News
May 2013 Monument Magazine
Monument magazine has featured Andrew in their May issue. The spread titled "Inside The Mind Of" is a collection of what drives and inspires Andrew in his everyday practice. These range from carved stone neolithic balls, the yachting industry, scientific methodology and the speed with which life passes us by are all motivators and influence for Andrew. It's always nice to be included with such a high standard that Monument is known for. The rest of the issue includes features on some innovative products, features on other designers and architectural wonders.
May 2013 He Made She Made
Andrew was asked to include a mask for exhibit at He Made She Made gallery on Oxford Street. Last week we 3D printed a prototype of the mask which resembles something similar to a 17th Century viking mask crossed with V for Vendetta. We're now enduring the long, long, process of making the final mask from aluminium. The inside has already been machined away and for the last 91 hours we're braving the incessant buzzing of the CNC mill cutting away the facade as we speak.
April 2013 Accor
Collaborating with the wonderful people at The One Centre we have developed and produced these batons and gongs for Accor, the world's leading hotel operator and market leader in Europe. We sand cast aluminium which was rumble polished and electro plated for the batons and used spun mild steel for the gongs themselves. Unfortunately the cups never made it into production though but still a nice idea!
April 2013 Magnetic Receipt Board
This was a little idea we would like to develop further for receipt queues in hospitality. Get in touch for enquiries!
April 2013 Handvas
Nadia Ahmad is a Sydney based designer mostly working in adland but dabbles in other areas; enter, 'Handvas'. Handvas was inspired by the way designers hold up their work. The hands mount onto a wall and artwork is held securely between the thumb and forefingers.
April 2013 Marine Debris Plastics
United Nationals' Regional Seas Program estimates more than 6 million tonnes of debris enter the world's oceans each year. This debris never biodegrades, instead it breaks into smaller and smaller pieces of the original item, forever remaining in the environment. We've been working with Luke McConell from Revolve Your World who collects this debris and plastic litter from the beaches of far North Queensland. We've put this collection of debris through a small extruder and broken this down into small pellets. We're now working on developing a large scale industrial system to break down this debris and recycle it and use it for easy integration into new products.
March 2013 Viajiyu
Viajiyu was founded by Nicole Still, co-founder of The Balmain Boat Company, storyteller and entrepreneur. Nicole started wondering about the great shoemakers and what their business would be like if they started in the Digital Age. She wanted to create the perfect pair of ballet flats for the modern woman. The woman who travels for work and play. Conceives businesses, as well as, children.
Viajiyu allows the user to become the designer and choose from a range of customisations of colours and styles to develop the perfect pair of ballet flats hand made in Tuscany, Italy. We developed the renderings for the website that allow the user to pick and choose the different elements for their flats.
March 2013 Special Fingers
These are gold and white gold wedding bands were developed and made for Mark Nichols which have his fiance's fingerprint etched onto the inside of the wedding band.
March 2013 Balmain Boat Company
Summer may have come to an end but we're keeping the spirit alive by playing with some new colour palettes for the lovely people over at the Balmain Boat Company.
March 2013 Art Month Sydney: Interpretations IIII
Object is one of the spaces that are opening their doors, the same doors to the Interpretations IIII exhibition, for the Surry Hills precinct evening for Art Month. Grab some friends and have a local adventure through Surry Hills and City galleries from 6 to 8 before heading to 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art for drinks and music at the Art Bar from 8 till late.
For more Art Month events, information can be found here.Hashtag your art adventures with #artmonth and see your images at artmonthsydney.com.au/photogallery
February 2013 Interpretations IIII
Interpretations is an ongoing exhibition Andrew curates biennially (every two years) which challenges the participating designers to embrace a new process or material and produce something, the brief is very open. Different local Sydney designers get together and share ideas in regards to a theme or particular manufacturing process that has to be adopted in order to exhibit.
This year the chosen theme is Stone. Also, this is the first year Interpretations IIII will be held at Object Gallery on Bourke St, Surry Hills. The exhibition will be on display from 26 February - 21 March and exhibits work from Michael Alvisse, Tasman Munro, Andrew Simpson, Guy Keulemans, Henry Wilson, Oliver Smith, Charles Wilson and Liane Rossler.
For more information on the exhibition please refer to the interpretations website.
Update:
There have been some lovely reviews of the exhibition featured online:
HabitusLiving.com
ShareDesign.com
We've been working on a conveyor system project for a little while now and we're currently in the final stages of prototyping with Fleming Dynamics, located on Sydney's Northern Beaches. We're nearly ready to go into production which will be really exciting.
"HydraCon is a patent pending world first, a truly modular food safe conveyor system designed specifically for raw protein food processors. Hydracon comprises of a series of straight and angled modules all fabricated in stainless steel that interconnect to create your specific conveyor requirement. Hydracon offers a sustainable, environmentally friendly and food safe alternative to traditional fixed length systems."
For more information, please refer to the Fleming dynamics website.
Recently we had the opportunity to work with Lenny Hanniford, to design and produce the Lola lights here in Australia. The lights were produced by a process of bending laminated ply, then wrapped in American Walnut veneer with Danish oil finish. The lights were also recently exhibited at The EDGE completion at the Australian International Furniture Fair.
For more information please refer to Lenny’s website
We're looking forward to Alaskan Rock Vodka launching their website on 31 December! We designed the glass bottles for them last year, more details here. We're also really excited to be featured on lovelypackage.com with a wonderful explanation on the packaging itself.
"The bottles are made from black hand-finished Mexican glass. Raised lettering in white wraps around the side and the punt of the bottle has been deliberately exaggerated to denote the profile of a mountain range as a nod to the unusual product name. The labels allow us to hand-note batch, bottle and distilling details. The boxes into which the bottles are packed are affectionately called our ‘Ned Kellys’ (it’s an Australian thing). They highlight the profile of the punt as well as the Alaskan Rock name. Even our tops are uniquely designed. We recommend freezing our vodka bottles. Not only is the spirit terrific when it’s cold but watching the black glass slowly change from frosty matte to shiny black is a joy."
Meet Brandon Wong.
We are blessed with having the opportunity to teach and learn from work experience and internship students coming to the studio. This also means we get to see what talent is coming up. Brandon Wong is no exception. Brandon is a 15 year old grade 10 student who learned to use solidworks from scratch, and designed his own glasses which he now prints and sells in just one week with us. A face we'll be seeing a lot more of in the future we suspect. Go Brandon!
We are really happy to share that we have a new toy in the studio, our very own CNC Milling machine. The next couple of weeks will see a lot of experimenting and getting to know the tricks of the machine so we can start cutting away at some heavy duty materials for projects.
Another fun project we've been working on in collaboration with a professional rigger and bowman is a quick release pre feeder for maxi yachts. Made from marine stainless steel the pre feeder is fully adjustable and opens to allow the luff edge to be captured at any point of the hoist.
Ever expanding cities, means not everyone has the space to grow a luscious garden bed for freshly picked fruit and vegetables, herbs or flowers. The solution.. Vgarden! In collaboration with Vgarden we have designed and made a verticle structure with multiple garden beds that can be wall mounted at any height. The frames are made from water resistant high quality anodised aluminium, to give you the longest lasting product possible. The unit is designed to let excess water escape from the drain holes at the bottom but outlets can also be installed to capture this water. There is also a co-ordinating watering system available which is easily installed due to the tiny holes in the bottom of each shelf.
With multiple shelves it's just a matter of deciding what you want! We have grown carrots, beetroot, broccoli, peas and tomatoes. All the leafy greens - lettuces, roquette, kale, watercress, etc. and herbs of any variety, chillis, you name it. And ofcourse a row for some beautiful flowers, tulips or daffodils anyone?
These vibrant vases are the latest in a new range of hand blown incalmo glass that we've been working on. These are also available for purchase, if you're interested please contact: andrew@vertdesign.com.au
With summer quickly approaching, Mitch and Andrew have been working away at the new 16ft Balmain Boat Company prototypes. Pretty soon we'll be off getting the timber cut and building the tests in the coming weeks.
We love it when good materials age well, instead of deteriorating, time and exposure have enhanced these glasses. On the left 3D printed glasses Andrew has worn everyday for the past year, and on the right are a new pair.
Seeded Paper is a wonderful company that produces recycled paper with Australian native trees and shrubs (such as Bottlebrush, Tea Tree or Paper Bark) embedded in the paper. Once you've read the message on the paper, you just need to plant it and a little water and sun, soon you'll have a little plant growing from what used to be paper. We've been working with them to create a machine that produces the paper.
For those of you that haven't heard of the supercyclers, they're an ever growing international collective of designers focussed in their practices on building a sustainable future into the products they create whilst transforming perceptions of waste materials and the way we use things in the process. We're really happy to be a part of such a great collective that has the same ideas about sustainability as we do. We've been receiving some really wonderful reviews from all different blogs and magazines, for more information check either our press page or the supercyclers website.
Image via Vogue Living August 2012.
For more information on the exhibition please refer to the interpretations website.
Update:
There have been some lovely reviews of the exhibition featured online:
HabitusLiving.com
ShareDesign.com
February 2013 HydraCon System
We've been working on a conveyor system project for a little while now and we're currently in the final stages of prototyping with Fleming Dynamics, located on Sydney's Northern Beaches. We're nearly ready to go into production which will be really exciting.
"HydraCon is a patent pending world first, a truly modular food safe conveyor system designed specifically for raw protein food processors. Hydracon comprises of a series of straight and angled modules all fabricated in stainless steel that interconnect to create your specific conveyor requirement. Hydracon offers a sustainable, environmentally friendly and food safe alternative to traditional fixed length systems."
For more information, please refer to the Fleming dynamics website.
January 2013 Lola Lights
Recently we had the opportunity to work with Lenny Hanniford, to design and produce the Lola lights here in Australia. The lights were produced by a process of bending laminated ply, then wrapped in American Walnut veneer with Danish oil finish. The lights were also recently exhibited at The EDGE completion at the Australian International Furniture Fair.
For more information please refer to Lenny’s website
December 2012 Alaskan Rock Vodka
We're looking forward to Alaskan Rock Vodka launching their website on 31 December! We designed the glass bottles for them last year, more details here. We're also really excited to be featured on lovelypackage.com with a wonderful explanation on the packaging itself.
"The bottles are made from black hand-finished Mexican glass. Raised lettering in white wraps around the side and the punt of the bottle has been deliberately exaggerated to denote the profile of a mountain range as a nod to the unusual product name. The labels allow us to hand-note batch, bottle and distilling details. The boxes into which the bottles are packed are affectionately called our ‘Ned Kellys’ (it’s an Australian thing). They highlight the profile of the punt as well as the Alaskan Rock name. Even our tops are uniquely designed. We recommend freezing our vodka bottles. Not only is the spirit terrific when it’s cold but watching the black glass slowly change from frosty matte to shiny black is a joy."
December 2012 Brandon The Great
Meet Brandon Wong.
We are blessed with having the opportunity to teach and learn from work experience and internship students coming to the studio. This also means we get to see what talent is coming up. Brandon Wong is no exception. Brandon is a 15 year old grade 10 student who learned to use solidworks from scratch, and designed his own glasses which he now prints and sells in just one week with us. A face we'll be seeing a lot more of in the future we suspect. Go Brandon!
November 2012 CNC Mill
We are really happy to share that we have a new toy in the studio, our very own CNC Milling machine. The next couple of weeks will see a lot of experimenting and getting to know the tricks of the machine so we can start cutting away at some heavy duty materials for projects.
November 2012 Quick Release Pre Feeder
Another fun project we've been working on in collaboration with a professional rigger and bowman is a quick release pre feeder for maxi yachts. Made from marine stainless steel the pre feeder is fully adjustable and opens to allow the luff edge to be captured at any point of the hoist.
November 2012 Keyboard Upcycling
This week Phil's keyboard stopped working which makes using a computer difficult to say the least. But being avid supporters of supercycling and considering the environment, Phil saw a few new uses for his old keyboard.
Tinkering with the keyboard he managed to produce paperclips, a dice, key chain tags and a very handy pen stand. Now all we need is some other discarded material to make a new computer keyboard.
November 2012 Urban Food Solution: Vgarden
Ever expanding cities, means not everyone has the space to grow a luscious garden bed for freshly picked fruit and vegetables, herbs or flowers. The solution.. Vgarden! In collaboration with Vgarden we have designed and made a verticle structure with multiple garden beds that can be wall mounted at any height. The frames are made from water resistant high quality anodised aluminium, to give you the longest lasting product possible. The unit is designed to let excess water escape from the drain holes at the bottom but outlets can also be installed to capture this water. There is also a co-ordinating watering system available which is easily installed due to the tiny holes in the bottom of each shelf.
With multiple shelves it's just a matter of deciding what you want! We have grown carrots, beetroot, broccoli, peas and tomatoes. All the leafy greens - lettuces, roquette, kale, watercress, etc. and herbs of any variety, chillis, you name it. And ofcourse a row for some beautiful flowers, tulips or daffodils anyone?
October 2012 New Hand Blown Glass Range
These vibrant vases are the latest in a new range of hand blown incalmo glass that we've been working on. These are also available for purchase, if you're interested please contact: andrew@vertdesign.com.au
October 2012 New 16ft Boats
With summer quickly approaching, Mitch and Andrew have been working away at the new 16ft Balmain Boat Company prototypes. Pretty soon we'll be off getting the timber cut and building the tests in the coming weeks.
October 2012 Aged Materials
We love it when good materials age well, instead of deteriorating, time and exposure have enhanced these glasses. On the left 3D printed glasses Andrew has worn everyday for the past year, and on the right are a new pair.
August 2012 Seed Paper
Seeded Paper is a wonderful company that produces recycled paper with Australian native trees and shrubs (such as Bottlebrush, Tea Tree or Paper Bark) embedded in the paper. Once you've read the message on the paper, you just need to plant it and a little water and sun, soon you'll have a little plant growing from what used to be paper. We've been working with them to create a machine that produces the paper.
August 2012 Super Cyclers
For those of you that haven't heard of the supercyclers, they're an ever growing international collective of designers focussed in their practices on building a sustainable future into the products they create whilst transforming perceptions of waste materials and the way we use things in the process. We're really happy to be a part of such a great collective that has the same ideas about sustainability as we do. We've been receiving some really wonderful reviews from all different blogs and magazines, for more information check either our press page or the supercyclers website.
Image via Vogue Living August 2012.