Now his bike stands are finalists in one of the most important national design awards.
Former Fi Innovation designer Haydn Jack was living in Invercargill when he was approached by the Invercargill City Council to make a public space more attractive as part of Waka Kotahi’s Innovating Streets fund.
He was inspired by two of the city’s icons — Henry the tuatara and the whale tail in South City — to design a bike rack.
"I’ve been asked to create some nice bike stands that represent Southland or something that Southlanders would identify with.
"So I asked people from work and flatmates and they all mentioned Henry the tuatara.
"The tail design was inspired by the big whale tail in South City which also refers to the city’s ocean and the sea connection."
Active Southland later ran a competition aimed at giving people more opportunities to get active and Mr Jack designed other bike stands based on bird designs which included a kiwi, a penguin and an owl.
He was pleased to be selected as a finalist.
It was not the first time Mr Jack had been a finalist of this award and he was happy this one had a community focus.
"It’s always nice to be recognised when you put an effort into a design, especially for those projects that are quite community-based and community-driven."
While he will be overseas on the awards night on October 6 in Auckland, he was proud to showcase the creativity of Southland at the awards.
This was one of the main awards for designers across the country, he said.
"I think it’s important that designers are recognised outside of the main regions in New Zealand.
"Traditionally it’s always Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch — but there’s a lot of good stuff going on in all the regions including Southland."
