Industrial Designer Andrew Simpson from Vert Design aims to design work that is beautiful to look at, to use and to hold with commitment to sustainability. Last weekend, he was among the designers at PYD markets in Sydney and in case you missed it, here is your chance to pick his creative mind.

Name: Andrew Simpson Nick name: Simmo

Profession:
Industrial Designer but I am unemployable so I run my own design practice Vert Design. I am also a director of Best Practice Plastics.

Location: Redfern, Sydney

Passion: Timber boats from the 1930’s

I get my inspirations from:
Truly engaging with a problem and removing the noise. The works I am proud of, have all been born this way. I know that the right answer is geometric forms or nature but I suspect that they just inform and not inspire.

How I got my break: Still waiting for a break but having-a-go in the meantime.

My top tricks of the trade:
Parking the ego and telling the truth that and talking yourself up and lying. Maybe my top trick is being able to maintain creative thinking in very critical environments were ideas normally die.

My style in a sentence:
I hope to never have a style it seems quite constrictive but I think that a lot of people like creative types to have a style so they don’t have to worry about what is going to happen.

I bet you didn’t know I can:
Solo sail off shore only using a sexton and a compass to get around.

My latest project is about:
Demystifying the coffee machine design and breaking the parts up into a linier system. Doing away with the push button black box and bring back control and skill to the process. I think with a lot of products were we have come from is more interesting then we are.

My last purchase:
A Kerosene OIL wick bike lamp from the 30’s on eBay. I bit heavy but beautifully made and I have not been hit by a car since I got it.

My current favourite mecho item:
The Hulger PAPPA* Skype Phone, a great choice of material and form and a good way to bring a new type of product to a audience that does not fully understand the technology. The timber looks like it will age well and it might be the type of product that gets better with use like a timber hand rail or a leather bike seat.

Travel destination and tips:
Buy the cheapest car you can find and start driving west (from Sydney east from Perth) drive the car really hard and only stop for petrol. Don’t check the oil or put water in it and eventually it will break down. When it does you can start hitch-hiking home your whole holiday should take about 8 days (depending on how good the car was). I have only done it once and it was truly liberating and the Australian desert is beautiful when you are forced to stop and wait.

Pssstt…..One time I… :
Bought fake rubys on the beach in Thailand I could tell that they were glass but I loved the scam and it was a great way to spend $40. I still have them and they are worth much more to me then their value. Since then, I have done a bit of spam bating (replying to spam emails but not doing what they want) it is very enjoyable to see how far you can get before they give up on you and I have learned a lot about human nature.

The mecho team invites you to continue the conversation below with Andrew… Make it fun! Post comments with your own free personal Gravatar

NOTE: ARCHIVE ONLY from NOV-09. You may leave a comment but please note Andrew is no longer actively responding to any questions post 30 Nov-09.

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