Innovation that Invites: International Society of Furniture Designers
Coco Chanel. Ralph Lauren. Calvin Klein. Christian Dior. The names behind some of the leading brands in the fashion industry. But the names behind these brands aren’t just businesses – they’re designers, individuals who pioneered with such force in the fashion industry that their names became part of the innovative fashion landscape.
Now, ask yourself to name a designer in the furniture industry. Having trouble thinking of a name? It’s not surprising. In fact, even in High Point – the Home Furnishings Capital of the World – most folks are hard pressed to call out a furniture designer by name. And why is that? Why is it that in a city known globally for its industry of creativity and innovation very few people know the names and faces behind products nearly everyone has in their homes? Why is it that very few high school students graduate in High Point with any inkling of how to become part of the furniture industry?
Those are the kinds of obstacles that The International Society of Furniture Designers (ISFD) is seeking to solve with their non-profit mission.
“ISFD is here to make product designers valuable to the [home furnishings] industry,” says John Conrad, former executive director of ISFD. John, who has been in roles from merchandising to marketing, to product development for leading furniture companies, came out of retirement to lead ISFD for the last 10+ years to “advance, improve, and support the profession of furniture design and its positive impact in the marketplace.” And ISFD makes good on their mission as they change the landscape of how the home furnishings industry is accessed by designers.
“We want to be the center for design education and interconnection,” John says, “As well as be able to produce events that are collaborative in nature that create networking opportunities by their existence.”
ISFD works largely to increase membership and set up ISFD chapters all around the country. These chapters then allow furniture designers and hopeful furniture designers to have an entry point into a thriving network that leads to education, resources, collaboration, and more to launch them into a successful career in product designing.
Typically, furniture designers are faced with two pathways: creating their own brand to sell online (an extremely expensive and consuming undertaking) or work as a member of a design team for an importer manufacturer, and spend most of the time hidden behind a drawing board.
But now ISFD is looking to shine a long overdue spotlight on the makers and designers in the industry. That’s how the idea for the Innovation+Design Competition was born. The competition, which is going on its fourth year, was created with the intention of bringing design students and professional designers together to recognize the work and talent of those product designers, showcase their work with pride, and build peer connections with others in the industry.
“The competition is to celebrate the work of the designers who design and build their pieces themselves,” says David Blair, executive director of ISFD, and John’s successor. “We also as an organization want to support and encourage the next generation of furniture designers.”
The competition not only showcases the design work of the competitors, but each competitor also handcrafts the pieces they submit. David points out how mind boggling it is to think of the skill and talent that these designers bring to their craft.
“These pieces are as much works of art as they are furniture,” David says of the entries across I+D’s six categories: lighting, dining room furniture, accessories, occasion tables, occasion storage, and seating. In fact, David recalls being at a show in Manhattan and thinking to himself: “I’ve seen better pieces in High Point.”
There are student and professional submissions in each category with awards up to $1,000 for the best-in-show winners.
And this kind of world-class excellence is the exact kind of work that ISFD wants to showcase through I+D. Along with I+D, ISFD also hosts the Pinnacle Awards – the “Academy Awards of furniture design” right here in High Point. Celebrating the people behind these designs is just one of the ways that ISFD wants to see the furniture industry advance and grow.
But beyond recognition and networking, the board at ISFD wants to see another change in the industry: accessibility.
“Whose coming next? And why don’t we have a say so in an effort to bring more people into what we do?” John rhetorically asks his industry counterparts. He points out that in the home furnishings industry, there are more than 10,000 career paths that someone could take. And ISFD wants to make sure that there are as few barriers to entering those lucrative careers as possible.
“There’s no point in gatekeeping,” says John, noting that the creative, innovative, up-and-coming youth in the current generation are much more likely to “go out and design the next iPhone,” if they don’t see furniture and product design as an open pathway for their career. And when students don’t see the home furnishings industry as a canvas for their ideas and imaginations, the industry weakens, ideas get left on the table, and High Point loses our creatives to other industries and locations.
“I don’t want to see the world of creative design just become another rubber stamp,” John reflects, pointing out the ways that he wants the furniture industry to continue mentoring designers who truly push the design envelope.
And pushing that envelope can only happen when new perspectives, new ideas, and new names are invited into the world of design. That’s why ISFD is looking to partner with the local High Point community by collaborating with Guilford County Schools and guidance counselors to make students aware of industry opportunities, inviting the community to view entries in the the I+D competition, and more.
“We’re trying to get the industry to educate everyone in schools around the country, starting here in our own backyard,” John says. “Hang your ego at the door and come in free and open and willing.”
He likens the world of design to the culinary arts, thinking of how the best dishes incorporate a variety of spices from all over the world.
“That’s what we want to do in the world of home furnishings – bring new spices,” he smiles. “We want furniture being designed by the people who look like the people we’re selling it to.”
And bringing that kind of diversity and accessibility to the home furnishings industry has no limit of benefits – from engaging new creativity to strengthening the industry and economics of our own city. It also brings globally known creatives to our city that we can all enjoy – as a community.
“We do this to make people happy,” John concludes about the furniture industry. “We’re in the happiness business.”
"We're in the happiness business."