New product and industrial design firm opens

Friday, 13 July 2012 05:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Colombo Design Studio, Sri Lanka’s first product and industrial design company was launched in Sri Lanka recently.

With unique consultancy methods, Colombo Design Studio aims to work with companies who are manufacturing, assembling or fabricating products in Sri Lanka, as well as those who are selling imported products but would like to take their brand to the next level by owning the design and intellectual property.

This will help these companies improve their competitive advantage, both in the local and the international markets.

Locally, Colombo Design Studio has already started working with numerous local clients with the Sri Lankan portfolio growing.

With over 10 years working as a product designer in London consultancies, Colombo Design Studio Director Lee Bazalgette hopes that his knowledge and experience of the industry can be used to really make a difference in the local design and manufacturing sector.

Having graduated from Loughborough University with a First Class Honours in Industrial Design, Bazalgette has gone on to bring many successful products to market, from household goods and consumer products, to aircraft interiors and seating, many of which have won internationally coveted awards such as the D&AD, BDI Design Effectiveness Award and the Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Award. He has worked for a wide range of clients, including British Airways, Etihad Airways, Remington Products, Tetra Pak, DLink, Acco Rexel and many more. He has also judged the Helen Hamlyn 24 Hour Inclusive Design challenge, and lectured at universities such as Brunel and Glasgow on the benefit of design. He will also be speaking at the CII NID Design Summit in New Delhi in December. Lee said, “After working for over 10 years in the product design industry for a multi-award winning London Design Consultancy, I’m excited to be able to bring that experience to Sri Lanka. There’s a great opportunity to improve the day-to-day experience of people using user centred, sustainable and inclusive design thinking. Through this companies who have the foresight to put design at the core of their business will be able to improve sales and brand recognition, and above all have better products on the market.”

He is also a Certified Solidworks Professional and Solidworks Surfacing Professional, those being difficult to achieve and internationally recognised certificates of authority with regard to the use of Solidworks software for computer aided design and engineering.

Bazalgette hopes to add product design to the already established industries of architecture, graphic and interior design as a first port of call for people and companies wishing to make their product ideas a successful reality.