Samuel Wilkinson graduated in furniture and related product design at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communications in 2002. While at Ravensbourne, Wilkinson won several design awards, including the respected RSA Design Award. He went straight into employment, working for leading consultancies such as Tangerine, Fitch:London and PearsonLloyd. During those years, he worked on projects for leading clients such as British Airways, Audi, LG, Samsung and Virgin Airways.

At the end of 2007, Wilkinson established his own studio. His recent design of the Plumen light bulb and the hand blown glass lamps Vessel Series, have won him international acclaim. Plumen collected the grand prize from the Design Museum of "Design of the Year" in the prestigious Britt Insurance Design Awards and Vessel was nominated for Best British Design.