Bring Your Dream to the Surface: Changing the Way Auckland Looks with Think and Shift

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Kiwi lads Sam Griffin and James McNab have set up shop in Auckland with the driving ambition to transform New Zealand design - one project at a time. Their brand Think and Shift (T&S), was born out of a shared passion for design and has already won the pair international awards despite being conceived less than two years ago. Working out of The Aviary, a shared workspace on K-Road, their focus is on high concept products and spatial fitouts, which use minimalist design principles to create maximum impact.

While the pair each have particular strong suits in spatial and product design, their creative process is very much collaborative and they contribute to both disciplines - something they believe is "fundamental to the success of the business". They most recently put their meticulous nature to use conceptualising and creating a cubby hole/chair designed especially for children, transforming offices for tech giants, fleshing out the city's hottest new nightclub and everything in between.

With Think and Shift, old friends Sam and James are slowly changing Auckland's design landscape and bringing their dreams to the surface. We sat down for a chat and discovered how the twin minds behind T & S bring ideas to reality and where they draw their inspiration from.

EARLY BEGINNINGS

While it sounds as if Sam and James have been design geniuses since way back, they weren't always working in line with their passion - T&S represents a move to do exactly that. "We started our business in Tauranga back in 2012 with another member, Daniel Kamp, producing furniture and lighting design under an old label, making the first few pieces ourselves and from there naively jumping into retail and mass production (well sort of)."

"We made the call to move away from retail and subsequently go into hibernation for 6 months to plan a fresh new brand that was more in tune with our interests, insert, Think & Shift. The big change in our thinking was from designing a few times a year in a production operation; to designing as much as we could with lots of variance and for an array of different people."

FROM CLIENT BRIEF TO CONCEPT TO BEING

The T&S design process starts with pretending to be a sponge before establishing a unique concept."In the early phases we're much like sponges, trying to absorb as much water the client sends our way so we can truly understand the project and the challenges at play. Fundamentally to us, the concept drives everything and this needs to be explored in all directions before we land on something unique."

Despite their obvious talent, Sam and James rely heavily on equally talented collaborators and makers to bring their ideas to life."Once the concept is defined, each project is slightly different but we tend to engage our collaborators and work with them very closely to achieve the collective vision and desired outcome. Without our strong network, we would just be guys with good ideas and no one to execute them."

FINDING INSPIRATION AND CAPTURING IT

In creative industries inspiration is key, without it, ideas can become stale and uniform. Sam and James use travel and the wisdom of a fellow named Tim to keep things fresh. "We find inspiration from as many sources as possible. Travel is always key to expand our minds and leave our little bubble called New Zealand but when we're concreted at our desks, blogs, the odd magazine and this dude called Tim who sits next to us makes sure we stay current with our thinking."

THE TECH JUNGLE AND TWO-WEEK OLD NIGHTCLUBS

Sam and James were recently approached by Microsoft to create an event for the product release of the new Surface Pro 4. Microsoft were after an immersive experience which was starkly different from what they'd done in the past. T&S took that last part seriously and transformed a pristine photo studio into a tech-infused jungle, complete with faceted jelly sculptures, neon lights, shards of rock and mirror plinths.

"The Microsoft gig was a fun little project to work on, allowing us the full creative freedom to roll with a clear concept from start to finish. Another, which is a bit more recent is the nightclub Impala, that was just launched underneath Barkers on High Street. We were fortunate with this that immediately landed on the same page with the client and the project ran smoothly. "

PROMOTING ETHICAL DESIGN

Sam and James are bringing the ethics of furniture and design industries to light and creating 100% ethical product with the help of the right collaborative tools, "Being on both sides of the purchasing and designing fence, we've seen the pitfalls and challenges around ethical product, especially in the replica game. We would like to explore the options we have in NZ and look at designing our own furniture with the contacts we have and partner with somebody down the track to make this a reality."

"Using Surface has made achieving this easier and given us absolute freedom to sketch over photos and share ideas with our collaborators from any location."

THE FUTURE FOR SAM AND JAMES

These talented chaps have a lot on their plates going forward but are focusing on gathering inspiration via travel, before they return to continue moulding Auckland's aesthetics for the better.

"We're big believers in keeping a fresh perspective and getting out of NZ as much as we can. James has just spent 5 weeks travelling and working throughout Portugal, Spain and Holland and Sam's planning to head to New York towards the end of the year. It's a huge advantage having the two of us to take turns steering the ship while the other is away. However long term, our goal is NZ focused - to boost the design industry here and further establish a contemporary culture where our design is at least equal to what else is going on around the world.

There's a creative fire raging inside you but the daily grind yearns to stamp it out. Want to bring your own dream to the surface? Microsoft wants to give one person the tools, the time, and the salary* to make their project a reality - whether it be writing poems on grains of rice, creating jewellery out of knives and forks, animating cartoon characters, designing moving desserts or making sculptures out of used car parts.
Simply tell Microsoft what you want to create using Microsoft Surface and they could help you make it happen.

For more information visit winayear.co.nz.

*Monetary prize of NZD $60,000