Interviewe mat John G Williams

I was made redundant 2 years ago. Since then I have done some consulting work. And spent a lot of time in my craft shop. And music room.

I have always been interested from an early age. My father is a craft teacher and we renovated a wood lathe together when I was a boy. My interest in turning developed into something broader.

Visualize the whole piece in terms of function and aesthetic. Then solve the engineering design challenges. Then iterate.

Calm. Peaceful.

I am really interested in sculpture - I sculpt in clay and then cast in bronze. I think it's interesting because it has no functional purpose and only lives because it conveys beauty or meaning.

I would love to setup a small bespoke studio; either building an exclusive line of furniture, or working on commissions

Try and work with great people; take pride in your work irrespective of its price; and remember to enjoy what you do

Don't be afraid to lift and combine ideas. Often the best whole idea can be the synthesis of some already well known concepts.

The only constant is coffee. Thereafter its anyone's guess

I don't worry too much about trends. What's the point of pursuing a trend that you feel is ugly or ill-conceived? Rather try and be aware of what work inspires you.

Good design grabs you immediately. The aesthetic captures you. And then the design thought and craftsmanship become very evident. It answers all your questions as they occur to you.

Good design is a little like mixing and mastering a music album. In the music industry they say a mix is never finished it is merely abandoned. I think you know when additional tinkering is becoming of diminishing value.

Hans Wegner, and his wishbone chair

I live in Johannesburg. I love the mining town urban vibe. I have worked downtown for many years - a space that reflects the aggressive growth of the city (from zero just over 100 years ago). It is resurgent and exciting.

Build stuff that you truly love. Hence honour the materials that you have used and transformed.

I built a stage for my local church, which was an intense project over a 10 day period. This spoke more directly to the engineering aspects, but there were components where I was able to inject some beautiful design.

The competition has been very exciting because:It gave me external deadlines and deliverables that made me think about my designsIt gave me the chance to understand how my designs are received by other people, and it helps me build a sense of the standard of my workIt is fun to see the huge variety of great ideas that other people come up with

The main idea behind the Zene dining chair is to provide a seating experience that is extremely comfortable over extended periods through careful attention to the key ergonomic aspects of the design. The chair takes its inspiration from richly grained indigenous hardwoods. A variety of wood types are selected for the seat/backrest combinations, and the repeating theme of the white ash frames provides cohesion to the series.

I was interested in building something that was intriguing and beautiful. Something that seemed really simple and elegant, and yet which was far hard to detail, build and finish than might immediately appear. I wanted to achieve a strong and practical piece that through careful design would appear much lighter

I conceived and built this design on a speculative basis. My dream would be for a major design company or production house to fall in love with it and seek to make it available in limited quantities.

The core aspects of the design were thrashed out over a few weeks during which time the coopered chair components were fine tuned in softwood. The first hardwood chair slowly emerged over the next few months. After a delay the full set of 6 chairs was then put together over the course of a few months.

It was a personal project, inspired by my love of hardwood timber. And my desire to build a chair that was truly comfortable

My design is not yet in production – I currently own the rights outright. I would be delighted to discuss the sale or lease of the rights

I love chair design – the Danish Design Museum in Copenhagen is one of my favourite places. Having built a dining table a while ago, I have been contemplating designing and building a set of dining chairs for the family for some time.

The curved forms were inspired by the Ontario furniture maker Adrian Ferrazzutti who was generous with his support and advice. These shapes in turn drew on centuries of barrel making craftsmanship . I love Hans J Wegner’s designs. The CH24 wishbone chair is iconic. But perhaps the simpler CH20 Elbow Chair is a more direct inspiration for this design. It think the departure from the Danish Modern school is seen in the frame, which joins simple tapered pieces to give the illusion of a flowing frame; and in the seat design which is shaped from solid timber

I think this design would be unapologetic in its market positioning – it would not be cheap to make, and it would be targeted at the discerning customer who put high store in high quality and long lasting design.

I think the design is striking for its contrast between the light ash frame and the richly coloured hard wood. I think this combination of the two colours is quite striking. More typically one would see furniture that was either very light in colour, or altogether a heavy hardwood feel. This attempts to get the best of both worlds: the light modern frames showcasing the beautiful hardwood seats.

Zene is Hungarian for ‘music’ or a harmonious sound. I want these pieces to sit as different and interesting pieces and yet in a harmonious way. To sing together. Zene is also an African name meaning ‘beautiful’, or a Greek name meaning ‘friendly’.

I designed this in a very old fashioned way. I visualized what I had in mind, captured a few ideas in some simple pencil sketches, and then proto-typed the ideas in low cost softwood.

I think the combination of the light ash frames with the rich hardwood seats and rests is unique. I think the floating shape of the hardwood seat and rests are also distinctive

This was largely a one man project. My father is a retired design teacher and he helped build the chair frames and gave various inputs.

I am an engineer by training and so I built various jigs and fixtures to help me produce these chairs. I modified my some of my basic machine tools to produce the compound tapers that were required in the backrests, and others to then machine the sub assemblies to final form.

I set out to make a chair that I found profoundly comfortable. Then I tested it on friends and family. So my research was empirical and based on immediate market feedback

The geometry was quite hard to get right first time. When producing the chair seats, I machine the edges of the numerous boards to an included angle of 1.0 to 1.5 degrees so that when I glue them together they take up the gentle curved form that I desire. This took quite a lot of experimentation.

I thought it would be fun to submit my design to international scrutiny and see how well this compared with other professional designers

To be more patient. And to be more intentional about designing more repeatable to work, to make it easier and safer to make repeated numbers of chairs

I have no formal education in design per se. I studied mechanical engineering at the University of Cambridge in the UK. My father is a retired craft department master and I often browsed through the various reference books that he had at home.

I think design is a very creative, and yet also a very practical expression. I think this combination makes it irresistible for me.

I chose to spend a lot of time on design, and to learn by observation and by doing.

I love designing furniture because it is beautiful; highly visibly; and appreciated on a daily basis

Where does one begin ?

Good design tries hard; great design is immediately 'right'. A great designer realizes the latter.

Good design immediately hits all the buttons: does it look great? does it work flawlessly? is it new and exciting? overall, do I love it?

Good design lifts the environment for everyone that touches it or that it touches

A special cart for my daughter to carry her drum kit around in.

I am working up to a range of furniture that is all glued together by some common ideas. That remains some way off

To try and distil what it is that is distinctive about the particular work that makes it engaging.

Hans Wegner. Poul Henningsen. Louise Campbell

CH33. Simplicity, beauty, comfort.

Wishbone chair. Ergonomic insight.

PH5 pendant light. Beauty and originality

ZENE.

Super comfortable to sit on. Seat and backrest appear to float on the frame, giving a sense of lightness to a structure that is actually super substantive and strong

Read more and look at more work of other designers

I am only a recent designer. In my 50s

Design is about meeting a need. Normally a functional need at least in some measure. In the most aesthetic and engaging manner.

My father

Self-criticism and re-working good to become great

I think they should be presented in precisely the form they intend to be used. That is the environment in which they will be called to shine after all.

I think next will be another chair, or possibly the dining table #2. If the chair, then perhaps incorporating leather.

To enjoy the next piece

Quality. Attention to detail. Meaning

By lifting the corporate mood; by improving our function and/or appreciation of the world around us

Chair #2. I have never worked in leather before so exploring this entirely new craft is super interesting

My first ever coffee table. It was the first real furniture I had ever created.

More application of tech to realize integrated designs more rapidly

The entire process (with plenty of pauses) probably around a year. But the main design surge probably a week or two.

Visualizing the complete piece in my head

Keep it simple, beautiful, functional

Both. They swirl around together

I have a deep background in tech and, possibly for that reason, I barely use it at all when designing! I prefer to engage my hands and build real scale prototypes in my craft shop.

A rather blunt 2B pencil

Enormously important. White and black provide great context. But then colour, grain, depth are all very important to me as a wood craftsman.

How much can I pay you for one?

I just enjoy looking at it and truly 'seeing' the core components

Yes I think co-design can be very powerful. The ideal partner has similar depth of skill but ideally in adjacent areas

Probably my family have given the most immediate and honest feedback on my work

I like Wallpaper; Fine Woodworking, and Blueprint magazines. And the Dylan Lewis in Stellenbosch guidebook moves me.

By trial and error in my craft shop

It is hugely exciting to be an award winner in this my first ever design competition

Grey; Capetown; Thai; Autumn; Land Rover Discovery; Mont Blanc

I remember my young children coming and joining me in the workshop. And gluing together various scraps of wood to create interesting little sculptures. I still have some of them.

It all starts with coffee.

I think things will be totally different to what we expect; and surprisingly similar in other ways

They can contact me on johngriffithwillams@gmail.com

My work only began in earnest just over 2 years ago when I was made redundant from my long time employer. I had always been interested in art and design, inspired partly by my father's interest in design technology (he was head of the craft department in a local secondary school). I have worked in wood since my teens, but only recently took it more seriously. I perfected the ZENE design in 2016 and constructed 6 of the dining chairs in 2017.

I work on my own as an independent designer and craftsman. My design studio is a purpose built space at home with a selection of woodworking machines i have built up over the years.

Design is all about seeing. Seeing the beauty in something. Seeing as en engineer how the form should best support the function. Seeing how the user would interact with the design so that they would be enriched. Seeing how to simplify the ideas to make the outcome as elegant as possible

I love working in wood, and building furniture that is beautiful and useful on a regular basis.

I love the CH33 chair by Hans Wegner. Many of his designs are iconic, and i think this chair is beautiful, simple, elegant. Each aspect has been well thought through, and as a collection they look stunning.

Hmm. I have not got there yet. I have been designing for my own pleasure so far !

My favourite material is wood. In particular I love working with indigenous hardwood timbers from Africa, which exhibit an incredible depth and richness in grain and hue. I love the way the finished product also changes over time as it slowly oxidizes.

I feel most creative when I have had time to admire other people's work. For example, I loved wandering around the Danish Design Museum which was very inspiring.

Initially I focus on overall form and function. Then I dig deep into the manufacturing process and how I could realize a given design. Then I come back to the aesthetic and see if I can simplify and further strengthen the design.

Totally absorbed. Focused. Satisfied

When the design 'pops', you finish a piece and think ' yes that's actually good' - that's the fun part

I think if other people instantly recognize it as beautiful, and something they want to engage with to understand it, and see how well it works for them

Overall aesthetic and engineering logic

To leave the space in a better place than when you started - upgraded, not downgraded

I think design is benefiting from increasing professionalism and technology, so that craftsmanship can push new boundaries

This is my first exhibition

My inspiration comes from other designers (eg Danish Modern), and from nature - I love forest walks and see a lot of possibilities or analogies in the natural world.

My design attempts to get to the essential; to be as simple as possible; and highlight the beauty in the materials used

I live in Johannesburg in South Africa where we have lived for over 20 years. I think on the downside, there is quite an emphasis on 'country' style wooden furniture with limited design content so I tend to look elsewhere for design ideas. But on the upside, the intrinsic beauty of indigenous timbers is amazing and the range of colours and textures is huge

I have yet to collaborate with a production house but I would love to commercialize my design(s)

A bit early for me to say

I have an idea. Do some rough sketches. Move quickly to prototyping in pine wood. Figure out where the real technical challenges are. Focus in on those and see if I can properly design for manufacture the most challenging aspect of the design. Then cycle back to fine tune the overall dimensions, aesthetics and ergonomics. This often involves a number of loops.

1. Leather sofa 2. Alto Saxophone 3. Our home itself which I designed 4. Occasional table 5. ZENE

It's very varied at the moment. I have just recently completed launching my latest music album - I play soprano sax and this has kept me very busy

Again a bit early for me to say perhaps. Maybe be true to yourself; stay honest; go after what you really admire

Designing is great fun; makes a difference; impacts people. You are not always understood. Or properly remunerated for your contribution

Keep it simple

Craftsmanship. The ability to conceptualize the manufacturing process and how that should impact the design itself. The ability to understand the use requirements (ergonomics etc) and how design can directly address the core needs

A rather blunt 2B pencil and lots of scrap paper.An A4 hardback book to record all the important ideas; shapes; dimensionsAnd my regular workshop tools for prototyping

I generally start, and then keep going until I am finished.

Depends. ZENE was refined over a long period (over a year)

How did you construct the complicated parts of your design?

Getting helpful and encouraging feedback from other designers

Refining a design that you already think is great, to turn it into something you are truly proud of

Depends on how some of my early work is received. I would love to purse this avenue - I have ideas for other furniture projects

I tend to design as a one man team, but with inputs at different points such as from my father.

No. I have some ideas but nothing that I can really discuss yet

I am contactable on email: johngriffithwillams@gmail.com

no thanks