New Zealand - Peter Haythornthwaite

On the eve of a trip to New Zealand it seemed appropriate to post about one of my treasured design objects acquired at the very beginning of my career.

Networking and contacts are critical in a design career so it was with delight that I chose the Peter Haythornthwaite designed "Arti-fact-s" Flip File to record my early career contacts. The all black iconic A100 was purchased from the original R.G Madden store in Toorak Road, South Yarra, in mid 1986. I had not long started at John Westwood Design Associates and could now afford some designer luxuries.

The "Arti-fact-s" range was of particular interest because Peter had presented a lecture at RMIT on his practice - Peter Haythornthwaite Design whilst I was a student and the images presented on MerryWare brushes are still vivid in my mind. The iconic A100 Flip File is classic pure geometry and also included  the designers name engraved on the product.

The image shows my card entry in the early nineties for RMAX with the contact Gary Haywood. Note the RMAX telephone number was recorded before the "9" prefix changes after 1994 all mobile numbers started with 018. Many will know Gary from his role with Design Victoria but we first met when I was design manager at Silvan.  RMAX collaborated on an innovative tooling project with very early cnc wire cutting of urethane foam cut from CADKEY dxf files.

Gary has recently worked with Peter in a Design Victoria program based on the successful NZ "Better by Design" - it is a small world.

Peter Haythornthwaite designed A100 Flip File for "Arti-fact-s"

Iconic A100 Flip File for "Arti-fact-s" by industrial designer Peter Haythornthwaite.