Switched on Designer

This is David Stovell who came on a course today. He sent me a mission statement which began :
"I am a designer from Greenstead Green nr Halstead in Essex and have been producing pieces made from old news papers and magazines, I also make small tables use printers waste. The newspaper furniture has been used at the British Library, Royal Festival Hall, Frieze art fair and I am interested in using materials in new and interesting ways. As a small designer I turn to organisations like Hidden Art and Metropolitan works for support with access to machinery and presentations. I am becoming increasingly curious about green woodworking and how it can be used in my work."
"There is an unquestioned assumption amongst many of my fellow designers that once a design is to be made we should look to China, Poland or Turkey for cheap production and I am getting increasingly uncomfortable with this. I am sure that for some projects I may have to go to these places but at the moment I am interested in small batches made here, and what value this bestows upon an object when it is not just presented as a function but as the end result of skilled toil by people with faces, sourced from places people may know and materials that have a bit of soul."
"I was recently a visitor to the international Furniture Fair held at Birmingham NEC and found a strange parallel between the furniture on show and Tesco in that what you saw was what you got, no idea of where the products had come from, who had made it or where it was sourced from."

He's interested in using waste and recycled materials to make his products and after today I think he'll get some tools, make a lathe and try to incorporate these lo-tech skills into his high quality, contemporary design.

Have a look at his website .. . www.stovelldesign.co.uk



Find out more about my courses at . . www.treewright.co.uk