Industrial designer — Melbourne
James Layton
I design at a systems level and resolve to a manufacturable level of detail, then take the work to the machine myself.
Making
Built by hand, to tolerance
Before the studio work came the workshop: four years of lutherie, from a production line at Maton Guitars to an apprenticeship under a master luthier. These instruments are why the drawings above can be trusted. Every one designed, machined, joined and finished by me.
About
From the bench to the system
I came to industrial design through four years of making musical instruments, work where a tenth of a millimetre is the difference between an instrument and firewood.
This grounding shapes how I design. I'm most useful where a concept has to survive contact with manufacturing: resolving a form into processes, tolerances, jigs and a bill of materials, and knowing from the bench which details will fight back. I work fluently across Adobe and Fusion 360, and just as fluently across the CNC router, the lathe and the spray booth.
I'm currently completing a Bachelor of Industrial Design (Honours) at RMIT, alongside an industry internship developing a workstation system of my own design towards commercial production, and an ongoing apprenticeship with a master luthier. I take on freelance work in both worlds: product and furniture design, and commissioned instruments.
- Based
- Melbourne, Australia
- Education
- B. Industrial Design (Hons), RMIT — current
- Trade
- Cert IV Musical Instrument Making & Repair + Cert II Mechanical Engineering
- Experience
- Maton Guitars 2021–23 · Lutherie apprenticeship 2023– · Industry internship 2026–
- CAD
- SolidWorks, Fusion 360, Illustrator, Photoshop
- Workshop
- CNC routing, Shaper Origin, 3D printing, lathes, fine joinery, finishing
- Available for
- Design roles · freelance design · instrument commissions