Rift Desks and Workstations

David Allan Pesso

“I truly believe that in our ever-shrinking, multi-tasking, media-intensive global economy, good design is the lubricant that keeps the machinery running and the market engaged with your brand.”

To be a successful industrial designer in the 21st century, an idea is simply not enough. A designer must take that idea and enhance it with an intuitive understanding of the end-user, the marketplace, modern manufacturing and the potential of materials and processes. David Allan Pesso, founder and managing principal of New Studio, LLC, is a consummate designer with impeccable taste, business acumen and a brilliant technical sense. His award-winning products have been setting standards in the contract furnishings industry for 20 years, working with premier brands as varied as Brayton International, DARRAN, Geiger International, Herman Miller, Kimball Office, KI, Nemschoff and Tuohy.

Pesso originally founded New Studio in 1989 as a boutique industrial design consulting firm specializing in product design & development, architectural millwork, exhibit design and brand development. His primary focus is on providing original content for the contract furniture industry. He is committed to cultivating long-term strategic collaborations with manufacturing partners in order to deliver best-in-class product solutions for the end-user, specifier and manufacturer. The specialization in this niche market gives Pesso the insight to objectively evaluate product lines within market segments, identify opportunities and create effective product solutions targeted at specific markets and end users.

The creative vision New Studio offers its clients is based on 25 years of education, experience and passion. Each product development initiative starts with a strategic focus on the client’s brand objectives, market position, competitive landscape and product line compatibility. Pesso’s background, both academic and professional, has prepared him for the often formidable tollgates erected by manufacturing, focus groups, cost margins and product life management. The mark of a truly exceptional designer is one with a clear and constant vision that not only creates original, desirable content but who can navigate and transcend the rigors of mass production. As Pesso sees it, “Good design is immediately recognizable and pertinent to the end user…it communicates on a subliminal level.”

Pesso’s work has garnered recognition and praise from all corners of the design world. He holds licenses for more than 300+ furniture designs, and has been awarded 18 design patents. He has been the subject of numerous feature articles in various trade magazines including Interior Design and Contract Magazine. His designs have received industry awards, including IIDA, Design Journal ADEX, Best of NeoCon and the coveted Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design’s Good Design Award for the “Adagiato” Chair for Kimball Office.

Pesso has a degree in industrial design from Rochester Institute of Technology. Initially influenced by the work of Wendell Castle (known as the “originator of art furniture”), Pesso kicked-off his professional career with a college internship in the engineering department of a local contract furniture manufacturer, Hardwood House. As a designer at Vinick Associates, he focused on interior design, retail storefront design, architectural millwork and signage. He later served as a partner at Advent Studio, where he was able to concentrate on design and development for the contract furniture industry.