IXL Jam Jar - Australian Design Icon

The iconic conic shape of the IXL Jam Jar was designed in Melbourne Australia by industrial designer Robert Pataki.

This week I visited at the Economic Free Trade Zone at the Port of Tianjin China and I was pleased to see the familiar iconic Australian brand.

Designed in Melbourne and made in the Goulburn Valley where I grew up IXL jam demands shelf space across China.

Iconic Australian Design - IXL Jam Jar designed by Robert Pataki.

To see other posts on Robert Pataki click here.

Designed in Melbourne - Australia Day 2015

Don't forget the ice…. it's Australia Day.

Celebrating Australia Day with a refreshing glass of wine at the beach.

Celebrating Melbourne designers Max Beck (Wynn's Coonawarra wine label - 1954), Ed Kayser (Regis glass and carafe - 1969) and Richard Carlson (Decor BYO wine cooler 1978)

This Australia Day when you grab the esky, a stubbie of VB or lob the well worn Kookaburra cricket ball over the fence you would probably know these products are as Australian as a meat pie.

No matter how you choose to celebrate January 26th this year, more than a few of the products you will use were designed in Melbourne and have endured in our globally competitive market.

My research is particularly concerned with products that have endured and the research questions the common view that products are designed for obsolescence. The Decor BYO wine cooler designed in 1979 by Richard Carlson is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and also available today for $22.00 at a store near you.

Designed in Melbourne - Decor BYO Wine cooler designed by Richard Carlson 1979

Australian design icon the Regis glassware range designed by industrial designer Edward Kayser for Crown ACI. The Regis carafe is still in production.

This year it is fifty years since Stuart Devlin AO designed our decimal coins and more than 15,200,000,000 coins have been minted. That is just our coins. Stuart who grew up in Geelong and studied in Melbourne has designed coins for over 30 countries.

Designed in Melbourne - Decimal Coins - Stuart Devlin 1964

If you have a cup of tea with your lamington it is likely the cordless kettle has a round base. In 1994 Gerry Mussett and Paul Taylor working with the Centre for Design team and Kambrook staff created the Axis Eco Kettle with the now universal round base. 'We wanted to bring the kettle to the table and out of the kitchen…..like you would a teapot or water jug.' said Paul Taylor.

Designed in Melbourne - Kambrook Axis Eco Kettle designed by Paul Taylor and Gerry Mussett 1994

Design registration for Axis Eco kettle innovative base design adopted worldwide.

Products designed in Melbourne that you might use on Australia Day.

Kookaburra cricket ball - Kookaburra - Moorabbin 1890
Chanell 9 logo  - Brian Sadgrove - Albert Park 1970
Decimal coins - 5c,10c,20c,50c,$1 - Stuart Devlin - Geelong/London 1964
Polymer bank notes - $10 Max Robinson, $20 Garry Emery, $50 Brian Sadgrove.
Lamington tin - Willow - North Melbourne 1928
Nylex kitchen swing top bin - Lionel Suttie - Richmond (Icon Plastics) 1966
Wiltshire Barb B Mate - Wiltshire - South Melbourne 1980s
Wiltshire Bar B Tongs - Outerspace Design Group - Richmond 1986
Redheads matches  - Brian Sadgrove - Albert Park
Willow Alpine cooler - David Flynn - Tullamarine
Decor BYO Wine Cooler - Decor - Richard Carlson - Hawthorn 1978
Regis Carafe - Edward Kayser - 1968
Esky - Willow/Nylex/Esky
Knog bike locks and lights - Catalyst Design - Richmond
Knog - Go Pro and iPhone flash units - Catalyst Design - Richmond
Crumpler Bags - Crumpler Design - Melbourne
Globe shoes - Derek Yuen - Port Melbourne
Tomato sauce bottle - Jim Samartgis - Decor
Victoria Bitter stubby  - ACI Glass - Footscray 1967
Crown lager bottle  - ACI Glass - Footscray 1970
Cascade beer bottle - Julian Ditchburn - Hawthorn
Ronstan yacht fittings - Ron and Stan from Black Rock
E-Series tram - CobaltNiche/Bombardier Design - North Melbourne/Dandenong
Quest EFPOS card payment terminals - Outerspace Design Group - Richmond
Channel 7 logo - Cato Brand Partners - Collingwood
Holden Commodore and Caprice - Holden Design - Port Melbourne
Ford Territory, Falcon, and Ranger - Ford Australia - Broadmeadows
Any power board  - Frank Bannigan, Robert Pataki Design, Peter Talbot - Caulfield
Cordless kettle with a round base designed by Gerry Mussett and Paul Taylor - Kambrook
KeepCup  - CobaltNiche - North Melbourne 2009
Robert Timms coffee  - Cato Brand Partners - Collingwood 1970s
Baby capsule - Robert Pataki and Phillip Slattery - Caulfield - 1984
Visit the Zoo and use the Art Processors digital app on an iPhone - Art Processors - Collingwood
Orbitkey - Charles Ng - South Yarra
Drink lots of water….321 water bottle  - Charlwood Design - 2009
Clean up with the Oates Tilt a Matic mop - Charlwood Design - 2005
…..and finally remember don't party too hard!
Booze Bus  - CobaltNiche - North Melbourne

Designed in Melbourne - Willow cooler designed by David Flynn 2013

Early Willow cooler designed and manufactured in North Melbourne. Circa 1960

Designed in Melbourne - Australia Day 2015. 

Max Beck (Wynn's Coonawarra wine label - 1954), Ed Kayser (Regis glass and carafe - 1969) and Richard Carlson (Decor BYO wine cooler 1978)

Designed in Melbourne - the VB stubby beer bottle 1967

This Australia Day raise a glass, like I did to our designers and those who commission them.

Stuart Devlin - Wiltshire Staysharp Knife MK1

Summer vacation each year provides a welcome opportunity to visit antique stores, markets and opp shops seeking items for my collection of products designed in Melbourne Australia.

The Wiltshire staysharp knife has often featured in my exhibitions and blog posts but until yesterday the MK1 designed by Stuart Devlin in 1969 had never appeared on ebay or on the shelves of any opp shop. Just $1 was all I was required to outlay to acquire this very important object for my collection. I had only ever seen one before and that was in the Powehouse Museum collection in Sydney when I visited in 2009.

Original MK1 Wiltshire Staysharp Knife designed in Melbourne by Stuart Devlin based on an invention by Wiltshire design engineer Dennis Jackson.

Wiltshire Staysharp Knife designed in Melbourne by Stuart Devlin

Kambrook Powerboard - World's first electrical power board.

The common electrical power board was first manufactured by Melbourne company Kambrook in the 1970s. I remember selling this product from my our family business Wong's World in Shepparton in 1979. In 1987 while living in London I recall looking for a powerboard but realised only double adaptors existed in Europe at the time.

Frank Bannigan founded Kambrook and the electrical engineer who invented the power board in 1972 was Peter Talbot. 

In 1991 while at RMIT I ran a second year industrial design studio with Peter Talbot and Kambrook.  

Designed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Kambrook power board  - the world's first power board.

Kambrook power board  - the world's first power board.

Decor - Pourer

Decor pourer designed by Richard Carlson.

Decor pourer designed by Richard Carlson.

Decor pourer designed by Richard Carlson.

Decor pourer designed by Richard Carlson.

Decor - Quick Whipper

Decor Quick Whipper and Egg Separator designed for Brian Davis Plastics.

Decor Quick Whipper and Egg Separator

Decor Quick Whipper and Egg Separator

Decor Quick Whipper and Egg Separator

Decor Quick Whipper and Egg Separator

Decor - Colander

Travelling in regional Victoria during the Summer break has always been very productive for my collection of Australian industrial design products and this year is no exception. The only issue is keeping the vintage plastic items safe from the 40+ degrees in the car.

Decor colander designed by Richard Carlson.

Decor colander designed by award winning Australian industrial designer Richard Carlson.

Orange colander by Decor.

Decor 1970s colander designed by Richard Carlson

Australian Design Icon - Regis Glassware

A world first with production and export totalling more than 170 million units the Regis glassware range truly is an Australian industrial design icon.

Regis glassware range logo - Australian design icon.

Australian design icon the Regis glassware range designed by industrial designer Edward Kayser for Crown ACI.

Tony Wolfenden - Decor stacking cups

Brian Davis commissioned Tony Wolfenden to design products after working initially with Tony on architectural and interior design projects. These stacking cups are one of the first products Tony designed for Decor.

Decor stacking cups designed by Tony Wolfenden.

Lionel Suttie - Quartic canisters

My collection of products designed in Victoria continues to grow and this week it is the Quartic canisters designed by Lionel Suttie. The addition of a polypropelene lid extend the Quartic range and this is the first example I have seen of the canister range. It is also the first example of the use of the classic letraset font eurostyle Q as a tampo printed graphic.

Australian Capri Quartic canisters designed by industrial designer Lionel Suttie.

Classic 1970s Quartic cup and saucer designed by industrial designer Lionel Suttie.

Classic 1970s cups designed by industrial designer Lionel Suttie.

see previous posts on the Quartic range here

ICSID - Kyoto 1974

Design Australia has long been an important reference journal for my research. My recent visit to the shelves of Monash University library provided another opportunity to scan the issues and I was delighted to recognise for the first time a young John Westwood on the cover of the January 1974 issue. John was my lecturer at RMIT University industrial design and gave me my first job at John Westwood Design Associates.

Victorian industrial designer John Westwood in Kyoto, Japan, 1974.

The article in Design Australia Issue 23 features the experiences of sponsored industrial design students from Victoria, John Westwood - Gordon Institute, Ross Whitehead - RMIT, and others during their visit to Kyoto for the ICSID conference.

Design Australia journal, Issue 23 January 1974.
ICSID Kyoto

This extract below from the ICSID website outlines the significance of Kyoto and also explains why John is pictured in the streets of Kyoto on a bicycle.

In 1973, international collaboration reached a new high for Icsid with the Kyoto Congress and General Assembly, hosted by the Japan Industrial Designers’ Association. The event, based on the theme ‘Soul and Material Things’, was revolutionary for Icsid as it brought the western and Asian design worlds together for the first time on Asian soil. One of the more innovative elements of the congress was the involvement of the city and community of Kyoto. The organisers implemented a programme where 1000 bicycles were provided for use by participants to commute from the hotels to the congress Hall and to discover for themselves the way of life of the Japanese people. From this time onwards, Icsid’s place as a worldwide voice for industrial design was solidified.


http://www.icsid.org/about/about/articles33.htm

Dolphin Torch - Australian Design Classic

The Dolphin Torch is an Australian classic design. Growing up in the country where outside was always "dark" the trusty dolphin would come in handy for locking up the chooks or even a game or torchlight 'tiggie'. The rugged durability of the design made it as popular as vegemite and the trusty blue healer. Designed primarily as a floating torch for boating and marine applications the Eveready Dolphin was for many years the largest selling torch in Australia.

Sydney industrial designer Paul Cockburn through his studio Design Field received the commission in the seventies to redesign this classic product. This project was critical in establishing Design Field as one of Austrialia's foremost industrial design consultancies. Born in Australia, Paul studied in London in the late 1960s returning to Sydney in 1970.

The yellow Dolphin version 2 has been in my family for at least thirty years and whilst we once had a pale blue version 1 this 70's orange one was acquired at an op shop recently for my collection.

Classic Australian design - the Eveready Dophin torch.

Iconic Australian design the Dolphin Torch.

Original Eveready Dolphin torch.

Orange original Eveready Doplhin torch (above) with yellow 1970s redesigned version 2 by Design Field.

Plan view of two versions of the classic Australian design the Dolphin torch by Eveready.

Mario Matkovich - Where is Mario?

Driving along Beach Road around 3pm today listening to the cricket on the ABC I noticed the wind was up and a huge number of Kite flyers were out and about. My mind turned back to 1987 and to just one amazing designer....Mario Matkovich.

I was fortunate to work with some great designers at John Westwood Design Associates; John Westwood, Jack Magree, Phillip Slattery, and Ross Williams, ...... but the most unique and amazing was Mario.

Mario taught myself and Jack heaps as we watched his incredible productivity and creativity honed from years working for Philips Clayton CID. It was not however the skills and capability that Mario possessed that brought him to my mind today, but his love of the bay.

If the wind was up on Port Phillip Bay like it was today Mario would not be at his drawing board, he would be on the water. John, Ian Edgar, and Robert Pataki all employed Mario and I am sure all would share my thoughts with a smile....where is Mario?

Kites off Brighton Beach before "knock off" time.

Swinburne University alumnus industrial designer Mario Matkovich.

Philips television concept design by Mario Matkovich. 1970s

Philips television concept design detail by Mario Matkovich. 1980s

VCR concept design by industrial designer Mario Matkovich. 1980s

Fresh Orange - Collection grows

The ORANGE exhibition has just closed but the collecting continues.

Award winning Wiltshire Staysharp Knife set designed by Bayly Design

The Decor Icicle insulated ice bowl designed by Tony Wolfenden. This ice bucket is one of the first products designed by Tony for Brian Davis.

Bessemer ash tray designed by Lionel Suttie.

Decor savory tray set including set with original packaging.

Crown Corning dish by Charles Furey.

Kambrook food and water heater in original packaging. This product is was of the first for Frank Bannigan.