Jeremy Metherell is one of several product design students to work with Cactus Outdoor.
Cactus Outdoor supplies hardwearing outdoor and work clothing and equipment. They approached Otago Polytechnic for help designing new products for their range that would fill a gap in the current outdoor equipment market.
Jeremy Metherell took up this challenge and designed the Cactus Hammock which can be set up in your backyard, taken on a picnic or to a favourite camping spot. The structure of the form and pattern allows for a flatter lie and prevents the fabric folding up around the user. The Hammock went through many iterations and refinements to keep it simple, catering for the need and lifestyle of the Cactus customer.
Daryl Warnock, CEO of Cactus Outdoor, says:
Jeremy has successfully embraced the Cactus design ethic of simplicity, durability and function. These are the things our customers appreciate and for these reasons we see the hammock as a perfect extension to our product range.
The hammock was released for sale before Christmas 2016. The first two batches of hammocks quickly sold out, and Cactus Outdoor is now onto its third production run. Daryl Warnock, Cactus Outdoor General Manager, says the hammocks are still in production, and will have another push next summer. “We’re getting great feedback from our customers” he says. Jeremy’s stoked that people are enjoying his hammocks. “I really couldn’t have asked for a better result, I’m so glad I took on the project.”
The hammock was designed in the final year of study for Jeremy's Bachelor of Design and was further refined for production. Jeremy's hammock design won the bronze medal for student products in the Best Design Awards 2017. Read his entry here. Jeremy was also part of a team which picked up a silver medal for a wheelchair design. Watch Jeremy's interview about both projects here.
Jeremy has continued his Design studies in the postgraduate programme, under Machiko Niimi's supervsion. Read more about studying postgraduate design here.