KCAD of Ferris State University Alumni Shine on Furniture Industry’s Biggest Stage

GRAND RAPIDS – Eight graduates of Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University have emerged as winners in the 2023 International Society of Furniture Designers Pinnacle Awards, recognized since 1995 as the highest honor for designers in the home furnishings industry.

At a gala held during the fall High Point Market in High Point, N.C., the largest home furnishing industry trade show in the world, 21 total awards were presented to independent designers and in-house design teams.

This year’s KCAD-connected winners continue the college’s longstanding track record of alumni success in the awards—and legacy of leadership in the furniture design industry. Eight of the 15 members of the ISFD Board of Directors are KCAD alumni, while numerous others hold senior design and leadership positions throughout the industry.

“We are proud to see our graduates go on to be trendsetters and change agents who are producing some of the industry’s finest work while guiding it into the future,” said KCAD professor Gayle DeBruyn, who chairs the Collaborative Design and Master of Arts in Design programs and teaches furniture design in the Product Design program. “From our roots as the design talent pipeline that helped make Grand Rapids Furniture City, USA to our widespread influence across the global industry that is furniture design today, we have always been a school that teaches students not only to make, but to innovate and lead as well.”

Alumna Annina Fremgen, lead designer for Caracole Home, was the evening’s biggest winner with two solo awards and one team award to her credit.

Fremgen, who graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Furniture Design, took top honors in the Bedroom–Luxury category for the Caracole Classic Bedroom collection and repeated the feat in the Dinning-Luxury category with the Caracole Classic Formal Dinning collection.

Fremgen was also part of the Caracole team including fellow KCAD alumni Christopher Sandomenico, who graduated in 2001 with director of product development for Caracole, and Thor Tabor, a 2008 grad who is an independent designer, that won the coveted Major Collections award for the Caracole Modern Principles Whole Home collection. Both earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Furniture Design.

Doug Rozenboom, a 1994 graduate is president of A.R.T. Furniture / Jonathan Charles Fine Furniture. He was part of the A.R.T. team that won the Home Office category with the A.R.T. Furniture Portico Home Office collection. Rozenboom has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Furniture Design.

Doug Kreiger, a 1992 graduate and vice president of merchandising and design at Sauder Woodworking, and independent designer Nicole Kujawa, a 2017 grad, were part of the Sauder team behind the Sauder Woodworking Coral Cape Coffee Table, winner in the Occasional Tables–Broad Appeal category. Both earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Furniture Design

Laura Niece, a 2003 graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Furniture Design, is a senior designer for Otto & Moore. She collaborated with company President Dudley Moore and independent designer Miranda Kerr on the Universal Furniture Miranda Kerr Home Luxury Occasional Tables, which won in the Occasional Tables-Luxury category.

Hayden Westers, who graduated in 2020, product design and development manager for Jonathan Charles Fine Furniture, was part of the team from the company that created the Jonathan Charles Water Pelagic Cast Metal Bar, winner in the Occasional Storage category.

KCAD alumni Scott Coley, a 1992 graduate; Joe Dunaske, a 2020 graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Collaborative Design, and Jake Hanson, who graduated this year with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Furniture Design, were among those nominated for Pinnacle Awards.

Coley is the owner of D. Scott Coley-Designs, while Dunaske, a furniture designer, and Hanson, a product engineer, are both part of the team at L & JG Stickley.

More information on the ISFD Pinnacle Awards can be found at isfd.org.