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Singgih S. Kartono: Designing with awareness

JP/Ferdianto PamungkasWorking in a profession dependent on industrialization and consumption often means a product designer sees only two aspects: product and design

Anissa S. Febrina (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, August 13, 2009

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Singgih S. Kartono: Designing with awareness

JP/Ferdianto Pamungkas

Working in a profession dependent on industrialization and consumption often means a product designer sees only two aspects: product and design.

But Singgih S. Kartono chooses to integrate his ideals into his designs and his life.

“I tend to go against the mainstream trend that a designer should produce as much as possible.

People have been fed with so many products already that sometimes they lose the basic idea of buying a thing,” he says.

“They should buy something only if they need it and can take care of it. One should not buy a product just because one has money.”

And Singgih’s internationally acclaimed wooden radio Magno reminds us of exactly that.

Made from around 80 percent wood, Magno is an electronic appliance that one cannot simply turn on and off without caring for it. It is intentionally finished and polished only with wax so that anyone who owns one has to take proper care of the product they bought.

Through his designs, Singgih wants to reverse the trend of overconsumption. Years after he finished his graduation project — a radio design — at the Bandung Institute of Technology, Singgih finally found a design niche where he could also apply his ideals.

“At first, it was a bit difficult to find partners that could provide parts for the radio,” he says.
Social and environmental concerns are also reflected in Singgih’s product designs and, indeed, in his lifestyle. Unlike most designers, who choose to base themselves in either Jakarta or Bandung, Singgih opted to return to his hometown of Kandangan in Central Java’s Temanggung.

“With the advancement of IT, we don’t have to be based in big cities,” he says. “With a website, you can reach even the international market.”

In his hometown, Singgih and his wife started producing the Magno line, which includes not only the wooden radio, but also stationery and wooden toys. For the past couple of years, his workshop has been exporting products to Europe, North America and Japan.

The name Magno is derived from “magnifying”, a reminder of Singgih’s first ever product — a wooden magnifying glass. Wood has been his preferred primary raw material ever since.

“Wood is at least renewable. With the current environmental problems, we should really reduce [our use of] plastic products,” he says.

To ensure the sustainability of his preferred raw material, Singgih also established a nursery.

“With regard to forest regeneration, on the top of preparing our own seedlings, we also collaborate with a junior high school,” he adds. “We work with the school to create a practical curriculum in the field of environmental regeneration.”

It was this sense of social responsibility that led him to go back home.

“Few people realize that through product design, we can also provide a livelihood for people in rural areas. My focus right now is on transforming traditional workmanship into something that fits into the industrial era,” Singgih says.

“The community’s concern about the slowing down and deterioration of Kandangan’s village life prompted me to use my knowledge, skills and experience to strengthen this village with the output of my business.”

His criticism of the government’s failing “modern and instant” approach in sustaining Kandangan’s agricultural lifestyle goes beyond mere words. He perceives craftsmanship as a substitute for the farming that has been lost to the Kandangan community, with the result that many people born there chose to migrate to a city to scrape together a meager income in whatever way they can.
Working in and for an area that he knows well seems to fit Singgih’s character.

“I could not stand taking orders from others,” he says jokingly in explanation of why he did not choose to work for an established manufacturing company.

“I would never get accepted [by any company] if I applied, anyway,” he adds humbly. “I returned and started a business without any precise financial calculations or preparations. The lack of planning was actually a blessing. If I had been prepared in detail, Magno would not have been born.”

It has since proved to be the right decision — he is now overseeing a workshop that employees about
30 workers.

“I’m lucky to have my wife as a partner to oversee production process. There are arguments sometimes, but the partnership works,” he says.

That partnership has propelled his wooden radio onto the international radar of good quality design.

It has garnered an impressive haul of international awards, among them Seattle’s International Design Resource Award in 1997, the 2005 Indonesia Good Design Selection, 2008 Japan Good Design Award and the 2009 Design Plus Award from the Ambiente trade fair in Frankfurt.Earlier this year, it also received the prestigious Brit Design of the Year.

But these awards are just a bonus for the work that Singgih has done. For this designer, it is more important that through his work he can serve the greater good.

Singgih’s business currently makes between US$2,500 and $3,000 each month, enough to support his current number of employees. His ambitious long-term aim is to develop the business to one that earns enough — about a quarter of a million dollars — to be able to employ 1,000 people.

Ambitious as it may seem, if Singgih has proved anything so far, it is that a good product design can go a long way.

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