Michael Iannone designs and builds eco-friendly furniture

It wasn't until midway through his senior year at Rowan University that Michael Iannone discovered woodworking. "I immediately had success with it," he says, whereas illustration, which he had studied for three years, had always been a struggle. Soon after graduating in 2000 he founded Iannone Design, known for furniture that mixes sustainable materials with uncluttered, midcentury lines and bold, nature-inspired graphics.

The firm wasn't founded on sustainability, but after a few years of watching his eco-friendly pieces attract more attention and sales, Iannone decided to fold it into his mission. "A lot of the materials, like kirei [pressed boards made from stalks of sorghum, a by-product of rice farming] and bamboo plywood, are really beautiful," says Iannone. "That was a big factor, too."

The Rowan grad gained national attention when he introduced the Dandelion Console in 2006. Its decoration - a cutout in white laminate that depicts dandelion heads in negative - highlights his unusual use of materials. The striated texture of the kirei board peeking out from beneath the cutout is as frenetic as the bee that appears to have just landed on one of the dandelions. All of that organic action is anchored by the smooth, man-made laminate and the cabinet's quiet silhouette.

In a real-life made-for-reality-TV scenario, Iannone came up with the dandelion and the bee only a week and a half before he was meant to debut the piece at the annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York. He knew he wanted to add a graphic, but nothing was flowing. He was so ready for lightning to strike that he sketched the motif in two hours once it came to him. The piece won rave reviews from Metropolitan Home, the New York Times, and Domino magazine - and Iannone was on the map.

Some of the designer's pieces start with the desire to use a specific material. Right now he's pondering how to make a side table and maybe a vessel from some massive blocks of cork. "I've always wanted to build 100 percent cork furniture," he says.

Other pieces, such as his Shaker series, originate with a design. He makes the Shaken Dresser using either reclaimed chestnut or reclaimed snow-fence boards from Wyoming that have been weathered to a rugged silver.