Tools for Everyday Life

Tools for Everyday Life
Cover image missing

Tools for Everyday Life is a project showcasing the community of practice surrounding the BA Furniture and Product Design programme at Northumbria University. This community has evolved through a dialogical approach to teaching and learning, where academic and technical staff act as facilitators in an ongoing process of shared inquiry with students. The project sets design briefs to create everyday objects that bring joy in use, proposing artefacts that recognise and celebrate the innumerable skilled actions that shape daily life. The aim is to draw inspiration from materials and processes that not only define the objects people interact with but also shape the relationship with the surrounding environment.

During 3daysofdesign, Northumbria University presents the latest iteration of its Tools for Everyday Life project. The exhibition presents products and prototypes that encourage users to viscerally engage in commonplace activities. The question asked is: “What are the results of a designer treating people as skilled and active users of functional artefacts rather than passive witnesses of a designed experience?” Everyday objects presented in Copenhagen include rulers, pencil holders and money boxes. The designers are academics, alumni, Designers in Residence and students all connected to the BA Furniture and Product Design programme at Northumbria University based in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Related Exhibitions
Montana Furniture is committed to creating playful spaces and making room for personality. Since 1982, the Danish family–owned design company has dedicated itself to enriching the world with colours. Embodying this philosophy, Montana brings high–quality furniture, proud Danish craftsmanship and playful colours to private homes, public spaces, and corporate settings worldwide. At its factory in Denmark, Montana manufactures EU Eco–labelled modular furniture, ensuring the highest standards for processing, painting, and assembling.
Montana Furniture
January 19, 2022
Furniture
Part of 2022
Part of 2023
Part of 2024
Part of 2025
New Works presents a collection at the intersection between old and new. Light and dark. Design and art. The collection pays homage to the strong Scandinavian history of craftsmanship and materiality, whilst challenging the contemporary forms of today. New Works collaborate with an international group of renowned designers and artisans, who display a matching fascination with sculptural forms and honest materials. These collaborative pursuits convey a love of the sensual, and of the bold.
New Works
January 14, 2022
Accessories
Furniture
Lighting
Part of 2022
Part of 2023
Martela is a Nordic expert in designing better workplaces and learning environments, combining user insight, sustainable design and high–quality furniture solutions that stand the test of time. For 80 years, Martela has been improving productivity, well–being, and community at work. The company offers its customers a single point of contact throughout the entire lifecycle of the work environment—from defining needs to optimised maintenance.
Martela
April 30, 2026
Furniture
Office
Part of 2026
Bread and Butter is an itinerant exhibition platform that explores everyday rituals through the concept of paired objects. Transforming everyday spaces—such as bookstores, salons, restaurants, and parking lots—into stages for collaboration, designers from different generations and cultural backgrounds translate their personal routines and local traditions into perfectly matched pairs. Just as "bread and butter" signifies something essential and inseparable, the paired objects form functional, aesthetic, and social relationships—quietly conveying each designer's experiences and contexts, while opening space for new connections and creative dialogue with local communities.
Bread and Butter
February 3, 2025
Furniture
Part of 2025
Part of 2026
Other Exhibitions
Astrid was launched in 2003, founded on Anna Boustedt’s genuine love for textiles. This passion continues to guide everything the company does. Her vision, aesthetic sensitivity, and attention to detail have helped establish Astrid as a small but significant player. The company is based in Stockholm and has longstanding collaborations with the most skilled textile mills in Europe. Astrid offers fabrics for curtains, furniture and accessories, and although the company’s primary target market is architects and designers, and the team has extensive knowledge of dealing with public spaces, the textiles are perfectly suited to a wide variety of settings. Quality is a matter of course for Astrid, and visual appeal is absolutely vital.
Astrid
February 16, 2024
JAPAN FORM is a Stockholm–based curatorial platform presenting contemporary Japanese craftsmanship in Europe. Porcelain lighting artist Hirotaka Tobimatsu creates sculptural pieces that reinterpret early 20th–century opal glass lighting through porcelain. Hand–cast and meticulously finished, each work emits a soft, diffused glow, bringing a quiet yet distinctive architectural presence to a space. JAPAN FORM is the exclusive European representative of his work.
JAPAN FORM
March 1, 2024
Service Projects is a tableware brand that creates enduring, timeless pieces designed for everyday use. Inspired by the enduring functionality of industrial kitchens, Service Projects develops products made to last for decades, for individuals who appreciate durability and timeless appeal in their private homes.
Service Projects
February 12, 2026
Based on a passion for authentic design and with responsibility at the forefront, Ferm Living creates honest products and calm environments that inspire you to balance the contrasts in life. Defined by soft forms, rich textures, and curious details, Ferm Living’s designs help create composed atmospheres with a touch of the unexpected. From materials and processes to production and delivery, Ferm Living challenges itself to help shape a more sustainable future, making it easier for you to make responsible choices. Ferm Living creates collections of furniture, accessories, and lighting designed to help you create spaces where you can feel comfortably at home.
Ferm Living
January 24, 2022
×
Tools for Everyday Life
Check back soon!