The Router Bros. truck

Bevan Whiting and Andrew Veitch jointly own the newly established Christchurch design and manufacturing business Frontal Lobe, which produces items made from ethically sourced timber — principally bamboo.

They aim to produce homeware for sale in shops and also bespoke items for one-off jobs such as shop fit-outs.

The two men have contrasting backgrounds. Andrew has worked in retail since leaving school, working his way up to management, first at Kathmandu in Christchurch, then in Melbourne after the Christchurch earthquakes. He then worked at T-shirt companies Cotton On and T-Bar, managing 12 stores, and finally at Topshop, where he was responsible for hundreds of staff. He returned to New Zealand after five years in Australia, looking for a job with a more personal connection to customers than fashion clothing and with a sustainable footprint.  The decal on the side of the tin-plate truck that holds the cutters for the router was designed on screen. The logo was then inkjet printed onto Testor’s Decal Paper. This comes in two varieties — clear or white background — and is available as boxes of six A5- sized sheets from model shops. A layer of protective finish was sprayed over the printed surface. The printed paper was immersed in water until the water-soluble adhesive loosened and the top layer floated free. There was sufficient adhesive remaining for the decal to stick to the toy truck. The decal was then smoothed out and left to dry.