Biography

Hi. My name is Galen Lau. I love challenging myself to make things by hand, and find it gratifying to see hand-made parts come together with precision. I recently graduated from the Honours Bachelor of Craft and Design (Furniture) program at Sheridan College, and I live in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. 

The piece of furniture I am most proud of is the Fjord Chair. Unlike cabinets or tables, chairs need to be comfortable because they are making physical contact with many parts of the user's body for long periods of time. And because people vary in size and shape, chairs are the most challenging pieces of furniture to design. Designing and fabricating the Fjord Chair was especially difficult, but I overcame the challenges and, in the end, created a chair that was deemed exceptionally comfortable by peers and faculty. 

I'm also proud to have been recognized for outstanding academic achievement throughout my years at Sheridan College. It's an honor to have won the Robert Welsh Award in years 1 and 2, the Studio Excellence Award in year 3, and the William & Mary Corcoran Award and Festool Furniture Design Award in year 4.

My work is highly influenced by minimalist designs of all kinds. My work tends to be rectilinear and geometric because I appreciate the juxtaposition of man-made forms with organic forms of nature. I try to use renewable materials (such as wood, paper, and plant fibers) and avoid using nonrenewable materials (such as plastics, metals, and stone).

My design process includes doing research, ideating, making models, building prototypes, testing, and getting feedback from other people. My favorite method for developing ideas is using an online random-word generator to provide unrelated words to spark new ideas by forcing associations and lateral thinking. Moreover, I am always trying to implement Dieter Rams' “10 Principles of Good Design” throughout my design process.