Moulded Products - Nylex Art Deco cutlery tray

Nylex plastic cutlery tray with Art Deco graphics manufactured by Moulded Products (Australia) Pty Ltd.

Paola Antonelli - MOMA Museum of Modern Art

The publishing online of files for a 3D printed gun in May 2013 not only challenged security services the world over it also caught the attention of MOMA Senior Curator of Design Paola Antonelli. At first Design and Violence was proposed to MOMA as an exhibition but somewhat akin to the open source ideas behind the 3D printed gun 'Design and Violence' has developed online through contributions and debates across the internet. #desviolenz

Museum of Modern Art Senior Curator of Design Paola Antonelli presents the Design and Violence public lecture at the National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne Australia.

The lecture topic at first might inspire those of us interested in design history in Melbourne to look at our history with military weapons. The work perhaps of a young architectural modeller from Carlton, Lance Corporal William Charles Scurry who invented the Drip (or 'pop off') rifles used to save thousands of ANZAC's at Gallipoli, or the work of Louis Brennan who invented the steerable torpedo in 1874. However Antonelli's powerful lecture inspired a more forward looking perspective, so instead, I left seeking to explore the open source ideas of colleagues Mark Richardson and Matthew Bird in their recent upcycling project Hydonaut at Monash University.

Drip rifle - invented by Lance Corporal William Charles Scurry from Carlton, Melbourne, Australia.

Hydonaut by Studiobird with Mark Richardson and Matthew Bird. IMAGE: Peter Bennetts

Antonelli was refreshing in her candid views on "design thinking' and how the sales of "post it" notes are up. The audience came alive with Antonelli's insights into the debate and controversy surrounding SPUTNIKO's menstruation machine.

Museum of Modern Art Senior Curator of Design Paola Antonelli presents the Design and Violence public lecture at the National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne Australia.

Mutant Material in Contemporary Design also got a mention. This was Antonelli's first exhibition at MOMA in 1995 and featured the work of Melbourne designers Christopher Connell, Celina Clarke and Simon Christopher.

Madam Ruby - ISM Objects. Designed by Celina Clarke and Simon Christopher featured in Mutant Materials in Contemporary Design curated by Paola Antonelli Senior Curator MONA Museum of Modern Art New York.

It is indeed a fact that in this era of open source and 'Ted' Lectures, yesterday at 5pm I could have lazed in the beautiful sunshine on the banks of the Yarra river……. but I am so glad I didn't. 

Design and Violence - Paola Antonelli Senior Curator of Design at the Museum of Modern Art MOMA New York.

http://www.studiobird.com.au

http://www.moma.org

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.

Tianjin China 2016 - BlackBOX Design and Innovation | Melbourne Australia

Tianjin China - BlackBOX Design and Innovation | Melbourne Australia

黑箱-设计与创新-澳大利亚墨尔本

www.blackboxmelbourne.com

BlackBOX - Design and Innovation I Melbourne Australia

David Warren designed the black box flight recorder while working at the Aeronautical Research Laboritories (ARL)in Melbourne in the 1950s.

The project was titled ARL Flight Memory and in 1954 David wrote the paper : D.R. Warren, ‘A Device for Assisting Investigation into Aircraft Accidents’, Mechanical Engineering Technical Memorandum 142, Aeronautical Research Laboratories, Research & Development Branch, Department of Supply, April 1954.

Today I had the pleasure as part of my research to view the original prototypes and test equipment from David Warren's innovative work.

Senior Curator Engineering & Transport Matthew Churchwood provided access to the items in the Museum Victoria collection.

Inspired by this project from Melbourne which has had global impact,  BlackBOX - Design and Innovation I Melbourne Australia is an exhibition that showcases 64 projects and celebrates Melbourne as a design city.

Designed in Melbourne - Black Box Flight Recorder

Senior Curator Engineering & Transport Matthew Churchwood and BlackBOX Design and Innovation I Melbourne Australia curator Ian Wong view the early prototypes from the Black Box Flight Recorder by David Warren in the Museum Victoria collection.

ARL Flight Memory airborne signal monitor at Museum Victoria - Black Box Flight Recorder David Warren

ARL Flight Memory Ground Equipment at Museum Victoria - Black Box Flight Recorder David Warren

Museum Victoria link here

http://www.blackboxmelbourne.com

Designed in Melbourne - Brian Davis

Decor Corporation is an iconic Australian brand and it all started with one product the Habana beaker set. Today I interviewed Brian Davis who established Brian Davis Plastics which became the Decor Corporation in 1958. I first met Brian in 2009 while researching STILL09. Decor products have long been a focus of my research and collecting. Brian was recognised for his contibution to design in Australia with membership of the Design Institute of Australia Hall of Fame in 1996.

Design Institute of Australia Hall of Fame member Brian Davis pictured with his very first product the Habana beaker set and his most iconic the Decor BYO wine cooler.

More posts on Decor Corporation here

Designed in Melbourne - 'The O' mobile platform at MONA

The first mobile interpretive solution designed to replace wall labels and traditional signage was invented by the founders of Art Processors. Originally developed for the Museum of Old and New Art, Mona, in Tasmania, 'The O' has been used by over 1.5 million Mona visitors and 45 million artworks have been viewed on the system. The technology allows visitors to seamlessly engage with rich content relevant to nearby items of interest.

Designed in Melbourne - "The O" mobile interpretive platform for MONA - Museum of Old and New Art.

The early prototype for 'The O' was developed in 2009 to demonstrate the feasibility of using indoor positioning technology to provide proximity based artwork listings and deliver an electronic system capable of replacing wall labels,

Designed in Melbourne - Art Processors Enzo Locate and Enzo Beacons 

Designed in Melbourne - "The O" mobile interpretive platform for MONA - Museum of Old and New Art.

Designed in Melbourne - "The O" mobile interpretive platform for MONA - Museum of Old and New Art.

Throughout the Mona project the Art Processors founders worked closely with Mona's creator David Walsh and his dedicated team of exhibition designers, art directors, architects, and curators in designing the new mobile guide. Considerable research, development and testing resulted in what Mona's visitors affectionately now refer to as 'The O'. Operating reliably across Mona's 8000 square metres of floor space as the sole source of artwork information and interpretive material, The O forms an integral component of the visitor experience.

MONA - Museum of Old and New Art - Tasmania.

http://artprocessors.net

Designed in Melbourne - Kambrook PB-1 power board

Monash Univeristy researcher Ian Wong and Design Institute of Australia Hall of Fame designer Robert Pataki discuss the origins of the Kambrook PB-1 power board.

The world's first power board the PB-1 designed in Melbourne by Robert Pataki Design for Kambrook. The powerboard concept was invented by Kambrook in 1972 but it was this design from 1979 that established the configuration that would be adopted worldwide. It was never patented.

The team at Robert Pataki Design at that time included Robert Pataki, Gerry Mussett and Philip Slattery. Gerry Musset recalls working on the detailing of the internal electrical contacts for the PB-1.

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

Designed in Melbourne - Duperite egg cups

Duperite is a product brand name from Melbourne plastics pioneering company Moulded Products Pty Ltd. Moulded Products also had the brand name Nylex and eventually Moulded Products changed it's name to Nylex. The design of these egg cups allows for ease of moulding which has always been an Australian design characteristic given our low population.

Duperite egg cups designed in Melbourne in the 1940s.

Duperite egg cups added to my collection of Australian designed products.

Designed in Melbourne - Kambrook Axis Eco Kettle

The Kambrook Axis 360 Eco Kettle was designed in Melbourne Australia in 1993-94.

The Kambrook Axis 360 Eco Kettle was designed in Melbourne Australia.

Kambrook - Powerboard advertising

Tina Arena and the Young Talent team promote Kambrook products during Young Talent Time in the early 1980s. Tina Arena is shown holding the PB1 power board designed by Robert Pataki Design for Kambrook.

Tina Arena advertising the Australian designed Kambrook power board in the early 1980s.

Designed in Melbourne.

The PB2 Powerboard designed by Robert Pataki Design featured in the 2010 exhibition '175 Years of Design in Victoria' curated by Ian Wong.

Robert Pataki Design - Melbourne Australia

Stuart Devlin - Australian decimal coins

Fifty years ago in 1964 Stuart Devlin was selected to design Australia's new decimal coins. This work was a significant achievement for Stuart at the time and the nation celebrated his design talent during the extensive public advertising campaign as we went decimal in 1966.

Designed in Melbourne - Australian 20 cent coin with iconic platypus design by Stuart Devlin.

I have interviewed Stuart for my research and viewed his original sketches at the Australian Mint Museum in Canberra. See previous post here. 

Decor - Cheese tray and cover

This cheese tray and cover is a very early Decor product by Brian Davis Plastics from Melbourne Australia.

Decor cheese tray and cover

Ian Dryden - Swanston Street Light

Swanston Street Light designed by Ian Dryden for the City of Melbourne.