13 Years to Make a Radio: The Slow Design of Singgih Kartono

Indonesian product designer Singgih Kartono has taken a decidedly different approach in creating his Magno Radio. Not being driven by the market, or money, Kartono has spent 13 years developing and fine-tuning his device.  In his philosophy of  “slow design”, he aims to create a classic, culturally relevant device that would not just be “an object”, but a meaningful part of someone’s life.

Asia Pacific News reports:

The radios are made from Pinewood, Mahogany and Albasia – wood from trees indigenous to Indonesia. And Singgih plants a replacement tree for each one he uses.

He explained: “(This is) because wood is a soulful material. Wood tells us about life, balance and limits. When I combine electronic products with wood material, it seems like a soul embodied, it makes a closer relation to us. ”

The radio started out as a final year university project in 1992 when he was studying product design, and it took 13 years to start production. The main challenge was difficulty in sourcing small numbers of radio circuits, to be encased in Singgih’s wooden radio casing.

Suppliers normally only sell a minimum of 1,000 radio circuits per purchase. But in 2005, a supplier finally agreed to sell Singgih 100 radio circuits.

The radios are produced in small batches (200 sets a month), by a team of 30 craftsman at a workshop Kartono has set up to provide jobs for local workers.

[via Core 77]

Asia Pacific News: “Product designer develops radio which incorporates Indonesian culture”