The Furniture Makers’ Company is now calling for submissions for the annual Design Guild Mark Awards 2015. Now in its eighth consecutive year and going from strength to strength, the Design Guild Mark is recognised in the furnishing industry as a major mark of excellence in British design.
The Design Guild Mark rewards the work of the finest furniture designers working in volume production and the best of British furniture designers working abroad. The criteria are for excellence in four fields - design, the use of materials, manufacture and function. The Design Guild Mark raises awareness of design and British design talent.
Unique to the Design Guild Mark Awards, entrants meeting the criteria are asked to deliver the shortlisted item of furniture to a Marks & Spencer warehouse, where it is then presented by the designer in front of a panel of judges - all of whom are industry experts. This is followed up with a short Q&A session while the item is tried and tested by the Design Guild Mark judges.
This year the eminent judges are:
Simon Alderson – twentytwentyone
Nick Hill – Marks and Spencer
Rosa Bertoli – Wallpaper*
Diana Monkhouse – Aukett Swanke
Joanna Biggs – GA Design
Jeremy Myerson – Helen Hamlyn Foundation RCA
Barbara Chandler – Evening Standard
Pernille Stafford – Resonate Interiors
Sebastian Conran – Sebastian Conran Associates
Jason Wilary-Attew – John Lewis
Jeremy Myerson, director and chair of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art, explains: “If you want to put your finger on the pulse of British furniture design, then the Design Guild Mark judging is the place to do it. The 2014 session was full of ideas, energy,
talent and skill - and we gave the Mark to some great work.”
For those interested in submitting their product, visit The Furniture Makers Company website and complete the Call for Entries form.
