Furniture: An Interview With The Designer

Hello, Furniture. Introducing the latest mid-century inspired collection to join the Swyft range; a coffee table, side table, console table, and sideboard. 

We caught up with Swyft’s Design Director, John O’Leary, who oversees the design and development of all own-brand products at Swyft, to find out more about the process behind this exciting new addition. 

Q: We’re launching a new furniture collection, talk us through what we are trying to achieve with the new products.

J: Swyft is currently known for our upholstered products - sofas, ottomans, beds, etc. Our intention was always to broaden the scope of our offering and move into other product categories. Living room furniture seemed the obvious place to start; those items that populate a living room environment that complement our existing upholstered products.  

Q: What inspired the furniture collection?

J: In terms of style, Swyft is known for a clean, contemporary look – a hybrid of precise engineering and hand-crafted detailing. It is this spirit we tried to imbue in our furniture collection. Inspiration came from our existing products – Model 01 and Model 02 in particular, as well as mid-century proponents such as Charles & Ray Eames and Hans Wegner.

Q: Talk us through the design elements for each product: 

J: As already mentioned, the entire collection follows a classic mid-century style and design. With that in mind, each item has its own features:  

Coffee Table 01: 

• Splayed leg design
• Inset brass handle to the drawer
• Single drawer accessible from both sides
• Open shelf space
• Tall legs and open shelving give a light/airy feel
• Fabric lining to the base of the drawer 
• Brass height adjustable feet

Sideboard 01: 

• Flat pack, no tools assembly
• 3 soft-close drawers
• Inset brass handle to drawers
• Fabric lining to the base of drawers 
• 2x hinged doors
• Internal drawer
• Internal height adjustable shelves
• Brass height adjustable feet

Side Table 01: 

• Splayed leg design
• Solid wood construction
• 4 x brass rod leg supports 
• Brass height adjustable feet

Console Table 01: 

• Splayed leg design
• 2 x drawers (wood runners)
• Inset brass handle to drawers
• Fabric lining to the base of drawers 
• Lower shelf
• Brass height adjustable feet

Q: How did you go about designing each product, what’s the process? 

J: Initially I collect reference material - this can be images of existing products, environments, materials, colours, etc., anything that evokes the spirit or feeling of your design intent. This inspires some initial concept development - hand sketching and 2d digital mock-ups primarily. I quickly move to rough 3d models and place items in a virtual room environment – this is to understand how products work individually or together and with our existing product offering. Once happy I refine the shapes, proportions, and detailing product by product. As I was designing a large collection (17 pieces in total – although in this initial release, there are only four items - watch this space), I am looking for common themes or visual cues that can work well across different product types, scales, and finishes. 

There’s a lot of back and forth with key stakeholders before we arrive at final designs that we are happy to move forward with. We then begin the prototyping phase. At this point, we create detailed production drawings and work closely with our manufacturing partner to execute the designs. We do a couple of rounds of prototyping, as well as third-party product testing before we can approve the final sign-off.  

Q: How does designing furniture differ from designing sofas?

J: The process is similar for both - you agree product style/function, and costings, and there’s a prototype and testing phase. With furniture, you’re thinking a lot about finishing - wood grain/texture, paints, how the products are handled and used, and how this may affect surface treatment. Also how to package to mitigate damage during transit. With regards to these aspects, upholstery is generally more forgiving. 

You also need to consider assembly. All our sofas are flat packed, with no tools assembly. With the furniture, however, this was not always the preferred route. We decided to flat pack the largest, heaviest items to facilitate easier handling and access into customers’ homes. Smaller items remained fully built, otherwise we felt it added unnecessary cost and complication for the customer. 

With furniture, you can focus on form and functionality. With sofas, however, you have the added challenge of designing for comfort. The product has to look great and feel great when used.

Q: How long has it taken to design and develop the new furniture collection, from concept through to launch?

J: Concept-to-product sign-off took around 5 months.

Q: From a design perspective, what areas were the most challenging?