New Additions to the Locus Fold
14 November 2008
Exciting times with the Locus team increasing by two members this month. Our graphic designer Ailie has delivered William Duncan MacGregor Poole, who arrived with a bang on November 5th. We'll be watching William's progress over the next few months and will no doubt have him working on Illustrator alongside Mum as soon as he is able.
Joining us as an intern for the summer will be Mark Bunzten. A second year Product Design student at Unitec, Mark is excited to have joined Locus for a three month internship where he will be undertaking research and product development under the watchful eyes of Tim and Blythe, and fitting in a bit of the outdoor recreation that Mt Maunganui is known for.
Mark has prior qualifications in science and work experience in geology, geographic information systems, and management consulting. His interests include environmentally-benign life-enhancing design, lighting, sculpture, mountainbiking and petanque.
Timothy Allan: Excursion to Europe
31 October 2008
Locus principal, Timothy Allan, is heading off today on a 3 week tour focused on life cycle thinking and sustainable product development in the UK, Europe, and the USA. Tim will be checking in as he travels, updating the Locus blog with reports and accounts of his journey. Click here to read the latest from Tim's travels.
The first stop is Ireland where Tim will be working with a group of 4th year students at Limerick University on Life Cycle Thinking. From here he travels to Carlow to be a keynote speaker for Reform 08 as part of the national Design Week. He will be presenting our approach to product development and in particular the application of life cycle thinking for designers and students at Limerick University and the Carlow Institute of Technology.
Click here for more information on Reform 08 or see:-
http://designweekcork.com/talks-lectures/
http://www.idi-design.ie/calendar/reform08.htm
Design office, The Yard, in Glasgow will be next on the agenda, where Tim will catch up with former colleagues at ElementZeroSix and forward the latest news from the Scottish design scene back to us here in New Zealand. He will then be meeting up with Neil Tierney of Onzo in London and fitting in a bit of sightseeing amongst more visits to design companies in the city.
Tim will head back to Europe to Milan to spend some time visiting Thomas Sutton at Frog design, and Politecnico de Milano - a well renowned design school, before flying to Amsterdam for an appointment at Delft Technical University to discuss the potential for collaboration between New Zealand designers and staff and students at the university. This will be followed by his attendance at day two of the Nutec Conference in Frankfurt then a stopover in San Francisco on the way home to visit Bernard Kerr at Yahoo and to have a look through the local IDEO office with senior designer Jo Oliver.
The blog will be updated regularly during November, detailing the latest and greatest from Tim's wanderings, so be sure to drop by and find out about design on the other side of the globe.
09 October 2008
Littl' Juey Electric was included in a feature on the best NZ product design in the lead up to the 2008 DINZ Best Awards. Frank Walker's electric line trimmer featured alongside other NZ designs by Fisher & Paykel, David Trubridge, Formway and Formworks.
BOP Sustainable Business Awards
04 September 2008
Locus Research sponsored the 2008 Sustainable Design and Innovation Award with Scion.
Timothy Allan (Locus Research) and Campbell Yule (Design Mobel) judged the award this year. The award was given to Lockwood for their innovative 'ecosmart' home. The entries were of a high standard and illustrated the development of new approaches within the Bay of Plenty.
Winner: Lockwood - Eco-Smart Home
Lockwood have taken their successful building system and through a rigorous development process created a building that is designed to operate in the 21st century. It leverages the latest ideas in building innovation and design to create a balanced product that is performs with a high degree of efficiency.
The judges selected the Lockwood entry as a result of the in depth development and testing of the new home system, and the effort clearly exhibited through the eco-smart home to make a more sustainable building difference.
The finalists are also worthy of a mention they are listed here with their judges comments.
Finalist: Devan Plastics - Urban Slim line wastewater and Eco-Friendly waste water system
Devan have a range of products that could have a real impact on waste water management in New Zealand. The new urban products represent an exciting step forward to improved water use and management in a town and city context, promoting more effective use of storm water and minimising detrimental runoff.
The judges felt the Devan entry was an exciting step toward a more 'individual' approach to responsible water usage.
Finalist: Oasis Engineering - Oasis Valve
Oasis is a leader in the development and commercialisation of valves used in a range of gaseous uses.
The judges felt Oasis valves low serviceability and reduction in onsite maintenance through their products would be highly effective in reducing the impact, in addition to their products use in 'transition' vehicles (moving from liquid to gaseous fuels)
Finalist: FIL Industries - New site building
The building and manufacturing facility at FIL create a low footprint, safe and effective environment for staff.
The judges felt that FIL went well beyond normal operations in the design and construction of this new site. It creates a healthy workplace for staff and sets an example for all visitors about what can be achieved in a manufacturing site.
Littl' Juey - Best Awards Finalist
01 September 2008
The Littl' Juey Electric line trimmer has been selected as a finalist in the DINZ Best Awards in the Consumer Product category. The awards are to be held in Auckland in October. The Littl' Juey Electric is the latest in the range which also includes the Littl' Juey cutting head and line reloads. It is a line trimmer that has been designed for home use, utilising a powerful belt driven motor and Littl' Juey cutting technology.
Locus Research have been involved in the branding and marketing of the machine, including all extraneous production material and compliance for the output of the line trimmer into the market. The finalist selection is a first for owner and inventor Frank Walker, who is currently in the process of marketing the range in the US. It is hoped that these awards will provide further exposure and open up the possibility for more nominations in the future.
Sustainable Design & Innovation Award
17 July 2008
Locus Research and SCION are co-sponsoring the Sustainable Design & Innovation Award at the Sustainable Business Network's BoP Regional Awards. Timothy Allan is also a member of the judging panel for this award.
The award recognizes sustainable design and innovation (including building) that is having proven economic, environmental and/or social benefits, contributing to sustainable development. The winning business will have started, or has the potential, to influence their sector with this innovation. The winning innovation will have been recognised as a robust building project, product, or service, and the market is responding with enthusiasm.
21 February 2008
Locus Research is helping to inject life cycle thinking into the Hothouse programme. The Hothouse is an open innovation programme that was developed by Dr. Cris deGroot. This Tertiary Education Commission funded programme sets out to create a fluid interaction with industry and allow SME's to have the benefit of blue sky thinking without having to have an in house team.
In its second year of operation this programme is now moving to incorporate life cycle thinking, life cycle management and life cycle assessment into its broad framework.
10 February 2008
The Curve Surf travel system was selected as a finalist at this years 'Brand New' awards at ISPO fair in Munich. The Curve travel system keeps on going from strength to strength under the eye of founder Simon Winter. ISPO is probably the largest and most influential gathering of the sporting community with a range of seminars, awards and commercial product launches.
For those interested, this is where Blokart made its international breakthrough. So Curve follows in the line of other successful New Zealand products.
01 December 2007
Simple Vision is the ongoing internal project at Locus Research. Our staff love working on the release of new product each year and this years release was another big step up. A breath of fresh air through the existing brand and product and new product releases have given us plenty to work on.
Simple Vision - Ingredients, sees the introduction of fabric into the range. This has minimised the packaging and created something which can be used after purchase by each customer.
We hope to see Simple Vision available through an extended network of stores in New Zealand in the next 6 months and then we head off to Australia for the next big step.
31 October 2007
After over 12 months of hard work the Transform initiative was successfully completed for Textiles New Zealand. 6 Companies were awarded a total of $810,000 in research and development grants to be administered by the Foundation of Research Science and Technology (FRST).
With some exciting projects in the pipeline it will be an interesting 24 months as projects emerge into the commercial domain.
20 September 2007
Locus Research was a finalist in three categories of the Design Institute 'Best Awards' this year. After awards night we walked away with a winner and two bronzes which was a great achievement.
Curve Surf was awarded a Silver tieing for first place in the consumer category. The Taapa wall developed for Legacy timber received a Bronze in the furniture category and graduate Kylie Baker's student project 'Telecom5up' was awarded a bronze as well.