open call to industrial designers

You send in your original (not currently produced or sold), design file for a furnishing item (see categories on this page) and our curatorial team will jury them for possible production and inclusion in the Wooda collection. You will be notified whether or not your design is accepted for production. If accepted, you will be sent a contract to sign, which will allow Wooda to exclusively produce your item for three years with first option for renewal. You will always own your design. Once produced, your design will be priced and available for sale directly to the public on the Wooda site, and you will receive a 10% royalty for each one sold. Each piece will be numbered and stamped with the Wooda logo and your signature. You will be able to purchase one of your own designs at a 40% discount.

We know that historically, the most iconic designs have been created by the greats of industrial design. We want to be a part of that exciting legacy. Many designers dream of working in wood, but don’t have the facilities to realize that dream. We would be honored to bring your very best designs for wood to life. Amaze us!

General Categories

Home Décor and Accessories: candelabras, candlestick holders, table and wall sculptures, chess sets, containers, etc.

Seating: chairs, benches, ottomans, stools, dining, occasional, love seat, chesterfield, etc.

Tables: dining, coffee, side, bedside, console/sofa, game, end tables.

Storage: chests, buffets, credenzas, desks, bookcases, armoires.

Lighting: table and floor lamps, pendant, chandelier, sconces.

Miscellaneous: beds, headboards, room dividers, doors.

Outdoor Furniture: patio tables and chairs, etc.

Other Details

You can specify wood and finishes, but Wooda reserves the right to use different woods and/or finishes to meet market trends. You should design primarily for solid dimension lumber. In some instances, plywood and veneers would be considered. Although you can use small accents of other materials such as metal and fabric, the majority of your design should be wood.

View our Pinterest Page for design inspiration.

The Small Type

All designs submitted must be original to the owner/designer of the item and not currently in production or under contract with any other company or producer. You will sign a hold harmless agreement to indemnify Wooda against any design that is copied or stolen from another entity.

3D File Formats preferred/accepted:

.sldprt, .prt, .sldasm, .asm, .ipt, .iam, .dwg, .dxf, .stp, .step, .igs, .iges, .x_t, .x_b

Designer Application

Click to Apply

Designer FAQs

We have been makers of high-end furniture for over 20 years. We know wood and furniture production and how to turn out the most flawless version of whatever you can design. That is our reason for being. Wooda is a completely new business model: A furniture manufacturer that will sell online direct to consumers.

We have surfed thousands of industrial design furniture creations, and they have had something in common. They were designed to be simple enough for the designer to make themselves with tools available to them and limited experience or knowledge in construction, finishing, etc. Therefore, most industrial designers have been limited in output by their own physical abilities and tools.

Now, you can design without thinking about having to create the piece yourself. Wouldn’t you design differently with that in mind? We are willing to bet our company on that premise. We expect to see designs that go beyond your physical limitations.

Style leaders. Design lovers. Early adopters, the new economic order, whatever term currently describes people who have vision or a strong aesthetic sense but have been unable to find what they are looking for in the current marketplace.

We want pieces that make a signature design statement; pieces with a clear point of view. We welcome diverse tastes and new trends. We want to create pieces with an edge or a twist, an element of surprise or delight. We want to reinvent the wheel. We admire form but also insist on function. If it can be knocked off or made cheaply, we aren’t interested in producing it. A lot of furniture is simply boring and we want to help solve that problem. We have started a Pinterest page called Designer Inspirations where we are posting great designs and/or design elements.

It is not all-inclusive by any means, but will hopefully help designers understand our vision.

Here is the link: https://www.pinterest.com/WoodaDesign/

In a word, no, because we are in the business of selling fine furnishings. If a chair looks completely uncomfortable, it probably won’t sell. Functionality is as important as beauty.

Many design competitions are created merely as a PR vehicle to draw attention to a company as being “design forward” or to just create conceptual designs that go nowhere. Few of those companies actually produce even the winning items.

The Wooda business model means business. We are putting our money where our mouth is and will produce the chosen items, taking on all the risk of failure. The designer has nothing to lose by designing for us. You always own your design, and will receive royalties if and when it sells.

Because we think that a great design can come from anywhere, and we want to back many great designs, not just hire a few designers who may create a few great designs. Iconic design is rare. Why limit our chances for success to a few people? We don’t need to place our bets before the horse race, we will place our bets as we see the horses approaching the finish line.

Ultimately, if your design is selected, you will need to submit the file to us as requested. Initially however, we will accept any sketches or renderings you may have. We certainly don’t want you to go the expense of creating the CAD drawings if not already completed, not knowing if it will be selected. We will only ask you to go there once we know that we’ll be accepting the design for the line.

If we like something about your design we are happy to give you some feedback on the issues we may have but do not want to come up with the design solution. We do not want to micromanage the design process, we want to enable you to create iconic designs that we feel have commercial potential.

We have been makers of high-end furniture for over twenty years. The prices of Wooda products will reflect that. It allows us to pay attention to perfect finishes, fine detail, and of course, excellent construction. We want designing for us to be the best experience you have in your design career.

Wooda is based on a consumer business model, with continual introductions; whenever we have a new product, it will immediately become available to consumers directly online. We hope designers will want to get in on the ground floor and begin working with us early on, so we can start building relationships and business. We hope you will join us!