Do you have a favorite comfy chair that you settle into for an evening
of television? Before it was constructed, your chair was envisioned by a furniture
designer. These designers create the designs for home furnishings, office
furnishings and institutional furnishings. They may work for large design
firms, own their own studios or be part-time freelancers.
Dale Broholm opened his own furniture design studio in Boston in 2003.
He began his career as a boatbuilder. When he discovered a love for wood and
a love for working with his hands, he enrolled in a four-year program in furniture
design and construction at Boston University. After graduation, Broholm opened
his own studio.
"I didn't really know it at the time, but I discovered that I like being
my own boss and being self-employed. That's one of the options that you have
available to you when you're a furniture designer."
Broholm designs home furniture. "My designs are all client-driven. My clients
come to me with their needs and then I design for them. Almost every article
is unique. I do both the design and the building myself."
On a typical day, Broholm arrives at work, where he usually has an ongoing
project. The first step is to design the item, then build it. There are also
client meetings and time must be spent on running his business. "I have to
have all the skills that a business owner needs, as well as knowing how to
design and build the furniture."
If Broholm ever decides to hire a designer, he'll look for someone who
has a variety of experiences. "Education, past work experience, personality
-- it's the whole cohesive package."
The work is hard and the monetary compensation is modest, but there are
other rewards. Broholm finds it rewarding to create a project, and to see
it through. Two of his designs, both chairs, are on display in the Smithsonian
Institute and in the Boston Museum of Modern Art.
People who are interested in pursuing this line of work should look very
hard and long at what their goals are. "Get rid of the romantic notions that
people have about this occupation. You can't just follow your own artistic
impulses and expect to make a living!"
Steve Hodges, a self-employed designer in North Carolina, agrees with that
assessment. "Start thinking like a consumer and keep an eye out for what's
happening in the world. When I was growing up, Mediterranean Spanish style
was hot. It was the first time that North Americans could travel to places
like Mexico, Spain and Portugal....the world has become global and people
are starting to want furniture that combines styles from different cultures."
Hodges became interested in furniture design after abandoning the idea
of being a painter. "I have a degree in art. My family was actually in the
furniture business and I grew up working in the factories. But I wasn't interested
in that career.
"After I realized that I wouldn't make it as a painter, I turned to furniture
design because it's logical and it's like problem solving. So I went to Kendall
College School of Design in Grand Rapids. After I graduated in 1995, I was
cocky and thought I could make a go of it on my own. I opened my own shop.
I struggled for a long time, but it's doing OK now.
"A manufacturer comes to us and says: 'We want an 18th-century English-style
collection.' So we take established design motifs from the past and rework
them into contemporary form. Then we incorporate little touches that give
it our individual stamp."
Hodges survives in a highly competitive market by offering a variety of
design services. He doesn't only design furniture. He writes copy for catalogs,
provides sales training for the retail store employees who'll be selling his
furniture, and designs logos, showroom layouts and showroom renovations.
The stressful part of the work is the uncertainty. "You can lose a big
account. We work under tight deadlines, and that can be stressful."
The rewards come from seeing something you envisioned in your head translated
from thought to paper to actuality. "The first time I walked into a showroom
and saw a whole room full of furniture that I'd designed, it was an incredible
rush. It still excites me."
Rochelle Campbell feels much the same way. She designs and builds her furniture,
and sometimes feels so attached to the pieces that she's reluctant to let
them go. "They are my creations, my works of art, and I almost feel as if
they are my children!"
Campbell has a master's in fine art from the University of Oregon, with
an emphasis on visual design and photography. "A few years after I graduated,
I saw a show of high craft and I really loved it. I liked the pragmatic idea
of combining art with usefulness, so I got into furniture design."
She began building things, sculpting and putting articles together with
all kinds of woods. Her work was exhibited in galleries, and people began
to purchase it. "I design sculptural furniture. It's more organic, more curved,
and usually has a high finish. I started using exotic woods, but I've drifted
into using domestic woods and softwoods.
"I've been painting as well, applying paint to wood. It's a little more
whimsical. Lately, I've been studying metals, working with metals, learning
to weld. I'm going to use the metal and the wood together."
Campbell also uses her design skills in her full-time job as a fabricator
for the Minnesota Children's Museum. "A fabricator is a problem solver who
tries to figure out how to technically build the designs that designers create.
I'm working with interactive exhibits for children."
Judson Beaumont also creates pieces for children, although it didn't start
out that way. "I didn't get into this to become a furniture designer. I just
wanted to make sculptural art!"
Beaumont studied design at community college, then studied 3D design at
art school. When he left art school, his first job was designing props for
the movie industry. After a little while, he rented a studio and began designing
art on the side.
"My sculptures started to look like furniture. People started buying them
and using them for coffee tables, for example. At first I was offended. They
were art, not furniture! But then I decided that art can be functional."
Over time, Beaumont began designing pieces for children. "It's taken off
since then. I have international sales now. My work is whimsical. I want my
furniture to be different. I don't want it to look like everybody else's.
I have furniture that melts into the floor, furniture that leans up against
the wall. I have a Winnie the Pooh furniture line, licensed from Disney!"
Michael Campbell teaches furniture design. He says the stressful aspect
of furniture design is finding a fair value for a piece. "One of our students
designed a coffee table and matching end tables. They were hand carved in
the Queen Anne style, and took approximately 200 hours to create. We appraised
the pieces at $6,000, but many people don't have that kind of money."
A carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade, Campbell's family has worked with
wood for generations. "A lot of tradition has been handed down through different
craft guilds. We've had the tradition of quality and excellence in woodworking
for a long time. To me, learning design is just enhancing something that's
already here."