Family ties

By Laura Westphal, August 25, 2009 @ 11:53 am

The Wright-Stows transform everyday household materials into an artistic range of products

Led by a Christchurch family of four, F3 Design is transforming everyday household materials into an artistic range of products. Founded in October 2007, F3—representing fun, form and function—was conceived by parents Stuart and Angela Wright-Stow, who own Little River Gallery in Christchurch. The Wright-Stow clan also includes daughter, Ella, who studied sculpture at Canterbury School of Fine Arts, and son Pippin, who achieved a post-graduate diploma in print and sculpture.

By integrating the talents and creative strengths of this dynamic foursome, F3 Design has developed an eclectic product line, ranging from jewellery made of guywire to stainless steel tables and ‘breadboreds’ that are guaranteed to spruce up any dull kitchen. “Each product we design and manufacture has a slightly different inspiration,” says Ella Wright-Stow. “We make things that will stand the test of time, both structurally and visually.”

The inspiration for F3 Design grew out of dinner table conversations where topics such as how to cheaply replace bathroom towel rails were discussed. Using the family’s various backgrounds in the arts, the Wright-Stows began producing random household goods, realising that a market may exist for similar products that were “cheap, hardy and stylish”, she says.

F3 Design currently retails its products in more than 35 outlets around New Zealand in addition to its Christchurch retail store, F3, which opened in April 2008, and a recently-launched website.

Originally published in Idealog #22, page 25