Furniture Designers
Furniture Designers are the imaginative, creative personalities who develop innovative concept and design concepts for bedroom, dining room, living room, bathroom and kitchen furniture. Some of these men design furniture exclusively for commercial production, some work at home for exclusive brands which produce limited edition collections of furniture exclusively for show and exhibit purposes and some just design one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture for private collection. All these people have one thing in common, they enjoy what they do. They like to create original designs to suit the needs of their customers. If you have an eye for good design, an artistic bend of mind and a penchant for creating unique pieces of furniture that are also beautiful to look at, then maybe you should consider becoming a furniture designer.
Furniture Designers need to understand customer preferences first hand. Their work is often affected by the findings of survey studies and market research. As such, they often use 3D computer visualization software to visualize their designs before they proceed to the creation of actual materials. Furniture Designers need to be able to envision their pieces, in three dimensions, as well as being able to envision the end product in real life form.
Furniture designers are also involved in the mass production of furniture. In fact, many furniture designers work directly with furniture manufacturers to get their products produced. In most cases, a manufacturer will create a concept of a new or existing piece of furniture, and then give the concept to a designer for them to construct a physical prototype. The prototype is then made available for mass production. Furniture Prototype makers need to also be capable of producing large quantities of a particular style or material, without causing excessive over production. Most furniture prototype makers are located in the world’s manufacturing centers, but there are also freelance manufacturer companies which can provide a high level of quality, depending on the design complexity, as well as the quantity of material needed.
Furniture Designers are paid primarily on the basis of the finished piece produced, but there are also bonuses paid for on-site testing and final adjustments. On the average, Furniture Designers earn between fifteen and twenty thousand dollars per year. This amount is based largely on the complexity and quantity of the work demanded. The higher the number of pieces produced, usually the higher the average salary will be.
In contrast to the highly productive work hours of Furniture Designers, their wages are generally lower. They typically are hired on a contract basis, where the length of employment is typically one year to three years. Furniture manufacturers and designers will often hire one another on an as-needed basis. Interns may also be included in this group of individuals, working directly with one of the manufacturers or designers. Interns will learn the basic skills, processes and terminology required for producing a particular style of furniture through their working hours.
The requirements for becoming a furniture designer are typically a degree in any discipline relevant to the industry. Those wishing to advance to higher positions will most likely have to take additional classes and meet certification standards. There are currently no formal training programs specific to the furniture designers field, so it is important to make sure that any available programs meet the requirements before enrolling. Furniture design schools offer both online and campus-based programs. Those wishing to enter the industry as soon as possible should consider enrolling in either a campus based program, or an online based one.