Intent is the first material.

Adam Bezzina explains:
Before a board is selected or a sketch is drawn, there is a decision — a deliberate moment where the maker asks: why does this piece need to exist, and what should it do for the person it lives with? That decision is intent. And it is the most important material in any piece we build. Every piece of furniture is made of something tangible — walnut, steel, brass. But these are secondary. Something invisible has already shaped the outcome before any of them are chosen: the clarity of purpose behind the work. A dining table is not simply a flat surface on four legs. It is where a family gathers for the next thirty years. When we build with that understanding, every decision changes — the joinery, the finish, the proportion. Intent does not just influence the design. It becomes the design. This is what separates craft from production. A factory optimizes for speed and cost. It cannot optimize for meaning. Only a maker who understands why something is being built can embed that understanding into how it is built. Begin with intent. Everything else follows. — Acht Studio.