Showcase 2026 Student Spotlight: Roan Murphy
Student Spotlight featuring BA (Hons) Product Design student Roan Murphy and his project 'Toki - Entryway Bench'.
By Jon Duckworth | Published on 27 May 2026
Categories: Student Showcase; School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment;
The Project
Locally grown in the UK, Scots pine is a widely under-appreciated timber within the UK furniture industry, often overlooked for its natural imperfections and perceived value of softwood. Toki is made entirely from this single timber, with no reliance on permanent joinery, fixings or additional material. This project repositions “flawed” material qualities as a desirable feature, by utilising honest construction, bold design language and celebration of patina buildup to give each bench its own unique identity. Scots pine’s proneness to surface marks allows for gradual interaction to visibly age the product, deepening the connection between user and product through visual storytelling and memory.
Image by Roan Murphy.
The inspiration behind the project
The designer Roan Murphy says:
"Toki is inspired by an interest in honest material and how wear and damage left over time can communicate a visual story, from initial design stages through to product ownership. The UK’s wooden furniture market is constantly exposed to fluctuations of material availability and global prices with 80% of timber being imported into the country. Utilising UK-grown Scots pine not only allows for the creation of narrative-driven furniture but also presents British designers and makers with the opportunity to help reduce global timber import rates by relying more on local, sustainable industry.
"Abundant and rich in character, Scots pine challenges the assumption that quality furniture must begin with hardwood."
The project experience
"Working with Scots pine has allowed me to explore how furniture can celebrate a living material as a key influence on design language, embracing variation, aging, and imperfection as integral design features which give each furniture piece its own identity. Although working with the material presents issues like movement, bowing and splitting, learning to accept these qualities, and work not just around them but with them, has deepened my understanding of timber and only added to my curiosity of honest, natural materials."
Image by Roan Murphy.
Being part of NTU
BA (Hons) Product Design student Roan says his time studying at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has been "unforgettable" and has allowed him to take the first steps turning a hobby into a lifelong career.
"Whilst design skills like CAD modelling, 3D visualisation and prototyping have significantly developed over the four years, soft skills acquired from presentations, collaborative work, and working in industry during my placement year have seriously reinforced my passion for design and confidence as a designer."
He continues:
"With every project I have completed at NTU, the moment I remember most is that point in the project when the final design finally clicks. Seeing the entire process through from research and ideation to manufacturing as the lead designer is a feeling that rewards you with every single project you complete at NTU."
Closing remarks
Roan offers the following advice to future students of Product Design:
"Don’t be afraid of things going wrong. Failure is growth, and without risk-taking you aren’t letting yourself fully discover who you are as a designer. The course rewards curiosity and passion, so stay open to feedback and allow your ideas to be guided by things you discover along the way, as there is no better time than studying the course to question your design choices, make mistakes and figure out what kind of designer you want to become."
Study Product Design at NTU
Find out more about our range of Product Design courses at NTU.
Visit our Student Showcase
Our Student Showcase is open to the public from 30 May until 5 June 2026 and available to view online. Take a look at the work of our talented architecture and product design students.