10 favourite things: Designer Angela Roper

Eon owner and design lecturer Angela Roper. Picture / Carolyn Robertson

Angela Roper's hunch that Auckland was ready for a design store featuring only New Zealand-made products proved right. That was six years ago.

After three years, Eon had grown so much it had to move from Kingsland to a bigger store near Victoria Park Market.

Roper, a talented designer herself, wants to inspire innovation among New Zealand designers by providing opportunities, as well as a showcase for their work. These values are embedded in the heart of Eon.

For several years Roper was on the council of the Designers' Institute of New Zealand and the advisory board for the Master in Design Management degree at Unitec in Auckland.

She still lectures in professional practice at Unitec but has stepped down from her other roles in the world of design to spend more time with her daughters, Stella, 2, and Holly, 6 months.

"I have never been out of the South Pacific. I appreciate international design but do not think it is a prerequisite for understanding what is New Zealand design. I would like to travel in the future, but there is so much to do and see here."

She and husband, Dave Roper, assistant winemaker at Villa Maria Estate in Mangere, live in a Mt Roskill bungalow filled with design objects they love.

1. Peter Collis ceramics. I love New Zealand ceramics and our collection ranges from Len Castle to Crown Lynn. My new favourite is the Beehive series by Peter Collis. A client recently bought a spiral glazed pot that I really wanted from his exhibition. I was so disappointed he expanded the Beehive vase forms into bottles to create something new for my collection.

2. Design books. I prefer books on design, society and cultural change. At the moment I'm reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. My favourite is my signed copy of a book on Frederick Hundertwasser. I was privileged to spend a day with him exploring the designs throughout his property in the Bay of Islands, as well as viewing his paintings and inventions.

3. Baby Mouse children's ceramic range. My sister Cat Chapman originally designed this for Stella when she was born. Over the past couple of years it has gained quite a following with our customers and regularly gets sent to grandchildren around the world. I'm looking forward to a new range that Cat has designed for Holly which will be released soon.

4. Esther Diamond duvet set. I have the Rabbits pattern by Martin Popplewell accented with his I'm Stuffed pillowslips. It's rather appropriate at the end of the day. Now I can relax and fall asleep counting rabbits.

5. Enjoying a glass of wine with Dave. It's an occupational hazard of being married to someone in the wine industry, but we do it in the name of research. Whenever we get the chance we love to do day trips to different wineries.

6. Birthday and anniversary presents. We decided to buy artwork or jewellery to celebrate significant occasions. Favourites include a necklace by Ilse Marie Erl bought when I found out I was pregnant with Stella. It has a piece of coal set into a silver casing with a diamond set into the top panel. It combines two forms of carbon that are separated only by time and pressure. The other is a Martin Popplewell print. It celebrates the birth of Holly and is named Portrait of Gulp, Spit, Swallow.

7. Stella's and Holly's bedrooms. I love spending time reading books and playing games with my girls. Their rooms are also full of New Zealand design, like the Ingrid Anderson duvet set, the Katy Wallace mini Louver light, and a colourful wall mural by Auntie Cat.

8. Tapography ceramics range. I designed this range to simplify the art of antipastos. It always annoyed me that the crackers would slide around the plate so in this design I made the crackers stack upright. Even the dips and olives have their place.

9. Creative urban design. I love looking at the sculptures and panel designs on the new motorway developments around Stanley St and the city end of the Northwestern. My favourite would have to be the sculptures by Caroline Robinson in Grafton Gully. It's a reminder that creative industries can have a positive effect in all areas of our built environment.

10. Crichton bowl. John Crichton had one of his first exhibitions with my great aunt, who was a painter. My grandma bought one of his bowls from the show and for as long as I can remember it has hung in their house. For my birthday I was rather overwhelmed when I opened the box and there it was. She wanted me to have it because she knew I would truly appreciate it.