Young Furniture Makers Award Winners Spotlight: Tom Wilkinson-Dix

We announced the winners of our Young Furniture Makers Awards and Prizes at the 2024 Young Furniture Makers exhibition in October.

Principally sponsored by Tizo Limited, the Young Furniture Makers exhibition took place on Wednesday 2 October at Furniture Makers’ Hall and the Dutch Church in Austin Friars, London.

As part of a series of articles on the Young Furniture winners, we interviewed Tom Wilkinson-Dix whose ‘Torsion’ Dresser Sideboard was awarded the Design Award, sponsored by NaughtOne.

What was your initial reaction when you found out you had won the Young Furniture Makers Award?

Absolute surprise and disbelief.

What does winning this award mean to you personally and professionally?

It’s an honour and a privilege. Personally it means I can start believing the nice things people have said about my work. Professionally, I’m hoping that it opens up possibilities for developing my work and myself going forwards.

What do you think set your work apart from other entries this year?

The design brief for the piece was set in a very commercially-focused way, this meant that I had to be creative within a tight set of constraints. I think that the result is a piece of furniture that is more than the sum of it’s parts, designed in a way that is scalable for production.

What was your experience like showcasing your work at the Young Furniture Makers exhibition?

It’s a fantastic event and venue, the Dutch Church is really atmospheric and elevated all the pieces on display.

How did it feel to have your work on display alongside so many talented designers?

The level that all the designers and makers are working at is incredible,  it’s an inspiration and a challenge to maintain and improve my own standards. It’s also just a great opportunity to chat and share ideas with our peers.

What kind of feedback did you receive from attendees and industry professionals?

I recieved some lovely positive comments on the piece, and discussed tweaks that could be worthwhile going forward.

Did you have any memorable conversations or connections with other exhibitors or industry figures during the event?

I had some really interesting conversations with other designers as they explained their pieces and the conceptual backgrounds behind them. Bill Amberg’s talk about leather was really enlightening and has sparked some ideas I look forward to exploring.

How do you think exhibitions like this contribute to the future of the furniture design industry?

I think these exhibitions are vital to the future of furniture design, social media can be a great tool for visual discovery and research, but nothing compares to the kind of connections and conversations that can only happen when you get like minded people in a room together. Besides furniture is made to be touched and interacted with, and you can’t do that through a screen.

Looking back, what advice would you give to future participants in the Young Furniture Makers exhibition?

This kind of event can be a bit overwhelming if you’re a more introverted person, but everyone is there because of a shared passion, so try as hard as you can to speak with as many people as possible and you’ll get much more out of being there.

How do you plan to build on this achievement as you move forward in your career?

I’m displaying some of my pieces in upcoming shows and exhibitions, hopefully this results in some sales and comissions. Going forward this achievement is going to reinforce my self-confidence and push me to develop my own designs and making, whilst opening doors in terms of employment too.

What is the next milestone you hope to achieve in your design journey?

I’m a bit obsessed with chairs, so I’d love to develop a design and see it put into production. I’ve also had a great time teaching the National Saturday Art Club at Rycotewood Furniture Centre for the last two years, so I’m really looking to forward to finding a way to share my passion for design and craft teaching as well.