He finished university with the goal of creating his own furniture and 3D object collection, and is developing a range “utilising high-quality materials”.
The 21-year-old, who sells his work under the name Tim Webber Design, has made 15 pieces – including dining tables, coffee tables, chairs and entertainment units – and he has some fun with his designs by creating more sculptural pieces, such as oversized road cones and Rubik’s Cubes.
He also enjoys designing and building furniture that explores the possibilities of European plywood because “it is solid, decorative, strong, durable and visually stunning – it creates clean lines and a perfect edge”. Using birch plywood, Tim has made a “floating” range, which has a “designer unique feel that is sleek and elegant with a modern aesthetic”.
Tim, who lives in Howick, has had his furniture showing at BoConcept, a store in Mt Eden, which “has been going really well with positive feedback – I walked in off the street with my portfolio and BoConcept shot into it straight away”.
He says it has been great for him to partner with such a high-end and established furniture store. “[BoConcept] pushed me to broaden my range so we could paint the Tim Webber Design picture, which was good for me.”
“Response so far has been very positive, and several of his designs have sold in multiples in the first two months,” says Peter, who sees Tim as having a successful future as a furniture designer. “The future is very bright for this young designer. We expect his designs to be popping up all over New Zealand over the next year.”
As for Tim, he just loves creating furniture because of the important role it plays in people’s lives. “It becomes an integral part of day-to-day life,” explains the former Macleans College student. “People build a relationship with it, giving it sentimentality.”
And he wants to continue exploring the potential of plywood. “I want to see how I can create a different aesthetic to the traditional solid wood common in New Zealand.”
The plan is to expand his range and eventually display it across the ditch and further afield. Tim’s ultimate goal is to display at the Milan Furniture Fair.
Held yearly in the Italian city since 1961, the Salone del Mobile is the world’s largest design fair and celebrated its 50th birthday this year. Over this time, it has established itself as the epicentre of the global contemporary design market, and showcases weird, wild and wonderful ideas.
