Victoria Dawson Joins Tropitone As Product Designer

Furniture World Magazine

Tropitone Furniture Co., a leading manufacturer of fine casual furniture, has named Victoria Dawson to serve as product designer. According to Peter Homestead, vice president of design at Tropitone, Ms. Dawson has a combination of skills and experience uniquely suited to her new role, particularly in the area of creativity and product development. “Victoria brings with her an enthusiasm for casual outdoors products, a knowledge of the industry, a talent for designing, and a creative approach that is responsive to the practical needs of today’s outdoor lifestyle,” Homestead said. Her new responsibilities include product design as well as process improvements aimed at shortening ‘time-to-market,’ he said. Ms. Dawson will also ensure that modifications to exiting products include functionality upgrades and customer driven design preferences. Most recently, Ms. Dawson was a product design engineer at Minson Corporation in Montebello, California. At Minson, she designed and engineered furniture for two separate manufacturing companies – Mallin Casual Furniture and Pastel Furniture -- which included working with aluminum bending techniques and various welding applications. She also designed seating and cushions as well as managed quality control issues. Prior to her responsibilities at Minson, Ms. Dawson was a design assistant for Hallmark Lighting in Chatsworth, California, where her responsibilities included designing portable lamp fixtures, scheduling production of prototypes, drafting blueprints and overseeing the advertising department. Ms. Dawson began her design career as an art director in a national TV studio in Los Angeles and was responsible for set development and design of several daytime television shows. She earned an associate of arts degree in interior design from Brooks College in Long Beach, California. Commenting on her new role, Ms. Dawson said, “I am excited to join Tropitone and be a part of a company with a 50-year tradition of industry leading designs – designs that have always responded to customers’ needs in a creative yet practical way. I look forward to building on this tradition as Tropitone undertakes an aggressive new product development program,” she said. Founded in 1954, Tropitone is based in Irvine, California, and is recognized throughout the casual furniture marketplace for its design leadership as well as its commitment to service and value. The company sells its products to retailers, designers and the hospitality trade under the Tropitone and Basta Sole trademarks. In addition to its headquarters and manufacturing plant in Irvine, the company operates a manufacturing facility in Sarasota, Florida. For more information about the company, visit www.tropitone.com.