Michael Smythe

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About me

Gender Male
Occupation Designer
Location North Shore City, New Zealand
Introduction Michael gained a Diploma of Industrial Design at the Wellington Polytechnic School of Design in the mid 1960s and became Fisher and Paykel's first full-time graduate industrial designer. Four years with JASMaD (now Jasmax) preceded self employment as Marks and Smythe Designers (in partnership with Charles Marks) then the Designforces (in partnership with Michael Penck and Murray Pilcher). From 1988 to 1991 he was the inaugural Executive Director of the Designers Secretariat. Michael Smythe and Helen Schamroth established CREATIONZ Consultants in 1991 offering professional services in research, writing and strategic advice related to design and the visual arts. Smythe gained a Master of Design Management degree from Unitec in 2004. He lectures part-time in Design History and New Zealand Design History to Bachelor of Product Design students at Unitec.