From selling Swatch watches as a Christmas casual, to creating gear for the urban pooch, Karl Backhouse has had his head in the world of product design for a fair while. Now the creative director of FuzzYard, a pet product manufacturer with an eye for good design, Backhouse gives us an insight into designing graphics and products for our canine friends.

Hello Karl. So what is your story?
Hello Brendan! Getting where I am today has been kind of a happy accident. I’ve always been a creative-type. As a kid I loved Lego and I’d build massive cities on my bedroom floor, quite often waking up with a brick imprinted into the side of my face. If I saw a picture I liked I would trace it. Sooner or later I was drawing my own illustrations, freehand. By the time I finished high school I knew I wanted to become a graphic designer.

After high school I did a year of TAFE before studying Communication Design at Swinburne’s National Institute of Design. After graduating I felt really unprepared as a designer and didn’t think I could cut it in the real world. So I started working at Swatch as a Christmas casual, a job I loved! I’d always been a fan and was inspired by the 80s cool brand and the artistic collaborations with everyone from Vivienne Westwood to Keith Haring. Three years later I was heading up the sales and marketing activities for the Australian, New Zealand and South Pacific operations of the world’s biggest selling watch brand. However, I missed that creative element and decided it was time to move on. With a whole lot of annual leave up my sleeve I decided to take a break until I found my next adventure.

You are the Creative Director for FuzzYard. How did that come about?
After leaving Swatch I was looking for something new and different and, above all, creative. I was lucky enough to find a position at FuzzYard. Founded by Stu McIntosh in 2003, FuzzYard is a company that creates all sorts of stuff for dogs with an emphasis on design, style and quality. You can now find FuzzYard in pet and department stores in over 20 countries around the world including the world-famous Harrods of London. My job started as a PR and inventory role with a possibility of getting into product design and development. Stu gave me a few smaller projects to work on and then before I knew it I was promoted to Creative Director.

What point of difference does FuzzYard have over other Pet Product manufacturers?
FuzzYard is very different to anything else in the industry. Our Australian made range of grooming products are unique blends of organic extracts and essential oils, pH balanced for your dog and totally sulphate free. Our beds and toys are tough, fully machine washable and made from materials we source from fabric markets around the world. Our collars, leads and tags are like nothing else you’ll find in the marketplace featuring cutting-edge designs unique to FuzzYard. We never settle for less than perfection and if we don’t think we’ve hit the mark we simply don’t release it.

What is your inspiration for creating new products/packaging design?
As cliché as it sounds, inspiration is everywhere! I get plenty of ideas from fashion and design made for people and I try to adapt it for the four-legged kind. In the last 12 months the FuzzYard Team  have taken trips to Seoul to discover the amazing 5-storey fabric markets and to Tokyo where dogs wear Levi jeans and every piece of fruit is individually packaged.

The packaging of the product bottles are quite simple and minimalist. Can you please tell me some more about this and what you were aiming to achieve.
All of our tubes and bottles are colour coded to make it easier for consumers to match a shampoo with its partner conditioner. We pick colours that invoke the feeling or smell of the ingredients or their purpose, for example: baby pink and blue for our Puppy Range or orange and purple for our Super Shine range. The result is something you don’t want to hide away in a laundry cupboard.

From a design perspective, how do you draw the line between simple and classy v’s plain and boring?
It can be hit or miss sometimes. I usually go crazy at first and then dial it back. The day FuzzYard is plain and boring is the day we fail! I wouldn’t say everything we do is simple or classy – the hardest part is taking an outrageous trend, style or idea and somehow making that attractive to the mass market. I usually know I’ve got it wrong when I show someone a concept and they wrinkle their nose in disgust.

Is there anything in particular that you need to consider when designing toys for pets, as opposed to toys for children?
They’re remarkably similar! Always use non-toxic materials and avoid small parts and embellishments. These are the two big rules for kids and dog toys. When designing for dogs you need to make sure you make it tough. Dogs usually have one thing in mind: DESTROY!

Is there any pet psychology that you have worked into your designs such as certain patterns / colours that may have different effects on the behaviour of the animal?
Dogs have limited colour vision so they seem to like particular colours like yellow or the blue we use on Shoo our housefly. Since dogs are more sensitive to movement they love creatures that have lots of floppy arms and legs. That’s why our range of Fleas have done so well over the years.

Where do you feel most inspired?
I live in St Kilda, Melbourne, so I’m always inspired by the mix of people, the markets and the events that are happening almost all the time. I like to think of FuzzYard as a more urban brand, which is the direction we’ve taken it since last season, so I’m often inspired by city streets and architecture, bill posters and graffiti. I don’t see why the art we create for people can’t be worn by your dog for both to enjoy.

Do you have any advice for fellow designers who wish to get their work out there and noticed?
Use your network! A colleague at a video store I used to work at once gave me this advice and it’s the best advice I’ve ever been given. Use the people you know to put you in touch with other people that can help get you and your work out there.

What are you working on at the moment? What is next for Karl / FuzzYard?
The FuzzYard Team is jetting to Germany in May for Interzoo, the world’s biggest pet expo, where we will feature all our latest and greatest. We’re proudly unveiling our eagerly anticipated ceramic feeding bowls and some new collar and lead concepts at the expo and we can’t wait to get inspired by what Europe has to offer! There’s plenty more on the drawing board for this year so if you would excuse me, I best get back to work…

www.fuzzyard.com

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