Design Studies student wins RNZ Design-a-Radio competition

BBQ Radio Designed by first-year Design Studies student, Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor, a first year Design Studies student at the University of Otago, was one of three winners of a competition run by Radio New Zealand that asked designers to “show us what New Zealand sounds like to you, by creating a design for a radio”. All three winning radios will be realized in 3D by Weta Workshop and will be included in an exhibition at Te Papa in Wellington from 12 June 2010. This is a good example of a loose sketch that provides all the information that is needed to communicate the main elements of a design, without the need for a polished rendering.

As the logo on the gas bottle makes clear, Chris’s BBQ radio is fueled by Radio New Zealand, just as the radio station fuels the public conversations that all of us can listen in on. Everyone is invited to this BBQ of the airwaves (and the podosphere). Ironically, the gas bottle may be running out.  As the Save Radio New Zealand Facebook site says, “The Govt appears hell bent on driving Radio NZ into the ground.” An associated website provides links to related stories and background information. Both of these sites have grown rather quiet since they were started earlier this year, but the threat to our public broadcaster is ever-present.