The January Furniture Show at the NEC gives HEICO the chance to announce the winners of our annual Design Competition in conjunction with The Association of Master Upholsterers (AMUSF) and the British Furniture Manufacturers Association (BFM).
The competition is open to students studying the 3 stage AMUSF Upholstery Course and challenges them to produce a scaled down chair that incorporates some of our upholstery products, such as decorative nails, buttons, brass castors and wooden & metal legs. The competition involves students entering an A3 mood board that provides us with the initial design concept of their chair. From the mood boards we at Heico select a number of designs that we would like to see as finished chairs and these are judged by an independent judging panel to select a winner and 2 runners up.
In January of this year the judging panel had a remarkable selection of chairs to deliberate over but all agreed that the winning award should go to South West Upholstery School student Rosy Weeks with her Japanese inspired chair. Runner-up awards also went to Donna Moore and Maria Lorence, both from the London Metropolitan University, for their ‘Saddleback’ and ‘Honeybee’ designs. For Rosy it was double success as she also won the BFM award for the design most likely to be able to go into serial production.
At the awards ceremony our very own Stuart Elmy said of the competition: “The annual design competition is always a highlight of the year for us and gives students an opportunity to let rip with their imagination – as well as showcase the skills of the upholstery craft community to a wider audience. We never fail to be impressed by the sheer creativity shown each year.”
We at Heico really believe the competition brings benefits to all the stakeholders involved with ourselves, the AMUSF, BFM, the training centres and of course the students all gaining a lot from entering. At the awards ceremony itself students and course leaders always tell us how much they really enjoyed entering the competition and that they gained a lot from the experience. We congratulate Rosy, Donna & Maria for their achievements and hope that their designs can be inspiration for entrants to the next competition
So, if you are an AMUSF Approved Training Centre or a student studying the 3 stage AMUSF Upholstery Course we want you to get involved but hurry, the deadline for initial mood board entry is 4th June 2024.
For a copy of the Design Brief or to discuss entering contact our Competition Co-Ordinator, Stuart Elmy, on [email protected] or 01268 745421.
