Tom Dixon

Tom Dixon is a UK designer who designs a wide range of objects. He dropped out of art school, and learned to weld repairing his motorcycle which then led into creating sculpture. From sculpture he moved into furniture, and was "discovered" in 1989 by the Cappellini furniture design company and they produced his S chair.


Tom Dixon is known for embracing the technology available and using it to create his designs. In a quote from his website tomdixon.net, he says "Honestly, I can't remember ever holding an ambition to be a designer. It just slowly came over me as I rejected notions of being an artist or, a craftsman. Even today I prefer the idea of being an industrialist." This outlook is obvious from his designs, not looking at what's been done before or really what's happening tangential to him- he seems to make a place for his work if non previously exists. One thing that really strikes me about the work is the broad outlook at the "object"- particularly in his lighting- and the experimentation with materials. Some of my 3 favorites:

I love the look and delicacy of the form.


The structure of this piece really draws me- it could seem too much or too heavy, but the scale in which it was rendered makes it seem almost fragile.



I love the simplicity of the form, and that he put so much thought into the design for this piece.

Tom, along with David Begg, started Tom Dixon Designs in 2002, and they partnered with venture capitalists to for Design Research which oversees both Tom Dixon Designs and Artek, which is a furniture manufacturer that was started by Alvar Aalto. He has exhibited at numerous exhibitions- including the Milan Furniture Fair and 100% Design in London. For the London Design Festival the past 2 years he has orchestrated a public display/giveaway of his work to raise social awareness- this past year he designed and gave away a specially designed lamp that uses CF bulbs! Here's a video I found with Tom Dixon talking about sustainable design. Tom Dixon Designs will be exhibiting at the ICFF in NYC in May!