Consultant on hand

Press, 7 September 1989, Page 20

Consultant on hand

The well-known interior design consultant, Jan Beck, is attending Furnishing ’B9 to discuss furnishing ideas with the public. She is being sponsored by the New Zealand Wool Board.

Jan Beck is a professional member of the New Zealand Society of Designers and a working member of the Auckland Society of Arts. She studied at the Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland where she graduated with an Honours Diploma of Fine Art. After becoming a secondary school teacher, she studied in Rome and was then offered a position as fabric designer in a studio which specialised in the design and colouring of upmarket dress fabric.

Back in New Zealand, she was commissioned to create some of the first wallcoverings designs for

Vision Wallcoverings. This led to the full-time position as resident designer for Vision, which involved colouring, set design, graphic design, exhibition design, book design and participation in decorating seminars.

A commission from Vision to create a collec-

tion of wallcoverings with co-ordinating fabrics led to freelance design work. She now designs the textiles and creates the exterior colour palette for Corolla, Corona and commercial vehicle ranges. Another large project was the interior design of aircraft for Mount Cook Airline. This included wool-tufted murals for the front bulkheads of the passenger cabin for which she received a Wool Board award. The creation of the One Thousand Colour palette for British Paints has been followed by four more palettes. She has also created colour palettes for carpets, woollen upholstery, laminates, plastics and sheeting.

Jan Beck also does botanical illustrations. She has illustrated several varieties of hybrid flowers for leading plant breeders.