ABOUT





Dan Cramer
I began making ideas while studying art and architecture in college. After reading books and writing papers for 15 years, I felt the world come alive. To think, to conceptualize, and then physically create sparked a curiosity that continues to motivate my daily life.

After completing my undergraduate degree, I spent six years learning craft skills — first as a carpenter and metalworker, then as a cabinetmaker and furniture maker. At age thirty, I entered the Design Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art, from which I received an MFA.

I’ve been an independent designer and maker for 45 years. My practice has specialized in designing and prototyping furniture for the contract furniture industry. Much of my work has been developing seating systems used in healthcare facilities and university settings.

My largest clients are The Gunlocke Company and KI Furniture. I have also designed and fabricated custom projects for clients of local architectural offices. I’m deeply involved in a design/fabricate cooperative that encourages the development of new ideas in design. The Fourth Street Guild is located in Minneapolis and is home to twelve design professionals of various ages. Our coop exists to keep the cost of studio space low to allow members an affordable workspace to experiment solving new design problems, to find a voice and mature in a space which offers them dignity.
I’m most pleased by my ability to provide opportunities and support to young designers still finding their way. Talking to them about the business of design, and encouraging them through times of angst is one of the most satisfying aspects of what I do.

A recent design project is in consideration of the smaller, more intimate loft spaces many of us now occupy. Tiny Tables and Not-so-Tiny Tables are elegant, modern solutions that are multi-functional and portable while creating a pleasing aesthetic in small spaces.

I have a passion for searching out products that people can’t find or identifying problems that people have, but don’t yet recognize. 

My job is to invent solutions.