London Furniture Designers

Furniture design

A furniture designer works in two ways: making one-of bespoke items to order for clients; and designing items for making in small batches or mass production. Creating 3D plans in Autocad is important for designing items for mass production as other furniture makers will be required to read and understand the design. Inventing new furniture pieces is the fun part, making the furniture is fun too - although this is where the hard work is!

You could design an item as a fashion statement, to be less functional, and more artistic; or you could design an item to be highly funtional, yet retain some artist elements in the design - a good example of this is the Chair No 14 by Thonet. You could design something that folds away or something that is always in the way - see here for ideas! Remember that there are always different people in the world with many different tastes in furniture. Things to consider:

• Are you designing for the home or office? Maybe a hotel or palace?
• What materials will you use to manufacture the furniture product? How available are these materials?
• What safety laws do you need to be aware of?
• How will you build the prototype?
• What furniture making techniques will you use to make your furniture piece?
• How much will your item cost in the shops or to the buyer?
• How much profit do you want to make from selling one piece and what material fits into your budget?
• How will you transport your items to your customers?
• What will your website look like?
• What sorts of marketing strategies will you use

Does furniture design interest you? Here are similar jobs:

• Furniture restoration
• Prop making
• Cabinet Maker
• Upholsterer
• French Polisher
• Interior Designer
• Jobs relating to furniture - from Learn Direct.gov.uk

Furniture restoration

Furniture restoration is different to furniture design in that you repair existing furniture rather than create new items. Furniture restoration uses modern materials to repair antique or precious items of furniture to good order.

London experiencing something special

London is experiencing something special. Never has such emphasis been placed on integrating the core skills of design, business, and innovation. As of 2007, a new five year plan has started. A board of design executives has been established to decide what needs to happen and to manage the £5.8 million in funding. This plan is has two related goals:

• The first goal is to get MBA students to study design and innovation.
• The second goal is to get art and engineering students to learn core business skills.

External Links to Furniture Designers

• John Strand Interiors Ltd
• Mike Dunford - Cabinet Makers
• Nicholas Pryke - Specialist in bar, retail, restaurant and commercial interiors
• Jackie Choi
• More london furniture designers - photos on Google images

Furniture Design Courses

• Furniture Design Foundation Degree FDA - at London Metropolitan University
• Master of Arts in Furniture Design
• Furniture courses in Devon by David Savage
• Furniture design courses in the UK - view on Hot Courses.co.uk
• Contemporary furniture design courses with Johnathan Markovitz, Wantage, Oxfordshire
• Bachelor of Arts in Furniture and Product design - from Kingston University