Whenever we make anything, it must do the job it’s designed to do AND look good. All woodworkers, regardless of skill, need to know that what they make will work. Furniture should be well-made, look good, and fit nicely into its surroundings. In this weeklong class, Graham covers the whole gamut of design essentials. How to get your ideas down on paper – how to make a meaningful three-dimensional sketch; how to produce ‘working drawings – plans, elevations, and sections – and how to figure dimensions and cutting lists. He will also cover the essential functional requirements of various classes of furniture: how high any given table should be, how wide are seats, how much backs should slope, what size drawers work, etc., – all the things that must be understood for a piece to “work”’. There are many ways to join two pieces of wood together but choosing the appropriate construction for any given piece of furniture requires an understanding of its function and its needs for strength. Students will make a simple piece of furniture using various ways to discover the principles of designing for structural integrity. Apart from function and structure, design is concerned with how things look. Students will learn how to analyze and apply the Golden Mean, classical architectural proportions, and even basic geometric paradigms to a variety of pieces. Finally, students will explore design characteristics from the Gothic oak period through classic European and American periods, to contemporary models, so that each person will gain the ability to design a piece that will fit with any given period.