Building a career as a designer is not a straight path
Mac Nordman seated in his Polygon chair at Australia’s Next Top Designer, 2023.
‘I may be Swedish but it’s a big step to open your own IKEA on a one man band platform’, says Mac Nordman who is trying to get his furniture and lighting design business off the ground. ‘I essentially need to find a business partner and investor for that to reach scale. On my own, I can at best batch produce copies of my designs, but obviously having studied design, designing is what I want to do.’
Manta light, pendant light in birch plywood with dimmable globe. A Design Milano furniture fair industrial design winner, 2023.
Despite being accepted into the Launchpad competition three times and into Australia’s Next Top Designer, and most recently winning an A Design Milan prize last year with his Manta light, it’s been hard to get media attention, Mac said. This year, Mac Nordman’s winning designs were exhibited by A Design Milan in New York 21–27 September. ‘Formally, I was the Australian representative in an exhibition that featured 40 designers from 40 countries,’ he said, and yet failed to attract any media attention.
‘At the time I made some 300 attempts to reach Australian media about this “Australian achievement” but no one cared. It was not sport, crime or a political scandal, so sadly it went completely under the radar. Manufacturing and design does not matter in Australia is my conclusion…’, said Mac. ‘At the time I won the Milan prize I could not afford to attend the ceremony, but it is definitely on my bucket list to travel to Milan and also to one day see or perhaps professionally attend the furniture design exhibition there.’
Polygon chair, hoop pine plywood, fake reindeer pelt. Runner-up in furniture design category, A Design Milan furniture fair, 2023.
Swedish-born, Mac studied industrial design in Newcastle. ‘After 5 years training I couldn’t find a job since they all required at least three years work experience prior to a first hire... I never got around that but got into movies and theatre gigs instead, and also spent two years in a paid apprenticeship with a Swedish furniture maker, so a lot of my foundations in cabinetmaking skills come from that.’
In 2005 he moved to Sydney to work as a model maker on the movie ‘Superman Returns’, and since then has worked on 12 movies and TV shows in various roles such as model maker, set builder, sculptor and most recently as furniture maker. ‘That very niche position meant that I got to build Viking furniture for the Viking ship in the ‘Thor love and thunder’ movie. I think that was the absolute highlight of my career as a maker of things and in terms of what I been able to do in the movie industry.’
Viking sofa carved detail. Mac Nordman made four of these dragon heads in opposing pairs for two sofas used in the movie Thor, Love and Thunder.
The prize Mac received for his A Design award was ‘mostly the honour of winning’ as well as life membership with six different design related organisations. Eventually I think my awards will open some doors. I'll keep knocking as I look for a business partner/ investor/ sponsor/ distributor to take the next step forward.'
Get in touch with Mac Nordman via nordmandesign.com.au and Instagram @nordman_design_
Images supplied by Mac Nordman