< continued from previous page Who are some of your favourite designers? Having switched careers from Architecture to furniture I tend to be drawn towards designers who have managed to stretch their skill-set successfully across two fields. Malcolm Sayer is a bit of a personal hero of mine. Through the application of advanced mathematic principles (learnt from a career in Aeronautics) he created the Jaguar E-type. Form, function and art all in one. In terms of direct influences from the world of furniture and industrial design it is pretty hard to look past the likes of Alvar Aalto, Grete Jalk, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Eileen Gray and Ron Arad. What is your favourite item in your store right now and why? Pinch Bench would be a personal favourite of mine as it was the first piece I designed so therefore will always have a special, slightly biased place in my heart. The form is simple,
the joints are expressed and the materials are used honestly, meaning that the structural properties required by each piece of the composition is ultimately what influenced the material selection. What has been your biggest highlight? It is a close tie between receiving our first ever commission (Flotsam furniture for a pop-up design market) and recently being awarded a business start-up grant by the City of Melbourne. When someone invests in your idea and your brand it helps drive that self-belief within that you are not completely insane to be pursuing your dream. What are your plans for the future? We have recently expanded our workshop to include dedicated timber finishing and welding areas. So we are currently just
enjoying the extra space and filling it with timber and sawdust. In the future we would like to grow the business further whilst still maintaining all aspects of manufacturing in-house and continuing to offer our clients a hands-on bespoke service. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about Sawdust Bureau? We are currently searching for potential retailers and galleries to represent our work, both locally and overseas. Contact us through sawdustbureau.com if you would like more information. You can also follow us @sawdustbureau on Instagram if you want to see what the day-today life of a furniture maker looks like. CONTACT: www.sawdustbureau.com