# Good web sites from inspiring makers



## Chris Knight

This is a place to put links to sites that command respect both as a place to seek inspiration for woodwork but also one that doesn't drive you mad because the site is poorly designed and instead helps you to find what you seek.

The idea is to provide a source for ideas - recognising and accepting that we are all in some way copyists, indebted to others for our own flashes of brilliance!

And here is a clue; if the site uses flash, there is a good chance it won't make the grade!

Here are some starters - these have been added from subsequent references noted by others.


C.H. Becksvoort 
Jonathan Pearce Fine Furniture
Oryx Design
Richard Williams
Cadman Furniture
Michael Cooper
Waywood Furniture
Robert Ingham
Devon Furniture Makers


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## wizer

I'm not sure I'd call that a 'good' website Chris. Yes it's very simple but it's quite basic and looks very bland. To me, a furniture maker needs to promote style and good design, even if it's not in the medium he works in.

Here's one that I think is better but could be improved.

http://www.jonathanpearcefinefurniture.com/default.htm

Our very own Simon from Oryxdesign has got it spot on IMHO

http://www.oryxdesign.co.uk

This is exactly how I'd do it.


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## Chris Knight

Tom,
I agree with you, I think both sites you picked show the maker's overall design well and also the detail - which Becksvoort's site does not. I like the way the Pearce site lets you pick which bit of detail to see amongst three or four choices.


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## wizer

This is quite nice. 

http://www.fishcontemporaryfurniture.com

Very clean and minimalist. I do like sites that are framed like this. It takes a bit of thinking to make it work with content but it's very user friendly. I've designed a few like this in the past.


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## Oryxdesign

Thanks Tom

I quite like this one.

http://www.alcoulson.com/


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## wizer

That's nice Simon, tho I'd like the pictures to be a bit bigger.

Here's an example of how flash can look and function well

http://www.richardwilliamsfurniture.com/

Tho I found it very slow loading


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## MikeG.

Here are a few.......starting with my favourite furniture makers, the Cadmans:

http://www.cadmanfurniture.com/

and the greatest woodworker I have ever laid eyes on, Michael Cooper:

http://www.michaelcooper.us/

Here is a website that lists a huge number of the top designer makers in the country, and links to their websites:

http://www.designermakers.org.uk/MemberProfiles.html

and these people are friends of friends.....and damned good too:

http://cimitree.co.uk/

Waywoods aren't bad either:

http://www.waywood.co.uk/OurFurniture.html

If you only look at one site, check out Michael Cooper's work. 

Mike


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## wizer

Mike Garnham":17c06ufw said:


> http://www.cadmanfurniture.com/
> 
> *This is quite nice but it commits a cardinal rule with me. An entry page! :twisted: I'm not keen on mouseover dots which show detail shots/*
> 
> http://www.michaelcooper.us/
> 
> *Terrible website. Truly Terrible. Outstanding work.*
> 
> http://cimitree.co.uk/
> *
> Another entry page! :twisted: which takes you to a horrible flash site. They do have an HTML version which is ok*
> 
> 
> http://www.waywood.co.uk/OurFurniture.html
> *This is quite nice but I don't like the way you have to scroll down to get the page links. I just find that annoying.*



Must Try Harder Mike :lol:


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## matt

An interesting thread. Whilst I understand and accept some of the comments about what is universally discussed and regarded as "bad design", and I too often find them frustrating; I do believe that some sites are designed with quite a specific clientele in mind who are successfully wooed by such features and effects.

By our very membership of this forum we are all largely practical people so perhaps ought to keep an open mind to the sites being successful at what they set out do achieve regardless of our prejudices.

I think they can be both good and bad in equal measure depending on what you're measuring. The acid test for a site is conversion and we've no way of telling what that might be.


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## wizer

Have you been at the shandy again Matt? Prejudiced against websites? :roll: 

I've worked around the web since 1995. Between 1998 and 2000 I was a freelance web designer. I've been creating websites on and off ever since. I've worked with customers and with users of web sites and read numerous publications of good web design. My comments about these websites draw from my professional experience in this field and have nothing to do with prejudices. This thread was asking what 'we' (the members of this forum) like or disliked about the websites of woodworkers. Whether or not we are of a technical nature has no bearing on whether we find a website easy to use or easy to look at. Indeed, if we find a web page hard to navigate or lacking the details we need then a prospective customer will find it harder still to glean the information that they need. I've read many survey reports that state the majority of website users will click away from heavy flash sites and get frustrated by bells and whistles like entry pages and audio. You're right in as much as these websites have to have an air of creativity and flare. But they fail to provide the user with what they need. The designers of these sites are not working with their customer to provide function as well as form. Many of the flash sites will be ignored by search bots which makes the website completely pointless.


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## MikeG.

wizer":3s6nzke4 said:


> Must Try Harder Mike :lol:



yeah but......yeah but...........I only read the first half of the sentence "_This is a place to put links to sites that command respect ........ as a place to seek inspiration for woodwork......._". I promise not to do it again, honest miss.

Anyway, I only agree with you about the Michael Cooper site........and even that I like for being so disorganised, much like this genius' brain. It tickles me that you can read page 13/15, 14/15, 15/15, 16/15 (!) and eventually get to page 32/15!!

The others.......so what if there is a title (entry) page? Do you ever buy a book without a cover?

Mike


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## wizer

IT's annoying Mike, Pay attention.


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## woodbloke

Here's one that's definitely worth looking at:

http://www.robertinghamdesigns.com/

I don't know whether it comes under the 'flash' definition but it seems a good one to me...and no one's posted the late JK's site yet 8-[ - Rob


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## houtslager

some nice and not so nice ones there, could I be cheeky and ask -
"what the viewers' think " of my own site
http://www.thewoodbutcher.eu


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## matt

wizer":3nuuhiqi said:


> I've worked around the web since 1995. Between 1998 and 2000 I was a freelance web designer. I've been creating websites on and off ever since. I've worked with customers and with users of web sites and read numerous publications of good web design.



Yeah, me too - similar story . Mind you, you couldn't walk down the street without tripping over someone claiming to be a web designer - it became almost embarrasing to be part of it - still does to some extent.

I agree there is a fundamental core of accepted good design - the safe zone.

(And not prejudice against web sites.)


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## Chris Knight

http://www.devonfurnituremakers.org.uk/gallery.php


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## big soft moose

wizer":9ajv364v said:


> This is quite nice.
> 
> http://www.fishcontemporaryfurniture.com
> 
> Very clean and minimalist. I do like sites that are framed like this. It takes a bit of thinking to make it work with content but it's very user friendly. I've designed a few like this in the past.



an example of why these things are a matter of taste - personally i hate this one (as a website - not a comment on the woodwork) , there is IMO far too much text on the front page (and indeed on most pages) and none of it meets the accesibility guide lines being both too small and too faint.


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## CHJ

Chris, might I suggest the Opening Post is edited to contain a list of the better sites;

I.E.

C.H. Becksvoort Maybe with a qualifying comment on the link line.
Jonathan Pearce Fine Furniture
Oryx Design
Richard Williams
Cadman Furniture
Michael Cooper
Waywood Furniture
Robert Ingham
Devon Furniture Makers


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## Chris Knight

Chas,
Thanks - done.


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## big soft moose

houtslager":28lkoxbt said:


> some nice and not so nice ones there, could I be cheeky and ask -
> "what the viewers' think " of my own site
> http://www.thewoodbutcher.eu



umm - I dont want to be rude but its erm - well if you want an honest opinion its not very good (sorry but you did ask - and I presume you'd prefer an honest appraisal rather than a flattering lie) - Improvements i'd recomend are

First up on the front page - lose the "made with serif" logo - no one cares what you used to make it , secondly make the picture on the left the same height as the main one and if you must have a front page ( I dont entirely agree with wizer on not having splash pages) make the whole picture a hot box to take you in to the site - thus allowing you to lose the home icon withthe flyout.

if you dont want to have a splash page take the links out of the home menu and make them into buttons

on "whats in the oven now" - personally i'd change this to a more obvious title like "work in progress" or "whats new" and I'd lose this comment "This page will change at irregular periods. depending on how much time I have to spend on it , when I remember to update it , and if I am not away on a trip" as it doesnt give a good or proffesional image

likewise "links to intresting sites where my time gets wasted" - if i'm a prospective customer does it give me a good feeling that you like to waste time ? - put your links on a seperate page and use the whats new page to give a good picture of your work

on the design ethos page - whats the relevance of that coat of arms ? i'd loose it and use the space to widen the frame for your design ethos - also work on the grammar, punctuation, capitalisation etc of the text

I'm sorry to sound harsh but you have the tag line "life is better designed" but although your furniture lives up to it your website sadly doesnt - if you want customers to take you seriously as a designer the website has to demonstrate that ethos.


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## woodbloke

CHJ":130fvayv said:


> Chris, might I suggest the Opening Post is edited to contain a list of the better sites;
> 
> I.E.
> 
> C.H. Becksvoort Maybe with a qualifying comment on the link line.
> Jonathan Pearce Fine Furniture
> Oryx Design
> Richard Williams
> Cadman Furniture
> Michael Cooper
> Waywood Furniture
> Robert Ingham
> Devon Furniture Makers


Chas - I was about to suggest something similar. What's needed IMO is a reference list of good sites and not an in depth assessment of the positive or negative qualities of any one in particular - Rob


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## CHJ

woodbloke":1h0aeeby said:


> .What's needed IMO is a reference list of good sites and not an in depth assessment of the positive or negative qualities of any one in particular - Rob



That's why I suggested just a qualifying byline if felt necessary.

Like:
Site needs flash,
Site links on here are worth a trawl. 
Good content, shame about the presentation.

The problem is all reference lists like this take up quite a bit of time to monitor and update.
I know those on the Turning forum do anyway.


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## Chris Knight

Rob, you are correct but like Chas says it takes a good deal of effort to maintain - I had no time to do the comments hence my "ignoring" Chas's suggestion.


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## woodbloke

waterhead37":145rh7wl said:


> Rob, you are correct but like Chas says it takes a good deal of effort to maintain - I had no time to do the comments hence my "ignoring" Chas's suggestion.


Your effort is much appreciated as I think it will be a valuable resource on the forum - Rob


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## Chris Knight

One of the restrictions of the forum software we use is that the HTML that can be used in posts is very limited. This has the effect of making it very difficult to create tabulations of data.

Many of the things we should like to do such as listing designer makers for example are best done in the form of a table. To get around the limitation I have mentioned above, I have sown the seeds of an experiment. The link below will take you to a Google documents spreadsheet. As I have set it up, the spreadsheet can be edited by anybody -- in the spirit of the original Wikipedia.

You are all invited to edit it as you see fit. The idea is that peer pressure results in the winnowing of poor material. Probably, like Wikipedia, we shall find this doesn't work too well and that other restraints need to be applied.

I am unfamiliar with Google documents, at least their usage but rather than spend an age studying, I thought it might be informative to jump in with both feet and try it out. So here is your starter for 10.

Please edit the document as you see fit -- but try to be sensible and stay within the forum rules. If it all goes pear shaped we shall have to try another tack.


http://tinyurl.com/ylxa2wm

At present, it looks like this


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## Chris Knight

So far, my favourite is the Makepeace site - have a look at how his "magnifier" can show details.


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## wizer

yes I like it Chris and, tho it's a little slow to load, the zoom feature seems to work well. I'm not sure, for prospective clients, that close up of the entirety of each piece of furniture is absolutely necessary. The one with 3 close up shots of each piece is a nice touch, IMO.

If you need help administering this, I am happy to help in a couple of weeks when I'm in recovery mode.


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## houtslager

BSM, thanks I need help as you may have noticed - I am a woodworker not a web designer, since it went live I have had a seriously sick pc and the lap top was playing up.
Now both are back from the pc hospital, I hope to re vamp it.

BUT ! I need assistence, anyone care to help out?

hs , busy re vamping 4 old church pews :?


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## Chris Knight

wizer":zrbtnmei said:


> If you need help administering this, I am happy to help in a couple of weeks when I'm in recovery mode.



Tom,
Thanks. Please feel free to edit, add etc.


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## Anonymous

This is a new website of a German manufacturer http://www.go-in.co.uk
 providing a wide range of modern hotel and restaurant furniture in contemporary but also traditional design, such as Lloyd Loom . Thanks to its versatility, the site offers genuinely good incentives for designing your own creative pieces of furniture.

Regards
AK


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## Mr T

Hi

I would suggest going to the DMOU http://www.designermakers.org.uk/MemberProfiles.html . This is a site run by makers, to get on the list the work of a maker has to be accepted by the other makers, so the standard of work is high. Possibly a long list like this is not as useful as specific recommendation, but it may help to find a maker you have heard of. 

The NCFM http://www.northernfurniture.org.uk/ is a similar site but limited to the north of England.

Chris


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## wizer

Hows yours coming on Chris?


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## Mr T

Hi Tom

It should be ready in a few weeks, I'll let you know when it's up and running.


Chris


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## Russ

Some interesting sites and some of the work looks familiar  

I really like this site http://www.nest-design.com/ check out Miss Calvel, she's a mighty fine table along with the rest of their work! Very cleaver..

Russ


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## gus3049

houtslager":19t5uxp3 said:


> some nice and not so nice ones there, could I be cheeky and ask -
> "what the viewers' think " of my own site
> http://www.thewoodbutcher.eu


Oh dear, I rather hate it!! I found it so frustrating, I didn't get to see your work.

Apart from the fact it doesn't draw properly (on my Mac at least) it take a bit of figuring out how to navigate it. I am with those who think that a site should be completely transparent in how it operates. Clear navigation being the number one priority.

Any devices that get in the way of that just annoy me so much that I leave the site as quickly as I found it. My site was designed and originally run by a professional but I copied all the layouts when I took it over. Even that annoys me sometimes by the way it loads - but that's the price I pay for doing it with a simple to use program for dummies.


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## sometimewoodworker

gus3049":2mkvfgz4 said:


> houtslager":2mkvfgz4 said:
> 
> 
> 
> some nice and not so nice ones there, could I be cheeky and ask -
> "what the viewers' think " of my own site
> http://www.thewoodbutcher.eu
> 
> 
> 
> Oh dear, I rather hate it!! I found it so frustrating, I didn't get to see your work.
> 
> Apart from the fact it doesn't draw properly (on my Mac at least) it take a bit of figuring out how to navigate it. I am with those who think that a site should be completely transparent in how it operates. Clear navigation being the number one priority.
Click to expand...

The site doesn't scale very well does it?


gus3049":2mkvfgz4 said:


> Any devices that get in the way of that just annoy me so much that I leave the site as quickly as I found it. My site was designed and originally run by a professional but I copied all the layouts when I took it over. Even that annoys me sometimes by the way it loads - but that's the price I pay for doing it with a simple to use program for dummies.


Nothing wrong with iWeb I use it for my photo section. The rest of my site at home was made with other SW but for publishing pictures iWeb gets it done fast. At the moment I have 6.5 GB of pics and rising 
The wood stuff is at My home site and uses the same colour scheme as yours


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## sparkymarky

could i add one into to the mix, saw these guys at royal cornwall show and had a quick chat with them. rozenfurniture.com 
i have no affiliation with this company just thought their work was brilliant.


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## drmartin1981

I had a look at the sites in the main post and one stuck out a mile for me that was 
waywood

really nice site set up too


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## RossF

Was really enjoying having a look at the suggested web sites and thought it could prove very useful as a "reference tool". 
In the posts there was mention of a google sites spreadsheet containing links to all these makers/ designers web sites but I do not seem to be able to access it - I get a message that the document no longer exists. Am I doing something wrong or is this spreadsheet somewhere else?

Thanks.


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## AlanRammel

I like a lot of these sites but it's like Matt says, there are specific clienteles you have to take on board. The furniture I create are specifically for Parish councils and Church yards etc and so clear traditional is what works for me.


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## AlanRammel

Mind you I really like some of these modern ones, maybe I'll have to look into something new!


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## Otto

Would it be rather rude of me to insert my own website for your perusal?

It's new and been a labour of love

http://www.customfurnitureandwoodwork.ie

If anything's not right, please say so so I can fix it.

Onto other makers, I nearly wept the first time I saw http://www.Johnleefurniture.com 

I nearly wept because I know I will never have the kind of clients who buy this stuff

or this

http://www.josephwalshstudio.com

He made the Royal Bed for Kate and Wills don'tcha know

Wonder if those guys ever get phone calls from some batty old dear about gluing a leg back on a chair...


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## Emanuel

(hammer) 
i am not allowed to post links as I am a new member, but I looked over some of your suggestions and I like cimitree for its simplicity.
Also, for designs, pictures and inspiration in almost any area from interior design, houzz - I find to be great.
We have a new website also called: georgequinn and we are really happy with how it looks like. We would love some feedback though. We noticed that there are some particular places where people don't click on. :? Any advice/feedback would be greatly appreciated.


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## Freddyjersey2016

I like the website and the furniture of Waters and Ackland (I am a newbie and cant post links yet)


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## Jismacgregor

I agree. I am an ex Waters and Acland student. They have some fantastic furniture which they have designed and made themselves, but also some of the stuff that their students produce is outstanding. The best place to look is their instagram site (which at a guess everyone follows). They have 260,000 followers!


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## Blackswanwood

https://ewcf.co.uk/

The boxes made by Ed Wild are stunning.


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## billw

Blackswanwood":rueyywex said:


> https://ewcf.co.uk/
> 
> The boxes made by Ed Wild are stunning.



That they are. I'm very tempted to switch to box making after looking at that site!


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## foxbat

Phillip Weber's box designs are something I really enjoy

There's aound 80 of them here on his website


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