Designer Chair WIP

[roppin]

I think it´s nice. I like the second one. I won´t let my children play around it

-I lost my fingers playing whith a chair as a child

[s0real]

hey, i like the design concept.

perhaps it would be nice to have the back piece made from the cut-out and follow the exact same profile as the leg piece...that way you could laser cut the back piece from one piece of sheet, and do the bending for the back and the leg sections at the same time... just a thought!

also, you'd need to put some sort of feet onto it ideally (can be really small pads set in from the edge or something...) to stop it hight pointing on the underside of the base plate.

trust me, i'm a furniture designer!

[geoff]

Thanks for the tips soreal. Kind of got a bit lost in your explanation. Will add some kind off feet. What furniture have you designed?
Little update. tweaked the geometry of the legs again, and added a fillet.

Looks a bit more sturdy. Hey you could almost sit on it now!


Geoff

[Da_elf]

those supports definately add a bit of realism due to their practical nature

[s0real]

@geoff
sorry about the explanation, got a bit carried away, think it's probably best to just leave you to it!

i trained as a furniture designer at uni (loughborough) and graduated in 2000. since then i've mostly been working as a visualiser for an exhibit design company...not time for much furniture design unfortunately, although it's something i intend to get back into in the future.

here's something i've been working on recently though, a side table.
hopefully going to build a working prototype before christmas.





are you designing furniture for production or just for fun?

your chair kind of reminds me of this rietveld design classic - http://www.artificial.de/images/GAL/...ld/zigzag.jpeg

i've seen the DNA stair stuff - very impressive!


cheers.

[elektrosport]

It also reminded me of the Rietveld chair cross-bred with Arne Jakobsen's Oxford chair..

I think your structural additions on legs and armrests are weakening the design. It seemed what you wanted to do was to make a simple chair optimised to the material of choice's capabilities. These newly added elements contradict this statement and make it look unnessesarily heavy.

The armrests also appear a bit unproportioned, too wide, again taking away elegance from your simple design.

In my first year at school I started sketching a bit on a chair which resembles yours, only I pretty much did what s0real suggested and made it all from one piece, which would also add to it's strutural capabilities. My material was plywood though

(it would be, me being from Scandinavia and all, where plywood seems the inevitable destiny)

What I'm saying is you may want to explore the strutural and plastic properties of metal. It may not be the way to go but then atleast you've been there..

For reference try studying how Jakobsen refined Eames' plywood chairs into shell classics The Ant and 7, and Verner Panton did his Panton Chair out of "one sheet" of plastic.

I like (what I think are) your intentions with the design, but it seems the demand for making it look realistic (the fins) is leading you in a wrong direction during the design process?

Ok, I'll stop rambling now and leave you to the decision whether this post should be considered qualified jibberish or just plain jibberish.


cheers,
Karsten

[geoff]

There are quite a few reasons for me designing a chair.
1. I've trying to design a chair for a couple of months for a competition
http://www.design-engine.com/
Don't know if I'm going to enter yet. Obviously the render needs work!

2. To see if I could design something other than a stair!

3. I was going for an interview at a furniture company. They kind of offered me a job and despite several phone calls, still haven't had an interview!

4. Keeps me busy!

I wanted to see what other people think of the design, before deciding to produce a prototype. Not sure have to about getting the leather cushions made though. The steelwork I can get made fairly easily.
It seems that people here like it. It's on CG Talk WIP section too but haven't recieved many comments. Do you think its worth persuing?

that rietveld design classic doesn't look comfy! But does look reminicent of my design. The trip trap baby seat is a kind of backwards wooden version of my design to.

Your design looks good. Very 50's in styling. Are you aiming for production ?

Geoff

[s0real]

@geoff - i think it's definately worth persuing! do you have any access to workshop facilities so that you can make mock-ups of designs? i think it's invaluable with seating in particular to test out the ergonomics etc before spending too much money on prototyping and finding out the angles are all wrong etc! (not saying that yours are of course..!)

my design is kind of inspired by 50's and also camping tables / innovation / use of new materials, while also a desire to create somthing timeless + elegant... as for production, i'll keep you posted...

anyway, don't want to hijack your thread!!!

good luck on the competition + job interview.

[tricky]

IMHO I think you have lost something with the fillet. The design has lost its elegance.

What would it look like if the fillet elements were much shorter and just where they needed to be?

[oconv]

@geoff: take those rips out. it's much to stiff now.
these kind of chairs need to swing. it's stable enough. keep it simlpe.
with your thickness of the steel plates, it's even not garanteed that it swings.
nice design btw, reminds me on the chairs of alvar aalto.

-oconv

[RErender]

Looking good geoff, the leather turned out cool. The balance from the side looks good now, stable enough. I agree loose the fillets, seemed the steel would hold it's shape before. I don't think the fillets look bad but give the chair a utilitarian look, like an airport chair or something.

[geoff]

My gut feeling is that it doesn't need the fillets/fins whatever. I added them I suppose because people thought that it might tip when you sit on it. I think I've now moved the arms far enough back to counteract that.

Oconv, tricky and elektrosport I personnally didn't think the fillets were that bad. I think I had my draughtsman hat on last night! Making them smaller kind of looks like an afterthought, which they are I suppose!

Designer hat is back on!

oconv you are right about the chair needing to swing. One of the things I wanted to do is the chair to react when to sit on. Hopefully not in a bad way of course, but flex a bit to adapt your sitting posture. (sounds like I know what I'm talking about!)

I think the way to go forward on this as a concept is to actually make one and see how it reacts when you sit on it.

I'll rerender the chair tonight without the fillets and think about a simple scene for it to live in. I might enter the competition, still undecided.

@ s0real hijack the thread, I wont give in to your demands though!
good luck with the table and keep us posted.

Anyone got any thoughts for a name for it?
Folded chair or Zed chair where about were I got to.

Geoff

[s0real]

how about "Zray" ?

[Da_elf]

not sure how strong polywood is compaired to plywood (which isnt strong at all) but if you can carve that chair out of purpleheart which we use alot down here then it would be strong hehe. ive destroyed drill bits trying to drill holes in purpleheart after its dried (not fun)
a nice little quote from http://www.exotichardwoods-southamer...urpleheart.htm "Working the wood with dull cutting tools" (thats an understatement hehe you cant even put a nail in it once its dried)

[Clifton Santiago]

Maybe this has been mentioned... forego the padding and just poke some holes in the plate