Win £1,000 : National Furniture Design Competition

The museum has launched a national competition to design a chair, awarding a £1,000 prize to the winning entry. The prize is part of the museum’s ongoing commitment to inspire the next generation of furniture designers; rewarding innovation and building on Gordon Russell’s legacy as a champion of design education.

Open to students aged 16 or over in full- or part-time education, the brief is to design a chair suitable for batch or mass production. The chair can be designed for use in any number of settings, such as domestic or office, and can be made from any material, such as wood, metal, plastic or carbon fibre. The successful design will need to demonstrate a clear understanding of construction, materials and machine technology. Designs can be submitted in whatever format appropriate, including elevation drawings using CAD or SketchUp, mockups, prototypes or 3D printed models.

The museum has assembled a distinguished panel of judges including:

Sean Feeney, furniture designer and maker; Mark Gabbertas, furniture designer, Luke Hughes, furniture designer, Lesley Jackson, design historian, curator and author; Ray Leigh MBE, Museum Trustee and former Chairman of Gordon Russell Ltd; Alan Powers, architecture and design historian and author; Rupert Senior, The Chairman of the Guild Mark Committees; and Tony Smart, The Master of the Furniture Makers Company.

The prize package includes:
• £1,000 funded by the Gordon Russell Design Museum
• The opportunity to engage with a manufacturer in the production of a prototype
• The winning design to be exhibited at the Young Furniture Makers Exhibition and at the Gordon Russell Design Museum
• As appropriate, the winning design to be submitted for the manufacturing or Design Guild Marks awarded by the Furniture Makers Company
• The possible production of the chair commercially with a royalty payment contract
• Registered design protection

Entrants must be 16 or over and in full or part time education at the time of entry. Entries must be received by 1 December 2017 and the winner will be announced in January 2018.

All entries must be submitted to the Gordon Russell Design Museum:

Email: [email protected] 

Address: Design Prize, Gordon Russell Design Museum, 15 Russell Square, Broadway, Worcestershire, WR12 7AP