Mark Pennington, Formway

Mark’s design accomplishments during his tenure with Formway include the ZAF and LIFE chairs, and the FREE system workstation – all three of which have won prestigious awards both in Australasia and internationally. In 2002, the Life chair won the Best of NeoCon at Chicago’s prestigious Facilities Management trade show – the world’s most comprehensive conference and exhibition designed for the diverse needs of facility professionals.

Early in his career, Mark won a Fulbright scholarship and grant from the QE II Art Council, then went on – in the 1970s – to spend two years as a Guest Designer at the Concern Industrial Design Centre for Philips NV in Holland. Returning to New Zealand in 1978, Mark became Senior Lecturer and Head of Design at Wellington’s School of Design – a role he held until 1990.

During the 1990s, Mark again departed New Zealand’s shores and took up the position of Associate Professor of Design at the Rhode Island School of Design – near Boston, Massachusetts – and also worked for the prestigious US design consultancies Fitch Richardson Smith and Form Design Inc, the latter located in Silicon Valley, California.

Mark has consulted for, among others, Philips Electrical, Caltex, Whirlpool, the Ministry of Transport, Citinet Corporation and Methven on a wide range of design issues.

During the five-year development (to 1998) of New Zealand’s National Museum Te Papa, Mark was involved in the design of the exhibition areas, and was also a member of the New Zealand Government’s Design Taskforce – the formative and strategic body behind Better by Design. A member of the New Zealand Industrial Design Council, Mark was also – during the 1980s – the Chairman of the New Zealand Crafts Council Crafts Index Examination committee.

How does design add value in business?

Design is one of the few disciplines which can create the ‘X factor' in products, which in turn creates competitive advantage and maximises margins. Products, particularly in my field, drive business growth, and their design – beyond pragmatic innovation – can add enormous value through this elusive ‘X factor’. Better products can make businesses more competitive and lead to greater market share, and even establish new markets with higher margins.

Design can also help business sustain growth by creating products that improve market longevity and therefore offer a greater return over a longer lifecycle.

The value of design is amplified by embracing the principles of sustainability. In Formway’s case – through our eco-design policy – the three Rs add value by Reduction of waste, Reuse of materials and Recycling of the product wherever possible.

What strategic role does design play in creating business futures?

In terms of a business future, the answer is along the same lines. The future of a business relies on having great products that are competitive and offer reasonable margins.

Business futures are based on strategic planning, and design fits logically and appropriately within this framework. Design, therefore, needs to be strategically executed. The future of a company in the New Zealand context (particularly in the manufacturing sector) should be to focus on an added-value mentality.

How do designers identify latent and overlooked consumer needs?

The way we do it, at least, is to always be conscious of the user being central to our product outcomes and the resolution of our design processes. The trick is to identify those latent needs in the community by talking, listening and observing – the latter, however, is most important.

This capacity to observe is a very real skill that designers need to learn. Observational discipline creates insights in terms of identifying and understanding user needs.

We identify companies in the market sector that are receptive to change – the early adopters. We then visit the sites and listen, observe and involve those companies in the development of our product. We ask them to trial the design and assess it and, effectively, they become involved in the outcome.

How would you describe design’s interaction/relationship with business?

Design, in terms of its relationship with business, should be seen as part of the business model.
It should be understood and embraced by the company in general, and most certainly at Board level.

From my perspective, I’m not interested in companies unless they have a strong attitude regarding the meaningfulness of their products in society. Ideally, a company will have a strong design-led ideology, because these are the companies – in my experience – that really have passion and integrity, and therefore perform.

When I’m working with companies utilising a design-led strategy, it’s critical that they have the passion and the desire to produce meaningful products and great outcomes. It's better to have the will than only the way, however. Products that have no emotional involvement with users, and lack integrity and authenticity, tend to have a very limited lifecycle.

In terms of its relationship with business, design needs to be an integral part of their development process. A designer needs to have access to the decision-makers in order to generate the best outcomes. Design should be there for the long-haul. Personally, I don’t want to be in and out. I want to be there for the duration of the product’s development.

When you’re working with a design-led company and with a multi-disciplinary team that works cross-functionality, you’re maximising resources and focusing on genuinely great outcome. There is merit, however, in drafting in an external designer in certain instances for they have the potential to generate fresh, clear and entirely new perspectives.

Design is a broad term, covering many specialist disciplines. How would you define your area of expertise?

I’m mainly involved in product design. However, I see this product design role as being holistic and entwined in the core strategic direction of the company. I’m absolutely interested and involved in the business model and, most importantly, in the brand. It's essential, as a designer, to have an understanding of the brand and ideology of the company.
I need to buy into that and translate the brand values in a meaningful way through the product offerings – I enjoy having a strategic focus to the design process.

At a product level, I think it’s right and appropriate to create products that not only work, but also move people on an emotional level. This emotional interaction creates a dialogue with users and an experience that can lift the spirit. Great products are often found when an balance is reached between form and function; a symbiosis of poetry and pragmatism. If you have either one in isolation, it ceases to be a complete and satisfying experience.

The manifestation of brand follows this ideal. I think that’s a key to what design should be about – addressing user’s real needs and desires as opposed to imagined or perceived needs, and weaving in this balance of poetry and pragmatism.

I’m interested in products that are both useful and needed. We’re always looking for a better way to add value; for a better way to create the desire and therefore to create margins. You can’t do it with pragmatism alone.

Pragmatism is the gatekeeper, but the emotion evoked by a product is of primary importance. We’re entering an experimental era, that addresses our emotional interaction with products and services. Designers define the way these products fulfill the brand and the way they engage consumers. Anyone can make a damn good ‘gizmo’ – the difference is how you engage people and how you move them. It’s a matter of how we enhance their lives.