Re: If not FWW, where do you go for cutting edge d
TomD
I don't think woodworkers are really at the cutting edge of design most of the time. There is a whole world of studio furniture and industrial design out there, and it mostly isn't to do with woodworkers. The Furniture society has some publications that bridge the gap.
I remember picking up one of those books in that "500" series, I think it was the 500 chairs book. And I went through it and there were like 2 of "our guys" in there, presumably Nakashima and Maloof.
Woodworkers like things that are cool to make, like Windsors, are made of all wood, at times that emphasize wild wood figure. They are focused on their experience not the end user.
woodworkers tend to vocabularies around joinery and historical types. Industrial designers tend towards designs that are architecturally inspired in terms of structure and space. They design in complimentary ways with architectural interior trends, so their inspiration will be in that direction, rather than asking what other furniture designs are popular. And they like innovative materials, or innovative uses of materials. They like mixing materials, so things like hardware drive the designs, and are much higher end. They will also have an eye on mass production, rather than referencing things that are likely to raise costs, or even be impossible to make in a manufacturing setting.
So there are a lot of sources where one can find out what is really going on in the furniture world. If you have a good magazine store, look at architecture and design magazines.
