Historic projects and entrepreneurial spirit drive designer’s success
Grace Jeffers is an esteemed design historian who focuses exclusively on materials. A graduate of the Bard Graduate Center, Jeffers considers the “big picture” of design. Her approach blends material science with social history, art history and design practice. She teaches people how to think differently about design.
Jeffers has become an innovative designer of patterns for paper, flooring, laminate and a range of other decorative surfacing materials, working for over 10 different major manufacturers, including NASA, Burberry and Airstream. Since 2014 she has presented “Manmade Natural” – her AIA, ASID and IIDEC approved lecture – about the authenticity of materials across the U.S.
Jeffers’ led the restoration of the Ralph and Sunny Wilson House in Temple, TX, for which she received the Merit Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She is also the creative force for The Wilsonart Challenges Chair Competition. Now in its 16th year, the competition works with a design college to create and make a short list of winning chairs that are exhibited at ICFF each May in New York.
A passionate writer on materials, Jeffers has served as a contributor and design editor to magazines such as Interior Design and Surface for over 17 years, and has written over 400 articles about design, materials and design history. Whether teaching, lecturing, designing or writing, Jeffers questions preconceptions about design and gives her audience a new framework with which to consider the material world.
