There’s a raw simplicity to Australian designer Tom Fereday’s work that comes from applying simple gestures to great effect. The majority of his pieces are sculpted or constructed from a single material, and have one, carefully considered defining feature. Take his Cor light, a pillar of travertine with fileted corners, from which a curved slice is pared away to reveal a hollow core and a light source that glows from within. Or his Cove Lounge, a chair with a slender metal frame that — rather than wrapping around the backrest — elegantly disappears into the curved panel on one side and reemerges on the other. “I try to add innovation in the pieces from a perspective where we might look, for example, at articulating engineering details with natural materials,” Fereday says. This approach to simplified and sophisticated contemporary form-making is proving to be a hit with design lovers worldwide.

Fereday is riding high on the back of several launches and presentations in Europe and his native Australia over the past few months. His showcase at Copenhagen’s ever-important 3 Days of Design in June, part of the Design / Dialogue event in collaboration with Ark Journal, featured a series of stone and timber editioned pieces that again demonstrate his eye for form and texture, as well as functionality. “I find it really important to be able to come to these exhibitions to present myself alongside the international design community,” he says. The festival in the Danish capital came straight after Melbourne Design Week, where Fereday presented a cast-aluminum speaker with Tasmanian brand Pitt and Giblin. The highly technical piece “treats audio like sculpture” — a growing trend, in case you missed it. A cube-shaped unit mounted on a curved, three-sided base, its visible surfaces, including the smoothed cone, are all made of sandblasted aluminum — not exactly a familiar material for audiophiles.

Born in Australia, Fereday grew up in the UK and initially studied sculpture and graphic design at the Wimbledon School of Art, then moved back to Australia and shifted focus to industrial design at the University of Technology, Sydney. He started his own studio in 2012 and through “sheer momentum of wanting to work on unique items,” as he describes, has built a successful independent business, and secured collaborations with brands and manufacturers both at home and abroad. Working halfway across the globe from many of the major design centers can be tough, Fereday says, but he believes that the industry at home is thriving. Melbourne Design Week, for example, has grown each year since it began in 2017 and allows designers and enthusiasts from across the country to converge in significant numbers. “Everybody from across Australia comes together,” Fereday says. “And the quality of work is really something to be proud of… [Melbourne] feels less hierarchical to more traditional design capitals, and there is a feeling of optimism and support for designers that choose to follow an independent design path.”

While the country’s interior and architecture fields have long been widely celebrated internationally, he adds, the furniture and product design scene is less well known. “However, many design studios are forming across Australia,” Fereday notes. “It feels like opportunities are there for those seeking at any level of experience.” And his own practice continues to thrive there. Coming up this year, he’s launching a new lighting and seating collection with Australian brand NAU Design, as well as several bespoke commissions for Sydney’s renowned heritage-listed Customs House. Thanks to an investment in materials, processing and manufacturing, a commitment to the longevity of his designs, and acute attention to detail, Fereday’s work continues to catch attention—whichever corner of the world it ends up in.

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