What first drew you to product design and what brought you specifically to audio?

I’ve always had a keen interest in beautiful objects…and taking things apart to see how they’re made! From a young age I’ve enjoyed art and making things – even as a toddler I had a ‘doing cupboard’ full of art materials that I spent my time creating, but it was only when I went to college and then university that I realised that designing products was what I enjoyed most.

I am fascinated by the way people interact with products at all levels and don’t take for granted that everything we use (good or bad!) has been designed by someone. I enjoy learning about materials and getting my hands dirty in the workshop to see how they can be manipulated and be made to look beautiful. The process of being able to sketch an idea down to seeing it being mass-produced is a real buzz!

Is there a product you encountered early on, something you used or saw, that you still think about as a benchmark of great design?

The everyday objects we use to enhance or make life easier are the ones I value the most, from a nice pen to a car that is exciting to drive or just a beautiful object that makes me happy to look at.

Was working in hi-fi a deliberate choice or something that found you?

After I completed my Product and Furniture Design Degree, an opening came up at MAG for a Junior Product Designer within 15 minutes of where I lived. Music is a huge part of my life and always has been, so the opportunity to design products that enhance people’s enjoyment of that was too good an opportunity to pass me by. 20 years later, I am still here and still thoroughly enjoying what I do.

What was the hardest design problem you had to solve on Radius Series 4G?

Leading the product design on the Radius Series 4G was an interesting one, particularly as I had designed the previous range ‘Radius 3G 13’ years ago! ‘Radius’ has always been celebrated for its simplicity and unintrusive form – but for this generation, we also updated the cabinet sizes, so this new range is a huge step up acoustically. Our objective was for the visuals to reflect the step up in the sound, so I wanted to keep the same simplicity of the previous range but to really make the most of celebrating the material properties. The radius-edged MDF cabinets are sleek and contemporary and beautifully painted. The metal grilles include our iconic hexagonal etched pattern, which is a detail we use through many of our projects to help strengthen our brand's design language. The faceplates are die-cast out of aluminium, which then frame our iconic gold dome tweeter. Each material and finish is carefully considered.

Is there a decision you and the design team made that you're particularly proud of during this project?

The Radius 4G adorns a new badge which is on all 3 of the models – as well as the Radius Series 4G Floor Stand. It is an aluminium badge that has been anodised, polished and paint filled to create a jewel-like logo which reflects quality & celebrates our brand. We also created a new Tripod Stand which, when assembled to the models, totally transforms the visual identity of the speakers. It makes the range more lifestyle and contemporary, with the tripod legs turned out of solid wood, which helps to soften the product even further, so it integrates into the home.

What are you hoping customers will feel when experiencing and listening to this new Radius range?

I hope that the customer enjoys listening to great sound as well as celebrating how seamlessly the speakers fit into their space.

Hi-fi is still a heavily male-dominated industry. Has that shaped your experience of working in it?

A lot has changed in the 20 years I’ve been at MAG. When I first used to attend workshops and industry talks, I was very much in the minority as a female designer. But now there are so many more women involved, not just in our company, but in the industry as a whole. In fact, our product design team is predominantly female!

Do you think diverse design teams make better products, and if so, why?

We aspire for our products to be enjoyed by a diverse range of people – so it makes sense to have a design team that is also diverse. Individually, we all come from different backgrounds and have a unique range of skill sets. We use this to our advantage and make sure we work as a team to enhance and elevate the wide variety of designs that we engineer.