver ferns and kiwis. This is disrespectful to the NZ consumer who is largely well read and traveled and is looking for a product that reflects our country and people. By basically only communicating with consumers on a superficial level, products which have no meaning are being mass produced and eventually mass disposed of. New Zealand made is simply quality design and production.

What's next for Catherine David Designs?
As new materials are developed new opportunities and their applications evolve; it is a balance between this and recognising and honouring the artisan skills of people in our local workshops and  applying their skills to new products. It's getting harder to find screen printers, metal spinners and welders  - the more labour intensive the process is the harder it is becoming to find someone committed to using and training and passing the skill on. Still using these skills and applying them to new materials and technology is an active form of sustainability.

You produce a broad range of homeware items, what is next?
I never know exactly what is around the corner product wise but I will continue developing my range and expanding the range of materials used.  Also having recently completed a degree in art curation who knows what else is around the corner?

Visit Catherine here to find out more about her work, and to shop online.

LEFT Urban pendant lightshades, RIGHT Auckland coat rack and Kiss light.

From punching out the eyelets in her shower curtains to folding them for packaging, handmade processes are at the core of Catherine's designs.