Daily Inspiration: Meet Erika Cross

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erika Cross. 

Hi Erika, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have loved designing and making things for as long as I can remember. I was that 8-year-old girl who helped my mother with the demolition and remodeling of our house and watched the incredible transformation of that space. I was that third grader who wanted to be an interior designer. I was that teenager who figured out how to take all the design classes at my school and at the local community college. I had so many credits when I graduated high school that I started college as a sophomore. And I had finished enough prerequisites for two different programs that I was able to get two degrees at the same time from two different universities! Art and Design at the University of Michigan and Interior Design at Eastern Michigan University. After this, I went to the Royal College of Art in London for my master’s degree. While I was at RCA, I founded Erika Cross Studio, a multidisciplinary design practice. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of the challenges for me has been balancing different types of work. As an independent designer, my ultimate goal is to develop my own personal work: beautiful objects, collectible furniture, distinctive artworks, coherent collections, and a brand identity. Besides my personal work, I have also been doing freelance and client work. This provides some valuable and essential types of fulfillment, but it is a distraction as well as a necessity. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I founded my business, Erika Cross Studio, while I was at the Royal College of Art. I have designed and built custom pieces of furniture and art for private clients, licensed furniture designs to established manufacturers, and designed decorative objects for mass retail. Most recently, I designed and launched my first furniture collection — Elements — which was released at ICFF / WantedDesign 2022. This collection, and some of its individual pieces, received several international awards: Step table was Best in Show at NYCxDESIGN 2021; the Elements collection won best of furniture design for Launch Pad 2022 (the emerging designer platform in WantedDesign Manhattan); and Anvil won best console table at ISFD Innovation+Design 2022 (International Society of Furniture Designers). 

My work has a distinctive design aesthetic, with simple geometries and interacting parts. And my approach is very hands-on. I feel at home in the workshop. I am a skilled maker and an intuitive problem solver. I enjoy figuring out how to make things, especially when others can’t quite engineer the right processes and solve the necessary fabrication problems. 

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I have had the good fortune to find other designers and makers who are experts in their fields and who are also invested in my work and in my success. I think of these experts as peers and colleagues, as well as mentors and guides. I find myself engaging with specific people on specific projects. And sometimes, I am the expert in the situation. These relationships are dynamic and fluid, not fixed. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.erikacross.com
• Instagram: @erika.cross.studio