14th October 2016

Design Down Under: Q&A with Dowel Jones’ Dale Hardiman

Australia has a reputation for straightforward thinking and a non-nonsense approach to life. Young Melbourne design studio Dowel Jones is doing nothing to dispel that perception. With a strong focus on the essentials, no time for frippery, and a dedication to keeping things affordable in an industry where eye-watering price tags can sometimes seem the norm, founders Dale Hardiman and Adam Lynch have turned a single-product project into an increasingly beloved Australian furniture brand.

Dowel Jones’ reputation is steadily spreading beyond their Melbourne base and turning heads internationally (and will turn even more, now Zetteler are spreading the word). We caught up with Dale to find out how the duo went from the flat-pack, rubber and timber tripod lamp (their namesake Mr Dowel Jones), to one of the hottest hospitality designers in Australia…

When did you decide you wanted to work together?

We met while studying furniture design at university together in 2010. After collaborating on the Mr Dowel Jones lamps in 2013, we realised the potential of building a brand together – as we are incredibly different from one another in almost every way!

What’s your working relationship like? Do you each have specific areas you’re responsible for or do you both do a bit of everything?

As we're still quite a small brand we tend to overlap with a lot of the tasks, although we work to our strengths. It would be impossible to divide up the roles completely as every day we have to do something new.

Tim Ber

Is it still just the two of you, or have you grown since the studio launched?

As we manage the production of the majority of our products, we could not do everything on our own! We've had a few casual staff work for us over the past few years, with more permanent staff being taken on this year. We are very excited to have a new studio manager, Ger Sloyan.

How would you describe the look and ethos of your work? Do you have a signature style or underlying philosophy?

Our style would most likely be most identifiable from the way we characterise each of our collections through photography and styling – along with the names we give our products (most recently a corkboard called ‘Cork Cobain’). Our underlying philosophy is that we are interested in simplifying objects to their bare essentials without compromising on aesthetic values, while also minimising the materials and processes involved.

How would you describe the design scene in Australia? Do you think the rest of the world is paying enough attention?

It wasn't until we exhibited at the Australian stand at the London Design’s Festival’s 100% Design that we were made aware of our international representation, with comments such as 'I didn't realise there were Australian designers!' I don't think this is a common perception of Australian design, but it was very strange to hear. We can't really speak more broadly as we've only been involved within the design discipline for the past five years or so, but it seems Australia is quite active, whether it be designers who are living overseas, or those travelling over for trade events and exhibitions. The Australian design scene as a whole is incredibly supportive, and we could not be working the way we are now without saying thanks to several designers and institutions.

Why is it important to you to support local suppliers?

We work with local suppliers as they are the ones we can visit, have face-to-face conversations with and understand their working conditions and methods. Relationships are one of the key components to running our studio, and once we've built a successful relationship with a supplier they are usually willing to work on projects most others wouldn't. Australian design and manufacturing is in an incredibly strange time, with a lot of businesses moving their production offshore, which means you have to order large quantities to make production worthwhile. Working with local manufacturers allows us to work in smaller runs, producing more designed objects and have new projects prototyped, and gives us the ability to visit these factories quite easily.

King Dome

If your studio weren’t in Melbourne, where in the world would it be?

It's difficult to say, as our business is so focused around Australian manufacturers. If we were to set up elsewhere, and not use Australian suppliers, our products would be very different. We originally talked about moving to London after showing at the London Design Festival as Dowel Jones for the first time in 2013!

You describe your Hooked Up tie as ‘Designed with no specific use in mind’ – is that your usual approach? Or do you normally design to address a specific purpose?

The Hooked Up project was a very unique project for Dowel Jones. Hooked Up was designed by local designer Isaac Francis, originally in a studio we ran at RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) as part of a pendant light made from leather. The tie was being used to hold a roll of cord that allowed users to adjust the height of their pendant in situ without any tools, but we saw it as a contemporary version of the ubiquitous zip tie. As the majority of our business is now within hospitality, our usual approach to commercial furniture is fairly specific. With regard to the non-commercial products we produce, they are created for fun!

You've said before that you 'don't do luxury' – why did you make that decision?

Our intention since our founding has been to produce furniture, objects and lighting for everyday life, and this means that we don't produce high-end products that aren't affordable to most. We may do luxury occasionally on custom projects, but the majority of our output is for the broader market. We're not anti-luxury! We like to produce objects that are not complex to manufacture, and this means our style is fairly minimalist visually.

What materials do you most enjoy working with?

We wouldn't say we have any preference; the current range we produce is based on what is possible within the capabilities of our studio and what is achievable by our Australian manufacturers. We are forever interested in exploring new materials and processes, but only as they are made accessible.

Bradley Hooper

What’s your dream project?

We are forever working on dream projects! As we self-initiate almost all of our projects, we have the freedom to explore however we choose. Being a small studio with a large output means we are asked to work on custom projects and exhibitions quite frequently, which allows us the freedom to explore less commercial outcomes.

What are you working on at the moment?

Commercial furniture isn't our endgame; we've always wanted to explore all aspects of design, which is why we work on furniture, lighting and objects. We're currently working on a window display and a one-off piece for Melbourne jewellery store Kozminksy, along with several collaborations with other studios, such as a line of fashion accessories including sandals. We're also finishing our studio renovations, which will be the first time we've worked within a space we can alter completely, so it's probably not going to end up looking like a normal studio (our office has already been nicknamed ‘The Pool’).