Better by design case study overview

Howard Wright was a motor mechanic who started his engineering business in a small workshop underneath his house in the 1950's. When asked by a nurse if he could make a hospital bed like the ones from overseas he said yes.

In fact he would make it better. Since then Howard Wright have quietly become a leading specialist in the design, manufacture and distribution of medical beds and stretchers.

From New Plymouth to the world, without too much fuss, just a desire to make human care easier. And the way they have made human care easier is simple... by asking questions of the people who use the product daily and translating that feedback into a product that is simple, smart and human.

When Studio Alexander met Howard Wright through the Better by Design programme, we started out the same way... by asking lots of questions.

What we discovered was refreshing and inspiring. A modest and driven team that lived up to what they said, as well as language and processes that expressed their desire to improve human care.

We helped them make the connections between their 'simple. smart. human' design language, their 'making human care easier' tagline, their pure company history and their commitment to design that improves peoples lives.

We then distilled this into the brand idea 'motivated by user empathy' and brought it to life externally as 'Howard Wright Cares.'

This same idea is then represented by an ancient symbol for human interaction: the human hand. The 'HW' hand sums up Howard Wright people and the products very clearly. A team of people who care, products which are intuitive and a company that now differentiates from its competitors. In all, a revolutionary change for Howard Wright that has been fully embraced internally and externally.