Lived: 1923-2004
Education: Industrial design, Central School of Art, London.
Career: Valuable engineering experience as aircraft fitter in the RAF during WW2. Member of Festival Pattern group, 1951. Worked first at Bakelite Ltd. and from 1950 at Ekco Plastics Ltd., where he set up the Plastics Design Department. In 1959 he set up his own practice, Martyn Rowlands Associates and his client base expanded.
Notable designs: Baby bath, 1955. Trimphone, 1966. Opella 500 range of plastic taps, 1970. Soda Stream, 1972.
Significance: Rowlands was one of the first trained industrial designers to work with plastics in Britain. He tended to work through the development of models rather than by making drawings. His designs are noteworthy for their smooth, clean lines and their practicality. He was among the first designers to make the most of the relatively new injection moulding process.
