Industrial relations

Jamie McLellan. Photo / Babiche Martens

Industrial designer Jamie Mclellan wryly admits that he was a Lego builder way beyond the age he should have given up fitting brightly coloured blocks together and started drinking with his mates instead.

He sees his fascination with structure and the engineering of everyday objects as slightly nerdy and is almost apologetic about the beauty he finds in the materiality and construction methods of the furniture and lighting he designs.

His training at the Wellington School of Design, and two years immersed in the creative but corporate environment at Fisher & Paykel, gave him a good grounding. The result is a mindset both pragmatic and ethereal. His most-awarded work showcases the point; the sculptural Twig coat stand, designed for Fletcher Systems, won accolades in both the Best Design Awards and Home New Zealand magazine's annual celebration of design. Jamie warms to his subject when he describes the stand: "It has exquisite joints, a series of tubes that slot into each other at 90-degree intersections that get finer and finer and mimic what happens on a branch."

It's fitting that this particular design has a nod to nature, after all, rightly or wrongly, that is what New Zealand is lauded for. Yet his business, set up four years ago, has its foundations on global learning.

Jamie, having quickly recognised that work for industrial designers here is limited, aimed high. He admits: "I have 10 dream jobs" - and already, he's ticked off a few.

First he headed to Italy and a role with Japanese mentor Makio Hasuike, who counts among his projects the design of 20 different clocks for Seiko at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games and has a permanent exhibition at Moma in New York.

In Hasuike's studio, set up in an old button factory in a district of Milan, Jamie learned to work with discipline and calm.

A rather more frenetic stint followed in Hong Kong when he explored his sporty side. "I am a windsurfer and a sailor so I went to work for [windsurfing design legend] Neil Pryde," he explains. In the process of catching a better breeze in both offices in Hong Kong and Hawaii, he also had to keep tabs on his designs when they were manufactured in China.

"Although I enjoyed my time at Neil Pryde, doing business in China was a culture shock. I was blown away by the stockpiles of product, the junk that's being produced - the unnecessary waste that's created by Westerners who want lower prices and higher production runs."

He determined to pursue more "wholesome ways". And, it could be said, that the method by which he secured his next job - across the Atlantic in London - was fresh-faced, un-jaded. "I walked around and hand-delivered letters and my CV. It was a great way to get my bearings in the city."

In 2003, legendary designer Tom Dixon OBE was operating from an unglamorous shop off the Portobello Road. "I spoke to the Kiwi office manager," smiles Jamie.

"I got a call that Saturday night from Tom who asked me to come and help with a project."

Far from being a hoax, it set Jamie on the path to commercial success. He was on the team when Dixon was creative director of Habitat, the Terence Conran chain of stores that aimed to enrich everyday life through simple, modern design.

"Tom is a talented designer on all levels," says Jamie. "He is self-trained from a craft background, knows about manufacturing and is smart and savvy business-wise." What's more, the young Kiwi found Dixon was open to collaboration. He invited ideas and was never precious about his designs. "It was total creative freedom - sink or swim."

Far from disappearing beneath the murky waters of creative block, Jamie's talents shone out. He collaborated on the Lean Table Light in cast iron and an articulated candle holder named Spin that proved a bit of a hit. "I wanted to do something in cast iron and I was working on a series of mobiles at the time, which probably sparked the idea." Another project that took some serious input was one where the team was called upon to partner with VIPs or famous folk to create an item of furniture that bore their name. Jamie drew French ocean racer Loick Peyron, a father of four who has assumed celebrity status in his homeland. In keeping with a nautical theme, Jamie designed a child's bed with a tent over the top and portholes in its sides. "I met Loick at a cafe in Paris. Here was a man in his 40s, drinking espresso and smoking like a chimney. Only the French could do that and still be at the top of their game!"

Finally though, the lure of the sea drew Jamie back home to settle in Auckland. While he still works on a contract basis for Dixon and Pryde, he is able to sink his teeth into some local projects.

Most recently, stylist Katie Lockhart commissioned him to design the wash-station chairs at the new Stephen Marr hair salon in Takapuna's Department Store. "The brief was for them to look early modernist. But Stephen wanted something 'luxe'." The result is fluid bent plywood chairs that seem to flow in a wave from the basin to the floor. Dark brown upholstery is minimal but comfortable.

With Simon James, he's also designed powdercoated metal Flyover coffee tables that he describes as "folded, with brackets sandwiched between the top surfaces."

He admires James for his ability to be restrained. "I struggle a bit with that, I envy it but that's his skill not mine," he confesses. Still, he says, he aims for a "rational honesty" to his style that incorporates nothing that isn't required. At the same time, he hopes his designs don't come across as completely sterile.

There's little chance of that. It may not be a tenet in any industrial design textbook but the passion Jamie has felt for his craft from a young age is infused in each carefully thought-out piece.

One of his latest missions is to fashion a coffin, a beautiful wholesome solution to death, a slow-burn work in progress that he believes will fill a niche in the market. "I want something I'd be happy to be buried in," he says with a smile. If his idea comes off, there's some irony in the fact he will have designed furniture that spans a lifetime from the cradle to the grave - and plenty in between.

With many more dream jobs still to tackle, he's soon to head to New York to accompany his girlfriend, a legal practitioner in international law, to see what inroads he can make there. With his laptop in hand, he can continue to design for New Zealand businesses while making his mark on a world scale. Who knows, one day, he may even earn his fortune.

Meanwhile, he's happy to continue finding beauty in the built.

"I'm still here and I'm still feeding myself," he says of his calling. "Now there's an achievement."