About Katherine

As an independent product designer, Katherine DeSousa works in many areas of home furnishings, including linens, stationery, cosmetic packaging and furniture; but the primary focus of her work is tableware, giftware and housewares.  Working with a broad spectrum of international manufacturers and marketing companies, Katherine designs products aimed at both the U.S. market and world markets.  A noted crystal designer who has worked with the top international crystal companies, her designs have been produced by

            Steuben Glass, USA
            Cristalleries de Baccarat, France
            Val St. Lambert Crystal, Belgium
            Hoya Glass, Japan

Educated in studio ceramics, Katherine moved to product design with her first job at The Architects Collaborative, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she worked on a project designing porcelain dinnerware for Walter Gropius, who headed the Bauhaus. The Gropius TAC I Teapot has been produced by Rosenthal China for more than 30 years.

Katherine’s primary objective in her design work is creating designs uniquely suited to each specific client.  Rather than designing with a single individual style, she analyzes the company’s position in the marketplace, its manufacturing criteria, and synthesizes this information into a creative design approach.

Personal Statement

The foundation of my work is:  a craftman’s love of materials, a designer’s love of definition, and a concern with the emotional significance of the personal environment.