Until Duluth-based Loll Designs was acquired by Landscape Forms of Michigan in 2020, the outdoor furniture maker ran like a small business, with its executives leading design decisions. It worked—Loll’s contemporary patio tables and Adirondack chairs made of recycled plastic are sold at Room & Board and other national retailers. But new leadership intends to take Loll to “the next level,” which starts with the appointment of the company’s first design director, Mac Plumstead. A St. Paul-based design consultant, he’d been working with Loll from the outside, but now commutes regularly to Duluth to “formalize the design process.” The pandemic has been a boon, with people spending more time at home and “expanding their living rooms into their backyards,” Plumstead says. In the next year, expect to see Loll introduce new sustainable materials and expand its collection.