With entries opening for Launch Pad 2010, ex-Launch Padder Nick Rennie offers advice to emerging designers.
February 2nd, 2010
The founder of Happy Finish Designs was singled out four years running by the judges at Launch Pad for his inspired product designs.
Since graduating in Industrial Design from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2001, Rennie has exhibited his designs – which encompass a broad range of products from jigsaw tablemats to handmade ceramics – worldwide to great media acclaim.
“It is part of my story”, says Rennie of the impact of the annual event on his career in design.
“With the limited number of competitions in Australia, I thought it was a fantastic opportunity to promote myself.
“I also loved the fact that the entries were anonymous to the judging panel. It gives the opportunity that for a first year student or a five-year professional to win.
“I had already established myself internationally as one of the new generation of Australian designers, but my focus had been on Japan and Europe. Launch Pad gave me the opportunity to expose myself to the Australian manufacturing industry.”
With wide exposure in the local media, the event allowed Rennie to meet some of the most influential designers and manufacturers in the world and push him to prototype some projects that had been on his mind.
One of his projects, which was originally displayed in Launch Pad 2005, was a design called ’Mori’ – a wooden and glass shelving system design as if wooden poles were intersecting the glass shelves.
“Two years later the Italian manufacturer Porro expressed interest in this project and it was redesigned and launched at the Milan furniture fair in 2008 under the new name ’Chiku’.”
The ’Chiku’ shelves are now available from Space Furniture nationwide.
A word of advice from the Launch Pad veteran? “Get it out there!”
“There is no point having something at home because you are too scared to show it. Send out emails, enter competitions and post it on blogs and send in to magazines.
“I’m currently gearing up for the Milan furniture fair. Getting projects ready to present to manufacturers I have built up relationships with over time. It’s still a lot of hard work and disappointments, but it does get easier as your skin grows thicker.”
Living Edge are proud sponsors of Launch Pad.
Nick Rennie
Happy Finish Design
happyfinishdesign.com
’Chiku’ shelves by Nick Rennie
Original ’Mori’ shelves, later redesigned and launched at Milan 2008 as ’Chiku’ (above)
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Marylou Cafaro’s first trendjournal sparked a powerful, decades-long movement in joinery designs and finishes which eventually saw Australian design develop its independence and characteristic style. Now, polytec offers all-new insights into the future of Australian design.
Suitable for applications ranging from schools and retail outlets to computer rooms and X-ray suites, Palettone comes in two varieties and a choice of more than fifty colours.
Create a configuration to suit your needs with this curved collection.
In the pursuit of an uplifting synergy between the inner world and the surrounding environment, internationally acclaimed Interior Architect and Designer Lorena Gaxiola transform the vibration of the auspicious number ‘8’ into mesmerising artistry alongside the Feltex design team, brought to you by GH Commercial.
Commercial furniture makers, Wilkhahn, understand the inherent problems of modern office culture by studying the mechanics of the active human body.
Denton Corker Marshall (DCM) is well known on the Melbourne and international architectural scene, and it was time for them to have a new home.
Sub Station No. 164 marries original industrial elements with a strikingly sculptural glass architectural statement. This new vision of the workplace celebrates wellbeing and sustainability – from Milliken’s high-performance carpet to circadian rhythm lighting.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Third in the series of boutique hotels under the Lloyd’s Inn brand, Lloyd’s Inn Kuala Lumpur bring the immediacy of nature to the new high-rise hospitality experience in the heart of a bustling city.
Leading the field in terms of ergonomics, this high-end office furniture from Buro is also designed with the evolving needs of the modern workplace in mind.