• Culture Locus Research

Who are we?

Locus is more than just product development. We are a cross-functional team with a shared love for breaking boundaries. We live and breathe creativity, innovation, research-driven work and of course, great food.

A locus of research

Our story starts in 2002, when our founder Timothy Allan decided it was time to take the product development world into his own hands. He took his unique research- driven approach, gathered a few willing souls, pumped in some determination to succeed, and behold, Locus Research was born.

The research-first mantra that was instilled into the company still drives everything we do today. We don’t just create stuff. We dig deep, generate insights, iterate and innovate, and we always deliver the goods. We are a product development and innovation company that works with you to deliver world class products to market.

What we stand for

Nurturing our creative culture is important to our success — but that’s not all that drives us. We continually strive to learn, explore, and surround ourselves with other inspirational individuals on our path of discovery and creation.

We have promised each other
To be independent. To be creative. To continually learn. To work with conscience. To create friendship. To be sustainable and espouse environmental values. To always maintain integrity. To think of the customer and work with empathy. To be resilient. To be original.

The team

We’re a small family of equal parts madness and skill; an assorted mix of world views and disciplines that come together to create a well-oiled machine. As a creative organisation there can often be a large cloud of chaos around us, but we’ve found this often results in unique and original ideas.

Our team has a deep passion for what we do and this is always transferred into our dedication to projects. We do everything we can to push a product from good to great, from ordinary to extraordinary and beautiful.

Discover the faces behind the madness here.

Celebrating Success

Kiwi’s aren’t the best at patting themselves on their back, but every now and again you need to step back and raise a glass to all the great things you’ve accomplished. So, in a moment of Locus self-indulgence, a digital glass is being raised.

15 years

15 years of successful product development, creating world class products for Kiwis, and delivering them to market. It couldn’t get any better than that.

Awesome awards

Ten DINZ Best Awards, one Gold Pin and many others we won’t list off. You don’t win awards you don’t enter; we’ve entered some of our best efforts and have been recognised by NZ’s highest design honour.

A Measure of Success

We published our own book in 2012 — A Measure of Success: Celebrating 10 Years of Successful Product Development. You can even buy it here — pretty cool huh.

Don’t forget the food

We have reached a three year milestone for MKR Locus Edition — after all, those that eat together stay together. 

Locus goes global

We’ve been asked to present and be involved in events all around the world; including Mexico, China, Italy and the USA. Tell us where you are in the world and we might stop by for a visit!

Always on the move

We’ve occupied seven different studio spaces over the past 15 years, each one better than the last. We’re big dreamers, so we have some exciting plans in the pipeline for the Locus space.

Sustainability

What goes up must come down. You reap what you sow. A butterfly flaps its wings in the Amazon… They’re the clichés of consequence we’re all too familiar with, and yet when it comes to products and to innovation, the measure of impact often doesn’t extend beyond the rubbish bins on the footpath.

As designers and craftspeople, we need to help the process of environmental renewal through choosing materials and processes that are sustainable.

A product’s life cycle is always in the back of our mind; can these materials be recycled, where will it end up, what’s the life expectancy, how can we improve for the better. Not only does it help us create products we are ethically proud of, but it helps play a small part in a better future for the planet.

We are proud to say that we have our own resource outlining the building blocks for sustainable design, as well as creating the Sustainable Design Resource for the Design Institute of New Zealand (DINZ).

Understanding consumers and influencing them through the design of products and services, communications, and spaces is a true creative challenge. And a creative challenge is something any good designer just simply can’t resist.