Industry Insights: Alex Crofts

You recently took over as chairman of the Design Guild Mark. How has that been?

I joined the committee pretty much halfway through the year, so it's been a bit of a running start. For me, the basic goal was to look at ensuring the brand is maintained and protected, as well as to widen the scope of the award to the larger design public. That's a bigger challenge. 

How might you go about that?

The main challenge for the next twelve months, is to grow the number of applications, and that's got to be through growing and improving our marketing channels.

It's not said that we didn't do a good job before, but particularly with digital marketing, it's evolving so quickly, and we've got to keep up with those trends to ensure that we're relevant. We've got to make sure that we stand out, and when people engage with us or hit the landing page on the website, they go, ‘I want some of this. I want to apply and get that recognition for design excellence.’

Do you have a definition of what constitutes good design?

Originality and innovation. In industrial design, that's probably the encompassing sentence for it. For the Design Guild Mark, the judges have a strictly defined judging criteria, covering four or five key points. The judges will ask whether they are hitting each of those points, and if that happens, then there's a fair chance the piece will be awarded the Design Guild Mark. 

How did you start out in the industry?

I started off in the automotive industry, then I went into the finance industry, before joining our family business, which is making cabinet handles for the kitchens and furniture industry. And then in 2008 through a lovely guy called George Mitchell, I became a member of the Furniture Maker’s Company. Because of my background in Ford where I was responsible for training and recruitment, I was asked to sit on the education and training committee. I was on it for 15 years, looking after young furniture makers, before Rodney McMahon got in touch and then I ended up here. 

What's the most valuable lesson you've learned in your career?

For me personally, it's to keep learning, and don't think you know everything. Certainly, something happens every week that I don't know anything about. And then by the end of the week, you're considerably more well informed.

But it’s also about trying to make sure you've got a balance between your personal life and your work life. At the start of your career, work is everything. I think as you get older and you have a family, you suddenly realise what the priorities are. So it's about getting that balance. 

For more information on the Design Guild Mark, click here.