Obituary: Bernard Roundhill

* Bernard Roundhill, commercial artist, air-brushing pioneer. Died age 94.

Bernard Roundhill, prolific New Zealand commercial artist whose most celebrated design was the Air New Zealand koru, has died aged 94.

His career spanned seven decades, with creations ranging from chocolate boxes to album covers and the koru motif, which first appeared on the airline's DC-10s in 1973.

Roundhill was the New Zealand pioneer of air-brushing, which took him seven years to perfect.

His career began in Fairlie, South Canterbury, painting demons and heroes on velvet during the Depression. After moving to Timaru he designed shop window signs, price tags and jewellers' cards.

During World War II he drew maps for the Army and illustrated instruction manuals for the Royal New Zealand Air Force. After the war Roundhill began illustrating magazine covers and calendars.

A major contract was for the redesign of the entire range of Yates seed packets.