Forming Of Design Council Discussed

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29972, 6 November 1962, Page 13

Forming Of Design Council Discussed

New Zealand needed an industrial design council now, five speakers agreed at a seminar on “The formation of a design Council in New Zealand’’ held in the Canterbury Museum theatre.

The speakers were the Director of the Industrial Design Council of Australia (Mr Colin Barrie); a Canterbury manufacturer and a past president of the New Zealand Manufacturers Federation (Mr W. A. Bascand); the principal of the Polytechnic School of Design, Wellington (Mr J. Coe); the dean of the faculty of fine arts. University of Auckland, the president of the New Zealand Society of Industrial Designers (Professor P. Beadle), and the dean of the faculty of fine arts. University of Canterbury, and executive member of the Design Association of New Zealand (Professor H. J. Simpson). Although they agreed on the need for an industrial design council and its functions, the speakers held varying opinions on the cost of such a council, the number of persons who should comprise the council and how it should be financed. Divided on whether the council should be Govern-ment-controlled or independent, they were in general agreement that it should be given financial aid by the Government Mr A. Hearn, president of the Design Association of New Zealand was chairman of the seminar which was organised by the association. An audience of about 50 gave the speakers an attentive hearing, and several members contributed to the discussion after the speakers had expressed their viewpoints. Mr Bascand. said that he was not speaking officially for either the Canterbury or New Zealand manufacturers Mr Barrie said that New Zealand needed an industrial design council. The Job ahead was so large that it needed some central body to be a soearhead for the national and the industrial purpose. The council should represent a cross-section of industry, commerce, designers, educationists and the Government. Without a council the energies put into the task of bringing awareness to both manufacturers and consumers of the economic importance of design, for both home and export markets, would be dissipated. “This is the challenge in this changing world, and New New Zealand must, as other countries have, accept the need for design in industries, primary and secondary. “I am not a New Zealander so I will not discuss how this industrial design council should be constituted and financed. However, on the matter of cost of improving design in industry, it should be asked how much it will cost New Zealand if this is not done,” Mr Barrie said.

Purpose la Design Mr Bascand said that others present were more fitted and com etent than him to decide how an industrial council was to be formed, constituted a«*d financed. As a manufacturer.

he appealed for design that was comprehensible to the intelligence and taste of the average person. "Artiness and abstract have very little value in the market There must be an underlying pattern of purpose in all design. A rugged, clearcut design has an appeal not only to men but also strength and simplicity in design appeal to women. “B all means let us have the marriage of good designs and good dividends as soon as possible," he said. There was an essential need for a design council. Mr Coe said. The Department of Industries and Commerce was sympathetic to such a coun-

cil. In its broadest sense, such a council should be educational.

“Good design is often more

economic—that is common sense. Publicity about design should not be aggressive, but subtle," he said. The council should have a very strong liaison with the Department of Industries and Commerce."

Professor Beadle also said that the council would have to be strongly supoorted by the department The council would be predominantly concerned with manufacturers

and would devote its energies

to product design, graphic design, display architecture. fumitu.e design and fabrics design. In these fields it would be interested in both primary and secondary industries. Roots of Design Canada, Britain, Australia and now Japan had industrial design councils, said Professor Simpson. A council in Nsw Zealand should be concerned with the economy of design not only for industry, but also for the nation. "The council must give services to industry- It must be concerned with design research; get down to the grass roots of industrial design. “It must serve the nation first by assisting in exploiting natural resources, character and talents of designers, new materials, new uses of materials, new industries and net exports. “This concerns the assisting of primary industries, and co-operating with them. I believe that a design council can be small because of its

catalytic nature. It can change outlooks and create awareness,” Professor Simpson said. He said that a council would integrate all the ancillary work on industrial design now being done in New Zealand by such organisations as the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Industrial Development Department, Standards Institute, and so on.