David Mellor CBE, RDI

David Mellor CBE the Royal Designer for Industry. He  is also  known not only for his skills as a craftsman and designer but as an entrepreneur too. He has been involved in all the stages of production.

 

From the  designs being made  through to the results going on sale. He has made it his duty to bring a huge positive influence to the world of design and manufacturing.

 

 

Mellor trained as a silversmith at Sheffield College of Art and at the Royal College of Art. After leaving the Royal College of Art he started his own Sheffield silversmithing workshop and studio. He then became a design consultant of Walker & Hall who made some of his first designs.

 

Amongst these designs was his noted ‘Pride’ range of cutlery, which took its cues from 18^th century cutlery. He went on to design a number of cutlery ranges, receiving multiple awards.

 

 

Mellor is heavily influenced by the metal industry, which is synonymous with his hometown of Sheffield. During his early career he made a series of specially commissioned pieces such as table cutlery and other silver products for British embassies. He is now known for lending his name to the commercial operation he is synonymous with. Also with a number of his famous ranges being made in his own Derbyshire factory.

 

Mellor became a Royal Designer for industry in 1962 and he was commissioned in 1965 to produce the ‘Thrift’ range of cutlery. A minimalist affair that was built with strict budgets in mind, using by various government organisations.  The studio-workshop that Mellor used in Sheffield in the 1960s is a listed building.

 

His own manufacturing business was established in the mid-1970s, using the latest high-tech methods and technologies. This was  before his own purpose-built Round Building factory was built in 1988 in the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire. Mellor is not simply known for cutlery however, and other industrial work that he was commissioned to produce in the 1960s.

 

This included bus shelters, a square post box, and road signals, such as the national traffic light system. For years, he was commissioned by Goldsmith’s and various commercial businesses to design further varied work and many of his commissions are still in use.

 

 

He opened his first shop in London’s Sloane Square in London, with many more coming to prominence during subsequent years. These shops went on to be renowned globally, and are cited as helping to shift public attitudes towards retail. In his building work as well as his other projects, Mellor has always demanded exceptional working conditions, and his buildings are widely seen as unique, idiosyncratic and dynamic.

One example of this is his restoration work on Sheffield’s Broom Hall. There was a number of cutlery workshops were incorporated into. This was recognised with an Architectural Heritage Year Award. The Round Building, situated in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and worked on with the architect Michael Hopkins has also been met with a series of accolades.

 

Hopkins also worked on the David Mellor Design Museum in Hathersage. This houses a wealth of the craftsman’s work, including everything from cutlery to his traffic lights and various other key commissions. The Design Museum was opened in 2006, the year after Mellor retired, leaving his son Corin Mellor in charge of the company in the position of Creative Director.