Naughtone: Design and Marketing Processes - Research and development

Naughtone, a relatively small furniture-design business who source local materials and manufacture in the UK, has worked with the combined design expertise of Professor Hilary Dalke and her team at the Design Research Centre, Kingston University London along with a recent graduate employee to achieve greater recognition in its field. The graduate has explored the management of new product designs to help Naughtone significantly improve its business strategy, whilst gaining experience of research-led business strategies and sustainable management schemes.

Graduate employee Sivan Metzer, with a first class BA in Multi-Media Textile Design, enhanced Naughtone's company profile and design practices. Sivan applied efficient business practices to meet and exceed an ambitious 300% sales growth, worked to the deadline of the prestigious design exhibition '100% Design' and handled important clients such as Co-Existence and Conran Contracts. The graduate explored luxury materials and colour trends and furthered her expertise of technical textiles, packaging and presentation of products. She attended an MA Creative Industries course and the MA in Spatial and Product Design under the scheme and transferred this knowledge to Naughtone's packaging and material design. Sivan also built up a comprehensive knowledge of manufacturing and subsequently made the company's stock and warehouse practices more cost efficient.

For Naughtone the project established strong brand ties with new architectural clients and new cost-saving initiatives whilst substantially boosting their profile; the company secured design stalls at major exhibitions both nationally and internationally and were shortlisted for prestigious design accounts - both achievements that they feel represent the improvements achieved by the partnership. The University researched new material manufacture and business strategy and has recentl;yt increased their academic prestige with publications for Springer-Verlag, papers for the National Physical Laboratory on 'Measuring the Impossible' and will make presentations on inclusive design at Cambridge University in 2010. Sivan Metzer was a full time employee at Naughtone and is currently on a Masters course in Furniture Design planning a career in her own furniture design business, following her success at Naughtone.