Geoffrey D. Harcourt (1935) trained at the Royal College of Art in London. In 1962, he designed his first series of small office fauteuils for Artifort. His designs introduced Artifort to the international market for contract design. In the beginning, Harcourt designed mostly seats for reception areas. His first design for Artifort, the 042 series in 1963, was an immediate international success. His philosophy is that the chair should focus on the person and not the other way around. “First the person, then the chair.” Harcourt has won many prizes and in 1978 was awarded the title of "Royal Designer for Industry".