Interview with Daragh Enright
Daragh has had a life long passion for design, craft, and wood. He holds a degree in 3D design and has worked for over 20 years designing and making bespoke furniture in residential and commercial…
Designer Interview
15 June 2022
As a child, from the age of around seven, I had decided I wanted to be an architect as I loved drawing, particularly buildings. At secondary school I started wood work classes at the age of 14, and consistently came out top of the class. My wood work teacher kindly allowed me to use the workshop during my free classes and I started making and selling skateboard ramps. Later I began making didgeridoos which I again turned into a small business. My love of design, craft, and wood as a material, blossomed when I started summer work with a then highly respected furniture designer and maker on the south west coast of Ireland. My mind was made up, and I continued on the path of furniture design and making, taking up an apprenticeship in Vermont (USA) with Charles Shackleton Handmade Furniture and Pottery, completing a City and Guilds qualification in Furniture design and making, and finally finishing my education with a degree in 3 Dimensional Design at Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK.
I run a small workshop in South Bohemia (Czechia) at present with one full time assistant. Czechia has a diverse and plentiful supply of local hardwoods, much more so than my native Ireland so it is the perfect place to run my business from.
Design is the enhancement of the human experience.
Works aimed to enhance the experiences interior spaces we live and work in, namely furniture and lighting.
The generic five wheeled, spinning, height adjustable, and reclining office chair with arms. A monumental leap in the design of seating which revolutionised the office work experience.
A suite of office and clinic MDF lacquered furniture for Dr. Gibb at 'The Birth Company' in Harley Street London.
Hardwoods, MDF, glass, steel, and 3D printing using the plant based plastic PLA.
Always after my morning coffee.
The user experience, focusing on the touch and feel to the hand.
The creative process is up and down for me at the beginning. But once I know I'm on the right path, I feel excitement, and joy.
Simply its ability to enhance the human experience.
The ability of the design to fulfil the users needs, aesthetically and or practically, efficiently, for the highest number of people. The best design combines both, without waste.
To hold the highest value of enhancing the human experience, in every aspect. Being innovative, thinking outside of the box, surprising us, uplifting us, while having the lowest impact on the environment, carefully considering material choices and production.
A long time ago! My degree show was in Islington, London in 2000, where exhibited my 'Core' seating design. I am planning to join the 'Maker Faire' in September this year in my home city of Ceske Budejovice, Czechia.
Nature is the ultimate designer for me, and I take great inspiration from its organic forms. A walk in the forest, canoeing down a river, or hiking in the mountains boosts my creative energy. Observing how we interact with the built world, and noticing gaps or inadequacies in our experiences in that world, provides my inspiration.
Relaxed Modern. Natural forms and materials focusing on hardwoods in combination and contrasting with modern materials and finishes. I love to showcase the beauty of wood, by carefully selecting it according to the patterns of the grain. I wish to create timeless designs which are created with such perfection and attention to detail that my pieces will out last me and many generations to come. I design and make to counter the throw away culture. Good design and manufacture for me is a marriage of infinite joy for the user.
I live in Czechia, where people take great pride in their interior spaces, and where standards of building are high, and quality workmanship is highly valued. Modern architecture and design are readily accepted here, the people are not bound by the constraints of tradition. Due to communism the Czechs came much later to the west's throw away culture, so they still have more appreciation for quality, long lasting products.
I run my own company that sells directly to the end use customer so don't deal directly with other companies other than suppliers of materials and parts.
Ask him or her to sketch their best design. Show the person other designer's work and ask them to evaluate. Present a simple design brief and see what they produce and ask for a presentation of their ideas.
It starts with an idea, then sketches. After that 3D modeling with design software. I then print the prototype models to experiment with. materials are chosen and sourced, and finally in to the workshop to develop and make the final product.
My lava lamp, that idea was pure genius. My reclining, spinning, office chair with wheels, its the piece of furniture I use and appreciate the most. My workshop bench, with all its compartments, its usefulness, weight and stability. My kitchen dining table, where some of the best family times are had, and finally my extra large bed, of course!
Wake up at 7, get the kids ready and off to school, start work in my office with admin duties and design work for three or so hours, and then by 1pm, after lunch, spend the rest of the day in my workshop producing my designs. Finish work at 5 pm, make dinner and play/hang out with my kids.
Learn to create with CAD software. Its such a valuable skill, and the possibilities are endless. Don't limit you designs by basing them on a certain material. Design freely, and decide on the best materials to use once you have the form, not before. Think 'outside the box', and purge your mind of preconceptions.
I cannot think of any higher joy than seeing an idea become a thing! The only negative for me is finding the time and funding to develop new ideas.. this can be difficult with three children to care and provide for.
Imagination and progress.
The ability to observe and identify opportunities to make our environment more functional and beautiful. Noticing things others do not see, and imagining outside of our preconceptions of how things 'should' be and look.
First and foremost I use a pencil and paper. I then import my sketches into my CAD software, Autodesk Fusion 360, to develop 3D models for initial prototyping.
I make sure that I am in the correct mood/state before I attempt to design. Then it flows freely and quickly. The rest of my time I spend in my workshop producing my work.
Ideas can come to me in minutes, however the process of bring these ideas into their final 3D form, with all the choices and development involved, can take years. I have one dining table design for example, of which the idea came to me in 2005, that I won't have finally realized in its final form till next year. The Magic Lamp took me two years to move from the idea, to the final product.
When I was 21 years old, working for Charles Shakelton Furniture, in Bridgewater, Vermont. I had a wonderful experience there, learning the craft of high quality handmade furniture making.
Previous to the Magic Lamp, my clients were mainly local, requiring furniture for residential and commercial settings. Whit the magic Lamp, being much smaller and easier to ship, I have had customers from all over the world.
I always prefered designing for commercial settings, hotel, cafe, restaurants, and shops. Here my clients would be much more inclined to new ideas and quite simply their budgets would be higher, allowing for more possibilities, and higher quality materials. Not to mention it is always a boost to have one's work on public display.
I am moving to a much larger workshop, where I will have space to peruse my larger projects, such as a dining table design, and for space to install CAD/CAM machinery.
I develop all my designs myself, and have one assistant in my workshop.
Yes, I have an innovative dining table design, which I hope to enter in next year's A Design Awards competition.
By email is best at daragh@daraghdesigns.com.