Martyn Rowlands trained at the Central School in London. He specialised in plastics. He was one of the first trained industrial designers to work with British industry after the Second World War. He worked first for Bakelite Ltd, then set up the design department at Ekco Plastics, where his products won a number of design awards. In 1959 he left Ekco to work as an independent design consultant. This was at a time when the idea of the design consultancy in Britain was still in its infancy. One important commission in 1966 was the popular telephone known as the ‘Trimphone’, which won a Design Council Award.

Rowlands's products for Ekco included tableware, nursery products, a baby bath with stand and a watering can. He developed products specifically to suit the qualities of plastic materials. He did this rather than simply carry across traditional forms.