CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

Initially I planned to address the lack of adequate seating for people visiting the 100% Design show in Tokyo by providing some form of back-rest/ seating to assist people sitting on the grass. However after doing some further research I came to the conclusion that there was a general lack of seating throughout the entire exhibition. I also noticed that almost everyone was carrying a 100% show bag this gave me the idea of providing some form of chair that people could carry around with them like they do the show bags. For this to be effective the design must not only be:

· S-Seat one person (150kg)

· E-Easy to assemble

· H- Have an economical use of material

· B- Brand ready

· E-Easy to recycle

It must be:

· P- Portable

· Li- Light weight

· F-Fold and unfold easily

As an additional feature I attempted to make a couple of my designs double as a bag in an attempt to reduce the amount of stuff people needed to carry.

Concept 01: Multifunctional stool.

As the first concept I came up with it is fairly simple. The idea was to create a piece of furniture that depending on which was you positioned it could act as a stool or as a back rest. I think the concept is successful in that it uses minimal material, light weight and is easy to assemble. There are a few weaknesses however. The triangulation makes the stool side of the chair very strong and should easily hold a persons weight, the backrest side however does not have the same support and would struggle to hold up much weight. The locking system is also very simple and although it does the job is not terribly finished.

Concept 02: stool in a bag

This was based on the idea of having a bag that could be transformed into a stool. This was slightly more effective then the previous design. The only fault I notice is the two sides of the bag fall apart if you are not holding onto the handle. This is only a minor problem though and could be fixed quite simple with a couple of tabs or a different folding system.

Concept 03: folding stool 01

I like this design in that it transforms from a stool to a bag very effectively the only draw back being that you have to actually turn the bag over in order to use it as a seat which isn’t very practical. The design its self again relies on triangulation which makes it quite strong but also light weight. The overall finishes are a bit messy though and I would have to change the folding method it I were to continue on with this design.

Concept 04: Folding stool 02

This is perhaps the most nicely finished design. The chair folds and unfolds incredibly easily and is simple to assemble. It folds down flat and has a handle making it easy to transport or stack. The addition of the pocket at the front (although a little tacked on at this point) also means that brochures and other event merchandise can be stored easily without having to turn the stool over.

Exhibition Research

Esquisse Four: Understanding Form

Coming up with the design was fairly simple. We worked with the idea that it should be made from as little individual pieces as possible and tried to incorporate ideas from our previous esquisse. I think we were successful in that we managed to construct the frame of the chair out of one solid piece of cardboard and the structure out of only 4. We also had very little waste left over from our piece of cardboard so we judged the amount of material fairly well. I think we were unsuccessful in that there were a few mistakes

with cuts being put in the wrong place etc. (lesson learnt don’t try and do this sort of thing when you’re tired or in a rush you just end up going backwards) and that the overall design was not terribly attractive. The base held my weight fairly easily but the backrest was a bit flimsy and ended up ripping before we got a chance to try it out.

Esquisse Three: Locking Systems

I really enjoyed this week’s esquisse. It was a challenge creating something that would hold so much weight out of so little material, but as you can see it holds my brothers weight (60kg) fairly easily so hopefully it will be able to handle the whole 100kg in class next week. The one thing I would change is the flimsy locking system that holds the sides together. I gave it some thought and I think the best bet would be to create some form of hook that prevented the locking system pulling apart again.

Esquisse Two: Understanding Form

This project challenged me a little time wise as I am quite slow at cutting which meant that I did not finish the project in the designated class time. It also took me quite a few attempts to get it right once I took it home but I did find that by doing this I saw an improvement in the speed and neatness on my cuts. Saying this there are still a few uneven cuts on my latest model that could be improved.

I enjoy the challenge of working out the joining system as it offered a point of difference to the project. I tried two other joins but found this was most successful not only in holding the pyramid together but also in giving an even finish to the exterior. One problem I did find with this type of join is that it relies of the snugness of the joins to be effective. Opening and closing the pyramid just a few times resulted in a reduction to the tightness of each join and reduced the effectiveness of the hold resulting in a not so perfect pyramid.

Esquisse One: Understanding Material

I disliked cutting the 45 degree cuts immensely and it took me a several attempts to get something that looked even remotely acceptable. I did see a mild improvement towards the end of the class but I think much practice is needed. Saying this I did enjoy the class and had no problem with the other cutting types, the material was also very easy to work with.

Be4U- Furniture Design History Project.

Shiro Kuramata & Ross Lovegrove

Robin Day and Eero Aarnio

Eileen Grey & Michael Thonet

NGV Visit