2017 DS Peter Coombs 4 oclock - Business SA Design for Export Awards
Celebrating
South Australia's
Design-led
Exporters
Celebrating
South Australia's
Design-led
Exporters
Celebrating
South Australia's
Design-led
Exporters
Celebrating
South Australia's
Design-led
Exporters
Main menu:
AWARDS > 2017 Gallery
2017 SHORTLIST
4 O'CLOCK COLLECTION
PETER COOMBS DESIGN
Category
PRODUCT DESIGN
SPORTS & LIFESTYLE
Design
PETER COOMBS
About
I have been creating limited production Eyewear since 1985, always seeking new and better ways to create; whether materia, construction or design consideration.
This has involved rethinking the weak points - hinges and nose sections - in an effort to alleviate weak intersections with the likelihood to fail. Structure and construction for me carry immense beauty and I celebrate them in my designs. Peter Coombs Eyewear is jewellery for the face where forms are clean and strong, with the 4 O'clock collection showcasing a new and stylish construct.
Design Challenge
For people who wears eyewear every day, frames can be purely functional without much thought into what they wear. For some they become part of their identity. Afficianados of eyewear seek a better solution, a better looking frame; stylish and in keeping with their ethos and overall look. Peter Coombs Eyewear 4 O'clock collection are understated and bold at the same time, featuring the beauty of material, their construction and form. They are loved by all who wear them.
Design Solution
The 4 O'clock collections main feature - its hinge - came to me in a lightbulb moment at The Good Design Awards where we received Good Design* for our Elements collection. Chairman of judges was describing what Good Design is - simplest solution, least materials - this resonated and in a flash I saw a new construction method utilising the inherest strength and ductility of titanium. WIth eyewear the biggest negatives are weight and strength, where in most cases material weight is required to achieve strength. The construction method saw the 'face' cut and folded from a single single sheet of titanium, and only mechanical joins for the hinge = no weak spots to fail. Also the folding and construction process creates natural curvature in the face, where marries up well with the curvature of lenses thus creating extra strength. When you remove the lenses there is a lot of movement, so unlike most frames, this collection will easily carry anything from a 2 base to 8 base lens. Similarly the flexibility of the nose allows it frame to easily be fitted to Asian Face or Euro Face.
Immense versatility in every aspect allowing fitting to virtually any face.
Design Impact
This is true design where the collection is a limited edition making for a 'a club' collective of owners. We've kept the styles to a minimum as we can grow and add more styles. Each frame is numbered out of 99 only for each colour+style allowing additional sku possibilities. All hingeing is made in Australia along with all assembly. Design and prototyping occurs at our studio and any digital files are created locally.
The process has been designed with production in mind and we have plans to up-scale the prpoduction where every process has been designed for proud workmanship here in South Australia.
Our products are exported to USA, Canada and New Zealand.
