British designer Alex Swain is based in London and creates pure and minimal products for the home and workplace. Alex combines form and function with clean aesthetics, to create designs made to last and that are available at affordable prices. Driven by a conviction that designers should use resources wisely, Alex uses cutting edge technology to reduce waste and maximise efficiency. He works mostly in wood to design modern pieces of furniture that are simple on the eye and that celebrate quality ingredients. All the products are made in UK and Northern Europe using FSC/PEFC certified timber, sourced from responsibly managed Nordic forests.

Moreover Alex designs furniture products with a genuine story and a strong reason for being. Purity by Design.

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Brand, digital and product designer

Inspired by the art of vinyl record sleeves as a teenager in the 1980s, Alex decided to study graphic design. After graduating from the London College of Communications with an MA in Graphic Design in 2006, Alex co-founded Company, a design consultancy based in Clerkenwell, London. Despite the studio’s success in branding and digital projects, Alex was eager to design physical objects – things you can touch and feel.

It took two years to develop his first product: The A Stool. Cut from plywood, its distinctive graphic style was inspired by Alex’s love of typography. The stool inspired a whole range based on the ‘A’ shape, one of the purest forms in engineering and architecture. An instant hit when the collection launched in 2011, it was the first ‘carry-away’ furniture available from John Lewis. 

Over the years Alex has also enjoyed design lecturing, having run various workshops at the London College of Communication since 2010, including music graphics, branding and packaging. In 2014 Alex became a Lead Tutor on the MA Typographic Media course.

After 20 years of experience working within the creative industries Alex works as a brand design consultant, digital lead on UI/UX projects and as a product developer for many including startups, architects and retailers such as John Lewis and Made.com.