How Ninth Rib Design began...
Hannah Smith lives in a tiny (really tiny) house near Muriwai on Auckland's west coast with her husband Giles, a scenic artist in the film industry and two daughters Antonia and Zoe. There is also the dog (Beattie), sheep (Tom), pony (Mocha) and rooster (Earthseed) and his harem of multicoloured hens.
An industrial design graduate, Hannah also works in the film industry as a props maker. Her new company Ninth Rib Design showcases New Zealand women's design ideas and products. Hannah uses Mocha the pony as an example of a good design solution to one of life's problems. Mocha was bought for daughter Antonia to ride but the pony is also working full time as a lawn mower. “Before we got Mocha I was spending all my spare time on the end of the weedeater but now Mocha does all our mowing for us. We had tried Tom the sheep but he would head straight for my shrubs and veges and poo everywhere. Mocha seems to like grass best and she always heads around to the back of the shed to do her business so now I've got this fantastic compost pile there. It's so perfect when something works out like this. Time saving, money saving and with added bonuses.”
Design should be like that. When something saves time and money and works well it's a pleasure to use. Often things don't work well and only add clutter to our lives rather than simplifying them.
When Hannah was studying less than 6% of industrial design graduates were women and even fewer went on to work in industry. When you consider that over 80% of household purchasing decisions are made by women it's easy to spot the imbalance. Ninth Rib design has been launched to tap into the wealth of ideas women have as they struggle to deal with daily demands.
Now through Ninth Rib Design anyone with a good idea can be guided through the same process. Hannah offers free advice on intellectual property and how best to protect your idea, materials, processes and manufacturing options. Ninth Rib can also create a prototype of your product and organize a short production run for testing. Finally, your product can be marketed on the Ninth Rib Design website which will be a showcase of Kiwi women's ingenuity.
The first product Ninth Rib will be showcasing is the Mopsock - one of Hannah's own ideas.
For those of you wondering why the name Ninth Rib, Hannah is ironically referring to the story in the Bible where Eve is created out of one of Adam's ribs. According to Hannah this is a classic case of diminution of women's importance but on the other hand is an excellent example of recycling – something she believes in strongly and hopes to encourage in her role as adviser to some great NZ inventors in the near future.
An industrial design graduate, Hannah also works in the film industry as a props maker. Her new company Ninth Rib Design showcases New Zealand women's design ideas and products. Hannah uses Mocha the pony as an example of a good design solution to one of life's problems. Mocha was bought for daughter Antonia to ride but the pony is also working full time as a lawn mower. “Before we got Mocha I was spending all my spare time on the end of the weedeater but now Mocha does all our mowing for us. We had tried Tom the sheep but he would head straight for my shrubs and veges and poo everywhere. Mocha seems to like grass best and she always heads around to the back of the shed to do her business so now I've got this fantastic compost pile there. It's so perfect when something works out like this. Time saving, money saving and with added bonuses.”
Design should be like that. When something saves time and money and works well it's a pleasure to use. Often things don't work well and only add clutter to our lives rather than simplifying them.
When Hannah was studying less than 6% of industrial design graduates were women and even fewer went on to work in industry. When you consider that over 80% of household purchasing decisions are made by women it's easy to spot the imbalance. Ninth Rib design has been launched to tap into the wealth of ideas women have as they struggle to deal with daily demands.
Now through Ninth Rib Design anyone with a good idea can be guided through the same process. Hannah offers free advice on intellectual property and how best to protect your idea, materials, processes and manufacturing options. Ninth Rib can also create a prototype of your product and organize a short production run for testing. Finally, your product can be marketed on the Ninth Rib Design website which will be a showcase of Kiwi women's ingenuity.
The first product Ninth Rib will be showcasing is the Mopsock - one of Hannah's own ideas.
For those of you wondering why the name Ninth Rib, Hannah is ironically referring to the story in the Bible where Eve is created out of one of Adam's ribs. According to Hannah this is a classic case of diminution of women's importance but on the other hand is an excellent example of recycling – something she believes in strongly and hopes to encourage in her role as adviser to some great NZ inventors in the near future.
