Tim Wigmore: Awards, Shows and Environmental Responsibility

After reading that Tim was voted one of the ‘top 10 Australian and New Zealand forces and faces in design’ by the Design Quarterly Magazine, Design-on-Design decided to find out more about this exciting designer, and whether he felt any new pressures from this title.

Interview by James Novak

 

Can you tell me a bit about your design background and education, particularly any significant lessons or experiences that have been important to your current successes as a designer?

I studied craft and design at Unitec. Initially I wanted to be a painter but found that I was making sculpture and furniture more and more. I majored in furniture and sculpture getting a Bachelor of 3d Design. One of my tutors, sculptor John Lyall once told me: establish a set of rules, then subvert them. I use this idea a lot in my work.

 

 

Climb Up Web

In the latest issue of Design Quarterly Magazine (vol.33 2009) you have been listed as one of the ‘top 10 Australian and New Zealand forces and faces in design.’ Congratulations! Do you feel any pressure by this title, or does the recognition help justify the years of hard work you have put in to your business?

I have had some exposure in recent years, won a few awards and things which at first I felt really weird about. I felt like I was just kind of winging my way around and it all felt a bit false. I now feel a bit more comfortable with things like the DQ article. I think that it's just something that happens when you design and strive to make good things and to push it a bit - sometimes you are recognised, sometimes not.

 

I read in your interview with Design Quarterly that you intend to exhibit your work both in Milan and New York this year. Is this an important step for gaining international exposure and perhaps creating new partnerships?

The company I was going with to the Milan Furniture Fair and the ICFF in New York pulled out of the trip at the last minute leaving me without a stall so I have shelved that one until next year. Pretty disappointing but it gives me time to further refine and tweak the prototypes I was going to show when I exhibit them at the fairs next year. I believe that it will be an eye opener to be involved with the large trade fairs - meeting lots of different people from the industry and showcasing new work to a worldwide audience. Certainly having a presence there will help to raise my international profile.

 

Hangup - Coat and Shoe Rack

 

There is a strong emphasis on using environmentally sustainable materials in your work, and even re-using existing products as in the Giddyup Rocking Stool. How important are these principles in driving your designs from concept to manufacture?

Over 4 years of studying I worked in my holidays and weekends for a company that cleaned up polluted mangrove swamps, beaches, bush areas etc. We were pulling so much junk out of these environments it was amazing. The owner of the company was really passionate about the environment and it was an experience that helped me form some strong ideas about how I would design.  

 

Giddyup - Rocking Stool

Sustainable design principals are a goal for me. I don't know if anyone has really fully engaged with and un-arguably achieved a successful fully sustainable product, but I think that its crucial that designers consider the up and down stream impacts of what they are doing and make considered informed choices. Designers have quite a bit of sway, being able to steer clients towards more responsible options, specifying better processes and cleaner lower impact materials, and presenting clever solutions that have multiple positive outcomes. To answer your question I think that values including environmental and social responsibility are at the heart of my design thinking and influence my decisions at almost every stage of the design process.

 

What have you learned in your time as a working designer that you wish you had learned whilst still at uni?

Wow, there are so many things I wished I'd learned back then. I guess confidence is a big one. I've also spent a lot of time over the past 3 years learning a lot about how to run a business - this would have been really helpful in my first few years when I was first starting my own business up.

 

Finally, can you list 5 reasons that you think you have received the success you have thus far?

Perseverance/stubbornness/determination
Passion
Encouragement
Luck/opportunities
Possibly a slightly skewed/different way of thinking about things.

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions Tim. We look forward to seeing your designs exhibited in Milan next year.

 

To find out more about Tim and the work he is doing, please visit http://timwigmore.com

Images supplied by Tim Wigmore