Robert Beagley-Brown

TOG is a British company that brings together the best of Japanese artisan knifemaking and European design and innovation to create the ultimate kitchen knife for professionals and enthusiasts.

TOG blades are forged in Seki City, the Samurai sword capital of Japan. Like the swords that have been made there for 800 years, TOG blades are layered and hardened to give an unparalleled combination of sharpness and strength.

The design also uses innovative materials like Kebony and antimicrobial copper alloy and high tech processes like laser-etching.

TOG Knives are available at www.togknives.com

Beagley-Brown Design offers product design services to clients worldwide. We also run the 'Designosaur' Blog on design and sustainability.

I co-founded the sustainable design consultancy Sprout Design with Guy Robinson in 2004. We carved a niche for ourselves specialising in environmentally friendly and inclusive products and developed our own methodology for sustainable innovation. Quickly we built a team and won clients such as Tesco, ASDA, Virgin Atlantic and B&Q. Alongside these we also worked with start-ups and smaller manufacturers to develop innovative products and take them to market.

Projects I worked on included:
- Environmentally friendly Christmas Crackers, bag and gift-tags for Giveware
- Development of the most comfortable ballet pointe shoe in the world for Capulet
- 'Street' urban space recycling container for Taylor Bins
- Award winning 'Binvention' home recycling organiser (in-house project)
- ‘The Impact of Premiumisation on Drinks Packaging’ research project, environmental analysis and report for the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP)
- Readymeal packaging: environmental analysis and design innovation for WRAP and Tesco
- Speaker case and fabric keyboard packaging for technology company Eleksen
- “EyeWonder” & “Magnif-Eye” - technology products to help the visually impaired, winner of the 2007 Design and Business Association 24hr Inclusive Design Challenge

Two separate two-month designer-in-residence programmes. I worked with small family-owned manufacturers in the Gifu prefecture of Japan. My designs for eco-friend 'Toginon' kitchen knives are in production and were shortlisted for the international INDEX design award. My domestic earth tiller design for hardware company Daishin Industries is also in production.

User research and design of garden power tools for B&Q and writing guidelines on inclusive design and sustainable innovation for the Kingfisher Group.

Freelance design and visualisation services provided to the furniture and interior products sourcing and design company.

Whilst with this branding and design agency I worked on projects including product design, web design, retail interiors, petrol stations, exhibition design and packaging design. For six months I was based in Mumbai working for India's largest company designing 'webstores', mobile phone towers and petrol stations.

Freelance work producing lawnmower design concepts for the German garden tools manufacturer.

Concept design and foam sketch modelling on consumer electronics projects and a wood burning stove.

Concept designer and researcher on projects mainly for the automotive industry.