It’s the start of the new academic year and the school has a full complement of students from across the world – from the USA to India and, for the first time, a student from the Falkland Islands.

As with any course, the best place to start is at the beginning and, as always, the school is delighted to welcome the hugely talented Isa Dorster from France as our first international tutor.

Isa is here for the first weeks of the course to help students understand how to visualise their creative ideas and express them in 3D drawings.

Even in the modern age of CAD, having a good working knowledge of perspective and the drafting skills to translate design inspiration onto paper is an invaluable skill.

Isa, who has taught at the Lycée des métiers d’art Georges Guynemer near Montpellier for 17 years, also teaches students aspects of the story of design – because good design is always a process of evolution.

“The first weeks of the course are about teaching students the basics – to give them the tools and the skills to develop their ideas and to express them visually,” says Anselm Fraser, school principal.

“The Chippendale school is all about unlocking latent imagination and giving everyone the confidence to make great furniture, and having the skill to produce these drawings reflects the bespoke nature of fine furniture far better than any CAD drawing can,” he said.