Matt Kavanagh: Designer, Maker, Innovator

Photo credit - Amit Lennon

Matt Kavanagh is a 3D designer and maker whose work exists at the intersection of material experimentation, craftsmanship, and innovation. Born in the UK, Kavanagh’s early fascination with design led him to study engineering product design at South Bank University, London, graduating in 1988. Influenced profoundly by the radical aesthetics of the Memphis Design movement of the early 1980s, he moved to Italy to work with Olivetti under the direction of Memphis designer George Sowden. There, his inventive approach to hybrid electronic products earned patents for the company, signaling an early recognition of his ingenuity.

Returning to the UK, Kavanagh launched a consultancy specialising in furniture, lighting, and product design, which would evolve into DIPLOMAT in 1999 a platform dedicated to design and innovation. His parallel engagement with the retail sector, through multiple design and brand strategy roles and the founding of SPACE 11 in 2011, reflects a rare fluency in both creative conception and the commercial application of design thinking.

Since 2009, Kavanagh has also contributed to the Royal College of Art, teaching modules on innovation in design engineering, nurturing a new generation of designers attuned to experimentation and material intelligence. Now based in his Deptford studio in South London, he produces furniture and contemporary artefacts that embody a rigorous exploration of materials and making processes. Kavanagh’s practice exemplifies a sustained commitment to the dialogue between concept and craft, innovation and materiality, positioning him as a designer deeply attuned to both the tactile and the visionary.

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