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I am not involved in The Generator anymore and so this blog is not active. I am leaving it live as a resource.

Success Story

Dan Joblin gets his safety harness into production.

It gives me great pleasure to be posting the excellent news that 2008 Product Design graduate Dan Jobin has completed modifications to his safety harness design and has sold the design to world leading adventure sports company Ozone. This is excellent news and we are delighted to bring this story to you. There has been considerable media interest in Dan and his harness, keep a look out as there is more media coverage for Dan on the horizon.

Dan joined the Generator straight after graduation to work on the next generation of his harness design. The staff and other Generator residents have enjoyed seeing Dan take his product to a whole new level and we now look forward to seeing him reap the rewards of his hard work.

Dan says "the Generator is a fantastic place to be in, I wouldn't have been able to achieve what I did if I had been working on my own. Being with others and having the opportunity to talk through design, product, costing and contractual issues - with staff, when they arise is fantastic. I am looking forward to workin on my next product now"

The Generator was set up to assist Unitec alumni to achieve exactly this level of success. The evidence to date strongly supports the validity of the original concept - a space on campus where graduates can work on perfecting, advancing and launching their businesses and commercial ideas.

Dan - we are looking forward to seeing your next product finding its way out onto the market.

For more in formation on Dan and his harness project see the blog he created whilst working on this project as a final year product design student.

MINISTRY OF DESIGN SALE

Firstly apologies for the late posting about the first Ministry of Design sale at which Generator companies will be selling work. The Ministry sale will be in the Trinity Church hall in Kingsland, Auckland (next to Atomic cafe) this Saturday 13th of December. There will be products for sale from 12 up and coming and established designers from around Auckland. Seize the chance to get those special Christmas presents and support the next wave of Creative New Zealanders.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

Designer In Residence

Ex Unitec student Christine Hobbs will be taking up as 'designer in residence' in the Generator. She will be with us until the end of 2008. Having Christine with us offers a great opportunity for the residents to ask questions and see how Christine runs her business.

Having completed a Bachelor of Product Design at Unitec, graduating in 2005, Christine Hobbs is now engaged in running a small business called Nuzilla which she set up with Cris de Groot. As well as running Nuzilla, Christine also consults to various other small businesses in such areas as quality management systems, proof reading and design. Christine was the retail manager for Hells Gate in Rotarua.

For more information see http://nuzilla.co.nz or click on the title of this post.

Welcome Christine.

Webbs 3D Contemporary Art/Design Auction

Work by Scott Facer and Guy Hohomann is going under the Webbs hammer this week. If you are thinking of getting into collecting designed products from some of the best up and coming New Zealand designers get yourself along to Webbs this week and make a bid.

Evening Preview:
Wednesday, 15th October 2008, 6 ‑ 8pm.
On view daily from Wednesday, 15th October until the day of sale. Monday ‑ Friday 9am ‑

5.30pm; Saturday & Sunday 11am ‑ 3pm.
See www.webbs.co.nz for full viewing times.
3D Catalogue now online. Click on blog title to view and then online 3D Contemporary Art/Design Catalogue

The October Contemporary Art and Design catalogue offers something a little different to the discerning collector. It provides an overview of current practice across the multiple genres that constitute today's creative landscapes; contemporary art, contemporary and modern design, glass, ceramics and objects presented within a single session.

Josh Williams +64 9 524 6804 or jwilliams@webbs.co.nz

Grace Cochrane Drops into the Generator

Design and the handmade: new options and opportunities - Wednesday 8 October
Grace Cochrane has been in Auckland to discuss the changing relationship between design and the handmade and the choices some Australian and NZ designers and makers, who are experienced in making one-off works, are making in relation to new options regarding material, processes and technologies, in putting their work into production. She poses the question: ‘What does it mean for those interested in the crafts, in these changing times?' and notes that it isn't the first time the crafts have been at this kind of turning point, in a changing society, and it's not the first time craftspeople have been close to the heart of changes in values - of materials and processes, and of functions and forms.
Grace dropped into the Generator to see what we are upto and to discuss the issues described in the above paragraph. During our discussions a number of interesting opportunities surfaced and I will continue the dialogue with Grace so see how we might progress them further.

Dr Grace Cochrane was in New Zealand as the 2008 Portage Ceramics Award Judge. She is the Curator/Editor of Smart Works: Design and the Handmade at the Powerhouse Museum in 2007 and was formerly Senior Curator of Decorative arts and design at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. (Source: Object Space)

Rapid Design Workshop

Last week Design Mobel along with Sleephead were at Unitec running a one day 'Rapid Design Workshop' with selected Object and Product Design Students. This is the second time we have run this workshop. Last year saw the fruits of the day long workshop go to production and into the shops. This time, we were looking to develop concepts that answer the brief 'Gen(eration) Choice.

All concerned thought that the day was very productive. The productivity was undoubtedly enhanced through the mix of participant, their backgrounds, interests and perspectives. The participants came from student product design and object design, industry sales and marketing and industry design and manufacturing.

Over the course of the day, each group (4 groups of 4) worked up ideas based on Design Mobels opening presentation with the final group to group presentations being at 2.30pm.

The course of the day:

Session 1.0: Introductions / Group selection
Start Time: 10am
Duration: 15 mins

Welcome, introductions, group selection and out line process for the day including outcomes
House keeping matters

Session 2.0 GenNext – Project Background presentation
Start Time: 10:15am
Duration: 15min

Session 3.0 Reacher/ Key Insights
Start Time: 10:30am
Duration: 30 min

Group Discussion / Brain Storm around ‘GenChoice’, key Insights discussion and areas of immediate opportunity

Session 3.0 Idea Generation
Start Time: 11:00 am
Duration: 1 hours 30mins
This session will be a staged approach with individual and team exercises and the out come of the team selecting one direction to move on with in the afternoon.

• Built thought session – builds on the group discussion. Individual exercise where a new opportunity idea is generated every 30 seconds and written on post it notes.
• Cluster – ideas grouped together. Group activity
• Each member selects a different group and further brainstorms service or product opportunities • Present opportunities to the group 5mins each

LUNCH 12:30pm – 1:00pm

Session 4.0 Idea Development
Start Time: 1:00 pm
Duration: 1 hour 30mins

Further develop direction selected before lunch into a well define concept for a product or service. `
Put together a presentation of the concept. Presentation can be drawings, pictures, power point, drama, mime, singing etc….

The presentation needs to be about the opportunity and concept not the story of how it was arrived at.

Session 6.0 Presentations
Start Time: 2:30pm
Duration: 50mins
Present the concepts to all groups.

Wrap up of the day, thank yous etc…

The Gen Choice Rapid Design Workshop participants were:

Design Mobel's Campbell, Dan and Anastasia
Sleephead's Julia
Unitec's Roger Bateman (staff) Damon, Cindy, May-Li, Jane, Kyle, Jesse H, Elliot, Ollie and Jesse and Scott from the Unitec 'Generator'

SPRING forwards

'SPRING' is the name of 3 networking sessions the Generator will be hosting before Christmas - one in October, one in November and one in December.

One of the most important features of SPRING will allow Graduates to receive the opportunity to network with peers across design disciplines, with practising designers, and with mentors, industry, retailers and potential customers. It is now becoming well established that when young designers engage with people outside the confines of their own area their learning is amplified, and that breaking down the barriers between the various design disciplines is generally beneficial.

Watch this space for more information.

The Generator Space

Generator space is now housed within the School of Design's CoDIA building. To find out more information about CoDIA click on the tile of this blog post.

Centre for Design Innovation

"Why is design important? Our research shows Irish companies that value design innovate more often. Not only that, but Irish companies that value design innovate more successfully. And those companies that integrate design more strategically within their organisations experience greater demand for their goods and services. What are you waiting for?"

I have recently been contacted by Dr. David Tormey from the Centre for Design Innovation
ITSBIC, Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ballinode at Sligo, Ireland. The above quote comes from their website (click on the post title to take you there) Dr Tormey will be visiting us in early September to discuss the similatrities between Ireland and New Zealand and the interesting economic comparisons that can be made between the two countries. Dr Tormey has read about and heard of some of the excellent work at Unitec and is keen to come and see us. He will be in New Zealand for the Better By Design CEO Summit. More on his visit to come later.

Matt Blomeley joins the Generator

I am very pleased to announce that Matt Blomeley who is the gallery programme coordinator for Object Space in Auckland has joined the Generator as a virtual member. Click on his name in the virtual members side bar to go to his blogger site.

A reminder to ex students for Unitec's School of Design: if you are currently running your own business or freelancing and would like to join the Generator as either a residential or virtual member please contact me at the address and the bottom of this page.

Reflections at the end of year 1

The Generator has now been running for 12 months

Background.
The Generator was created because the School of Design had identified (through their on-going dialogue with design practitioners) a clear and growing need for design graduates to have more effective business understanding. The School wanted to find ways in which the entrepreneurial spirit might be nurtured among design students and introduce them to the experiences of existing creative businesses. They also wanted to respond to calls from the design industry for new designers who are able to set up their own business successfully or are ready to work with business.
Further, we felt that some creative people, though they may not know it, have the capacity to be entrepreneurs with a natural business sense. The Design School wanted to help bring these latent skills out into the open and help them blossom.

The last 12 months.
The Generator was designed to try to find these naturally creative business people and nurturetheir commercial know-how. Certainly, designers are particularly well placed to develop entrepreneurial skills. They are by definition creative thinkers who in their training often think about and work with the products of business – consumer goods, engineering products, buildings, communications, graphics, etc. They come to the business table from a different angle to most business students in that they come from the creative side, but that’s all to the good, because creativity has never been more important in business than it is today. A designer with a good head for business is very likely to make a good business person, especially capable of generating powerful new product and service concepts and business ideas. It is clear that the Generator has provided a useful model for helping young design entrepreneurs, and has further highlighted the benefits that accrue to design students if they are exposed early and in an engaging way to business training. But there is resistance to business training in design education. Many design students have no immediate desire to start their own business, and many other students consider business training to be either irrelevant or boring. This may partly be because such training is rarely embedded and assessed as part of core design activity. Some design teaching staff share the same negative view of business teaching, feeling that college work should concentrate on developing students’ creativity and improving their conceptual thinking.
Proponents of business education in design schools argue that creative training in design education is obviously vital, but that it should be given a business context since business is most likely to be its end use. Many art and design schools offer business modules. The trick is to make them engaging and useful. The Generator may help show how this can be done.
One of the most important future features of of the Generator will be that members will receive the opportunity to network and to learn to network with peers across all design disciplines, with peers from other design schools, with practising designers, and with mentors,industry gurus and potential employers.

The future?
It is now becoming well established that when students engage with people outside the confines of their own school of study, their learning is amplified, and that breaking down the barriers between the various design disciplines is generally beneficial. One of the most important features of the Generator is that it welcomes graduates with different backgrounds in the creative industries. Another key features of the Generator has been the graduates’ discovery and development of entrepreneurial skills. There is a case, it can be argued, for introducing Generator thinking into business modules and even core courses, this way students could more readily engage with designs commercial context, even if they have no plans to start a business of their own.

Michael Major becomes business mentor for Generator business

Following the recent announcement in the DINZ newsletter regarding the Generator seeking mentors for resident business I am very pleased to say that Michael Major has joined the mentoring team.
The relationship between Michael and Unitec goes back a few years: Michael graduated from Unitec with a Masters in Design Management in 1996. We are excited to have Michael at Unitec, all be it in a very different capacity.

Michael has extensive experience in creating branded environments that give a competitive
edge through enriching the end user’s experience. Michael specialises in helping clients to use
design and branding to position their businesses for the future.
During his time at top London Interior Design Consultants, McColl Associates and The Design
Solution, Michael was the principal retail designer on a variety of projects. These ranged from
food and beverage retailing to large shopping centres throughout the U.K. In 1992 Michael
formed 2MD Design, which became the leading retail design company in New Zealand, with
retail projects in Australia and South East Asia. In 2006 he set up a new retail design division for Ogilvy New Zealand going on to form his own consultancy Michael Major Limited in 2007
specialising in retail 3D brand design.

Michael’s reputation as a professional strategic designer has been enhanced by the numerous
design awards he has received, either professionally or as part of a design team. While in
Britain, he was the principal interior designer for Princes Square Specialty Shopping Centre in
Glasgow, which won the Scottish Design award in 1987. The following year, the Pavilions
Shopping Centre in Birmingham, for which he was the principal interior designer, won the
international shopping centre award. Since being in New Zealand, Michael’s has won
numerous retail design awards.

Michael has worked on a variety of retail and residential precinct high level branding in New
Zealand such as Smales Farm Office Technology Park, Sanatarium Master Planning Feasibility
Site Study, Karaka Lakes Residential Experiential 3D Brand Enhancement & Marketing Launch
Strategy, Botany Town Centre and Remarkables Park Town Centre.
Michael has been a regular judge for the Auckland Top Shop Awards and DINZ Best Design
Awards. He is a member of the Design Industry of New Zealand (DINZ).

Seeking Virtual Members for the Generator

There are two types of Generator memberships available: Residential and virtual (for a list of current member see sidebar below)
Residential members have space in the Generator from where they run their business whereas virtual members run their business from their own premises but can take full advantage of the networking, business courses, open evenings and other services the Generator provides.

IF YOU ARE A UNITEC SCHOOL OF DESIGN GRADUATE AND WOULD LIKE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR VIRTUAL MEMBERSHIP PLEASE CONTACT ROGER BATEMAN. (DETAILS AT THE FOOT OF THIS PAGE)

I am delighted to announce that Lindsay Pemberton who graduated from Unitec with a degree in Art and Design specializing in Object Design has recently joined as a Generator virtual member. Lindsay's business Rekindle focuses on the making and selling of her own jewellery ranges and ceramic designs in New Zealand and potentially overseas.

Lindsay says that "I am interested in creating domestic objects, and the relationship they form with their users. All of my work is functional - not in the sense of time efficiency, but to engage people in everyday rituals. My design approach is driven by tactility, usability and finding a balance between the familar and the element of suprise. My products are designed to challenge our thoughts of our everyday objects and rituals. By reinventing traditional rituals and domestic objects they take on a new reading in each of our lives"

For further information on rekindle click on Lindsay Pemberton in the sidebar below.

Generator Business Courses

The 3rd June saw the first Generator Business course run at Waitakere Enterprise. Delivered by business coach Barbara Joy from Waitakere Enterprise the session focussed on how to grow a small business.
16 attended the course which lasted a full day. Next week sees the second day long course run the focus of which will be on accounting and law.

While New Zealand has recognised that the creative industries are a crucial part of securing the future success of the economy, Unitec School of Design believes there is insufficient high quality support to nurture and develop the next generation of design-based businesses.
The Generator provides a ‘soft start’ into self employment in the creative professions whilst at the same time allowing the school to stay in close contact with its graduates .

The Creative Industries depend, perhaps more than any other sector, on networks and proximity as drivers of creativity and business growth. Individual businesses are small in scale, which makes models like the Generator essential if major projects are to be undertaken. Through the establishment of the Generator small New Zealand based businesses can compete as a network against larger International companies in this field.

The idea of having sector specific business courses delivered grew out of a conversation between Generator Director Roger Bateman and CEO of Waitakere Enterprise John Wadsworth. Roger and John had met when Roger began judging the product and innovation categories of the Waitakere Business Awards in 2005. Both Waitakere Enterprise and the Unitec School of Design wish to see the sustained growth of new businesses and it was from this shared vision that the Waitakere Enterprise/Generator relationship was borne.

Generator Business Courses

DINZ and the Generator

The Generator is delighted to announce that it has teamed up with the Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ) to improve the Generators access to mentors. This is an excellent opportunity for the Generator residents to find mentors to assist with business, design and production, and retailing advice.

The Designers Institute of New Zealand's mission is to have professional designers valued and rewarded for the contribution they make to the economic, cultural and social growth of New Zealand. This is achieved through encouraging the development of professional skills in the membership and by bringing together the different design disciplines under a common proposition that excellent design brings tangible benefits to its users. Other aims are to improve standards of professional service, increase demand for design excellence and generally increase the profile of design.

If you would like to offer your skills as a mentor to the Generator please contact Roger Bateman on the details at the foot of this page.

New Premesis for The Generator

During July 2008 the Generator will be moving into new buildings. The move will see all the components of the Communities of Design, Innovation and Artcluster housed under one roof. Building 78, which is beside the Postgraduate Studios and opposite building 76, has recently been refurbished and will provide excellent new office space for the Generator residents.
The Generator will share building 78 with the MayDE office, the Hothouse office and the School of Design Research office.

To find a Map of how to find building 78 go to www.unitec.ac.nz and then 'Directions and Maps'. Then type 78 into the search box.

Greg Holdsworth and Metro Magazine

Greg Holdsworth features in the latest edition of Aucklands Metro Magazine in an article entitled 'Cool Weddings & Hot Funerals' Cut and paste the following link or click on the post title above to see more about Greg and his sustainable coffin which is proving to be 'hot' property.

http://www.metrolive.co.nz/Portals/0/FlipMag/metro.html

Threaded Magazine

THREADED LAUNCH - ED.5 (Click on tile to go to Threaded homepage)

Edition 5 is completed and to celebrate this
You are invited to a special function to
celebrate the launch of Threaded Magazine Ed.5
at the gallery on Monday 5 May at 5pm.
Exhibition on view until 9 May 2008
9.30am– 4.30pm weekdays
Unitec School of Design
Building One, Gate One
Carrington Rd, Mt Albert
Email: mbrowne@unitec.ac.nz
Phone: (09) 815 4321 ext. 7737