It's time for Show and Tell! This time, I chatted to furniture wunderkind Tim Webber...
For those not familiar with you and your work, fill us in!
For the most part I’m a Furniture and Lighting Designer/Maker, but I have also done a bit of dabbling in large sculptures too.
About 9 or 10 months ago I officially launched my furniture range with a show at the Bo Concept showroom in Auckland and now have developed approximately 20 different products under my brand ‘Tim Webber Design’. The products range from Birch Plywood dining tables and sideboards, to Aluminium spun pendants and bent plywood stools - with plenty more in the pipeline!
I kind of find it hard to lock down a style for my work but I guess you could call it clean and stripped back with subtle design details that set the products apart. I’m enjoying beginning to experiment with different materials and manufacturing processes, which often steers the concepts and development of a new product.
I’ve got 5 stockists in New Zealand so far, 3 in Auckland, 1 in Hamilton and 1 in Wellington. I’m hoping to expand my stockists in NZ this year as well as currently working with a few Australian companies to get some product across the Tasman.
Tell us the story of how you came to be a furniture designer?
My story is rather simple really. I always had an interest in making things and working with my hands, which drew me to studying a Bachelor of Design – 3D & Object.
My study helped me grow an interest into a real passion. I worked for a few months upon completing my degree where I, funnily enough, discovered that I don’t particularly enjoy doing the same thing repetitively every day. So I decided it seemed just as good a time as any to give it a go starting my own furniture business. And 15 months-ish down the track, here I am.
What have been your biggest challenges or frustrations?
The ins and outs of running a business has been a bit of a learning curve, including getting my head around accounts and all the fun stuff like that, but its all valuable skills to have for the long run.
Funding the prototyping of new ideas can be a bit of a frustration - especially at times when you just want to just jump into a project and hurry up and make it, but a lack of funds mean it has to be put on the shelf for a while. This would be one of the hardest things about running my own design business in New Zealand.
What’s the biggest lesson you've learnt and how has it shaped your career?
In my field of furniture design I had to learn that in developing ideas for products, its key that you create things that people are not only going to love the look or idea of, but also be a product that people can envision in their own homes. I would definitely never discourage doing more art based projects (I think its key to keep that kind of work up), but at the end of the day you’ve got to have a feasible business where you’re selling product too. I think it’s valuable to come up with a balance where you create interesting and thought provoking designs but still have a fairly wide appeal.
What advice would you give to other New Zealand product/furniture designers trying to make it?
I would say you need patience…and know that everything isn’t necessarily going to come together over night, things take time. But the opportunities will come eventually. Just continue to push your name out there, be bold, and knock on as many doors as you can.
Also I think it’s really helpful to work in a creative environment and surround yourself with other creative and driven people. I think one of the key elements that keeps me on track and motivated is the fact that I share a studio with 5 very talented artists.
So, what has been the best experience of your career so far?
It would have to be the feeling of completely random people I’ve never met before wanting to buy my furniture and put it in their home to become part of their everyday life. There’s something about that notion which I find really really satisfying.
Having my own show and launching my range for the first time was a sweet highlight too.
Where do you go or what do you do to get inspiration flowing?
I don’t really have a special spot or have some kind of system to get the inspiration going. A lot of my inspiration comes from all around me everyday. Ideas come to me at the most random, and often inconvenient, times where I’ll need to whip out the sketch book or phone to jot down a thought before its gone.
I also find discussing a quick idea with other people can spur a whole new raft of interesting thoughts and areas of inspiration. In saying all that, a good bike ride is a great way for me to clear my head when everything is pilling up. It’s much easier to be creative without a ton of other issues bouncing around your head.
Tell us about a designer you admire...
Benjamin Hubert. I hugely admire Hubert because he’s a young, exciting designer who has managed to really establish himself globally as a top product designer and produced a stunning, eclectic portfolio alongside some top furniture brands. He’s where I’d love to be one day pretty much.
What is your dream for your career – where would you like to take it?
I’m pretty much doing it right now! But the big dream would be to have a lot more space, equipment, and people working for me so I can concentrate more on the design side of the business. I also want to be exporting quality New Zealand design to the rest of the world. I’d still love to do an internship or a work for a few years alongside a top furniture designer overseas to gain some valuable experience – but I guess I’ve still got time for that down the track. If all else fails I’ll be a professional race car driver please.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on a whole bunch of stuff at the moment. I’m prototyping a new sofa design as well as some new lighting ideas, getting my first proper production run of the Wrap Stool completed, fulfilling orders and setting up my new studio/workshop. I’d quite like to do another exhibition this year too.
OK - Show and Tell time! Give us a little peek into your creative space, and tell us about it…
This is my work desk where I do a lot of my sketching and work on computer drawings. Its not overly interesting at the moment as I’m still setting up my whole studio space, but gives you a little bit of a look of where I work. Please excuse my ridiculously unorganized desktop too – it gets away on me sometimes. Always have to have a stack of magazines around too. I find they provide endless amounts of inspiration and insight.
This is a section of my workshop which is attached to my studio. It’s a great to be able to have these type of areas and equipment where I can quickly prototype an idea or have space to work on and assemble orders. As usual its gets fairly messy at times.
I know it looks like a complete tip at the moment, but bear with me, I’ve only just moved into this new space a few weeks ago so have yet to setup all my shelving to get it all nice and tidy. Come back in a few weeks and it will look completely different!
Keep up to date with Tim's work here (or buy something from one of his stockists)
You can also friend him on the book of Face or follow him on Twitter.
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