Furniture designer

You would design attractive and practical pieces of furniture that people will buy for their homes or workplaces. You could design furniture to be mass-produced, made in small batches or as one-offs.

You could work for a furniture manufacturer or run your own business.

As well as considering the look of your design you will also need to make sure it is functional and that it can be produced at a price that people can afford.

You would:

• Research your design ideas

• Consider how the item will look and how practical or functional it will be

• Work to a brief agreed with your client

• Produce new designs, or improve existing ones if you work for a manufacturer

• Check the cost, availability of materials and safety implications

• Draw sketches by hand or using computer-aided design software (CAD)

You would work closely with other professionals such as production managers, marketing staff and design engineers.

Once you have your initial designs you would test your ideas using models, prototypes and computer-aided design software. Then you would prepare more detailed final designs, though in larger companies these may be worked up in detail by specialist staff.

You would need to be able to explain your ideas clearly.

If you are self-employed, you would market your work and do the budgeting and administration to run your own business.

• Chartered Society of Designers - internationally recognised body providing support and guidance for designers

• Creative Choices - Help and advice for a career in the creative industry from Creative and Cultural Skills

• British Furniture Manufacturers - information about the Young Furniture-makers Group from the trade association for the industry

• Design Council - organisation that encourages new design thinking, debate and informs government policy

• Design Business Association - Uk trade association for design offering business skills training courses and mentoring