Designed by Antipodes Design Store owner – Rod Hanna, the Echo Design range caters to the needs of the contemporary New Zealand home. Echo Design pieces have a striking simplicity with understated touches of sophistication. “Designed to echo who we are and how we live, this range is inspired in part by my family’s transitional Ponsonby Villa. It has heritage but is fresh & uncomplicated with a strong use of natural materials like timber” says Rod.
The Echo range is lovingly crafted by local Auckland artisans
who take immense pride in their workmanship. With decades of
frame making, upholstery and cabernet making under their belts,
they take a "slow cooking" approach to their craft, using
traditional methods that are as relevant and valued today as they
were when furniture making was pioneered in New Zealand.
Growing up on a Northland farm, Rod has a strong sense of the
land and how we interact with it. Rod's upbringing gave him
an ingrained appreciation of what can be achieved with a healthy
dose of creativity, ingenuity and pragmatism.
Rod' venture into furniture design builds on a successful
marketing career working with some of New Zealand's most iconic
brands like Steinlager, Team New Zealand, Tegel, Griffins and the
All Blacks. His marketing career gave him an indepth training
in the fundamentals of product design. Having worked with the
likes of food technologists on the development of the world's first
chicken bacon, or with the industrial designers on a new embossed
Steinlager bottle, Rod has developed a strong comprehension of the
balance of aesthetic form and functionality.
Rod has owned Designers' Collection, a furniture business that
designs and tailor-makes furniture for the clients of Interior
Designers and Architects around New Zealand and the Pacific, since
2003. Largely self taught in furniture design, Rod has had
the benefit of many mentors - designers, customers and craftspeople
- who have all had a distinct influence on the style that you now
see under the Echo Design label.