Made.com 's TalentLAB Makes You The Boss Of Its Next Collection

published 14 May 2018

Ever had a very specific piece of furniture or lighting in mind for your home, only to struggle to find it anywhere?

Made.com feel your pain. The online retailer has justlaunched its second phase of TalentLAB; a crowdsourcing platform that helps bring new designs to life and lets the customers (i.e. you) decide which products are sold on its website.

For the first time, customers will have a say in exactly what goes into production, through supporting new, emerging design talent.

Simply vote for the products you love most by pledging a refundable deposit of between £5 and £30. When a product reaches the funding it needs for production, the manufacturing process can begin – so only the most popular times will becreated and listed on the Made.com website.

In return for pledging, backers receive privileged pricing of up to 30% off the final retail price, and the opportunity to own the design before it’s official launch on the Made.com site.

And it's not just for designers, either, asanyone can submit their design ideas to TalentLAB. Once submitted, Made.com’s design team shortlist the best of the bunch, and the end result is made and put on the website.

This meanscompletely fresh designs, from simple accessories to large furniture pieces, plus a stress-free way for designers to realise their potential as designers would otherwise face prototyping, pitching, costs, risks, uncertainty and marketing, which can be a daunting prospect.

In other words? Win-win. Now designers get to have their products made and marketed without the hassle, while the rest of us get to have a say in what products we most want to see in our homes.

The initiative started in 2017, when Made.com first askedyoung and emerging designers to submit projects that they would like to see realised. The company now planto use the TalentLab crowdsourcing platform to launch as many as 200 up-and-coming designers each year.

So far, Made.comhas selected products from 17 designers for its launch collection.

The products now live for pledging includea tree-like coat stand, a medallion shaped wall mirror, ladder style shelving and a trolley storage system.

Maybe you can finally see that idea of yours become a reality?

Lotte is the Digital Editor for Livingetc, and has been with the website since its launch. She has a background in online journalism and writing for SEO, with previous editor roles at Good Living, Good Housekeeping, Country & Townhouse, and BBC Good Food among others, as well as her own successful interiors blog. When she's not busy writing or tracking analytics, she's doing up houses, two of which have features in interior design magazines. She's just finished doing up her house in Wimbledon, and is eyeing up Bath for her next project.