David Trubridge graduated from Newcastle University in Northern England in 1972 with a degree in Naval Architecture (boat design). After working for several years in the United Kingdom, in 1981 Trubridge sold everything, bought a yacht, and set out to sail around the world with his wife and two sons. They arrived in New Zealand in late 1985, settled down, and David started making furniture that was influenced by his Pacific travels.

Trubridge's design reputation as a creator of innovative and beautiful lighting has developed from his strong practical base of many years of making furniture. He has built this reputation on acclaimed showings at the Milan Furniture Fair over the last ten years. His designs are also exhibited and sold in all the major design shows, such as the ICFF in New York and 100% Design in London and Tokyo. In 2008, after a show of lighting at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the French magazine L'Express named him as one of the top 15 designers in the world. His inspiration comes from a passionate love of wild landscape, and he has travelled to many of the planet's most remote places, including Antarctica.

The timber used in Trubridge's designs is sourced from sustainably managed plantations and his pieces are designed to use the minimum material for the maximum effect. The oil finishes are organic, non-toxic, natural oils with no harmful solvents. Wood is left natural where possible, and where plastic is employed it can be separated out and recycled. All Trubridge's pieces are made in New Zealand and several designs are packed flat for easy, low-energy shipping.