industrial design graduate cath ertler has revamped an old university assignment to kick start her business zeppodesign.
her first product is the zeppochair. made from cardboard children can easily build it and then personalise it with their own decorations.
“we had to make a chair that was as light as possible but also very strong and that was a few years ago,” she says.
“i [recently] pulled it out of the closet and decided to improve it and that’s how i got here.
“it’s very, very difficult to find industrial design work in sydney and i needed a project so that was the first one off the rank.”
the company is only a few months old and products are stocked in a handful of sydney stores, but ertler is hoping to do more wholesaling.
“i’ve probably only got four places at the moment in sydney but i’ve just started marketing in the last month so things haven’t started to happen yet,” she says.
ertler is also looking to increase her range with more pieces of cardboard furniture including a table to go with the zeppochair. she says while the chair may not last forever it is an environmentally friendly product, which kids and adults can enjoy making together.
“it’s not going to last a long time like a plastic chair but it is biodegradable and recyclable,” she explains. “it comes from green sources. part of the corrugated cardboard comes from 100 per cent recycled paper and half of it is made from australian renewable plantation trees.
“i think people need to get used to the idea that we need to move away from plastics that have toxins and don’t biodegrade for a very long time.”
