Branding

Template

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Intructions to build the chair

Prototyping

Return to form after a nasty illness...

Another mock-up to check the dimensions of the locking seat made at 3/4 size. This allowed for a final sketch of the design before the first trial in Xenita, and finalized the measurements. This model differs from the last in that the base is asymmetrical, improving the strength by butting two edges against each other.


Decided to make the handle triangular to reflect the geometry of the chair.
The Xenita trial will need to be cut by hand as it is too large for the laser-cutter.

Design development using scale models

The design has been worked out and is ready to test using Xenita this week.

Three concepts for a cardboard chair

Events and Environment Research

Design:Made:Trade
Melbourne

Design Made Trade (pictured above) is one of 4 programs of State of Design, the face of the Victorian Government's Design Victoria Strategy. The next event will be held from 15-18 July, 2010.
The event is a showcase of local design. Designers of all disciplines can register to exhibit within the Exhibition Building (Carlton Gardens, Vic).
State of Design aims to promote innovation, sustainability, and increase the awareness of business and community of the value of design.
The 2009 festival had over 75 events and more than 100,000 people attended (source www.stateofdesign.com/designmadetrade).

As part of the Festival program, a series of Industry talks are held in various locations in Melbourne.


This image is from the After Dark event, where an invited audience gather to listen to key note addresses, network and discuss design issues. The image shows the interesting design by March Studio. However it is clear from the body language of the audience members that they are not comfortable on their stools.

I have therefore decided to design seating which will be light, portable, and easy to use in various venues throughout the festival, which is comfortable for the duration of a presentation (about 1 hour).

The design must consider space constraints and aim to fit the maximum number of people into a venue while providing safe circulation space.

The design should allow for somewhere to put drinks and belongings, either incorporated into the design, or to work with other elements such as a table or bench.

The design must suit the festival's promotion of innovation and sustainability, and be accessible and user friendly, enhancing appreciation of good design by the users.

Esquisse 4

We decided to use triangulation because of the inherent strength. Many sketches were made to explore ideas about how the triangles might best fit together. We developed an interest in a spiral shape and followed this track to develop our design.
Many miniature models were made to test locking systems and work out how to hold the triangles together. Eventually we found a method of locking each piece to it's opposite. We calculated where to place the slots by trial and error. The underside of the triangles are held together by one long piece of card which slots into all the bits.
The resulting stool is sturdy and has a simple form. The spiral pattern created by the locks on the top becomes a motif of the design.
The size of the stool was determined by the card that we were able to find, with a maximum height and width of 50cm. Ideally the stool would be slightly larger.

Esquisee 3 - Locking systems

After sketching out a few ideas, I decided to go with the simple and practical slotting lock, which can create great strength with a minimum of materials. A small scale model quickly demonstrated that the challenge with this design would be at the edges of the card pieces, where there is a tendency for the material to bend.
I decided to try varying the sizes of the card pieces to create a rounder shape in plan view thus reducing the produding parts, and sketched out each piece to be sure that the measurements were correct and that there was sufficient material allowed to achieve the design. This led me to the next step - rounding the corners of the pieces, which reduced the likelihood of them being bent and weakening the carrying potential of the object. It also resulted in a more elegant shape.

Esquisse 2

It took a few goes to make a working model in paper of the pyrimid. The third attempt worked perfectly, and it was only after cutting it out of card that I realized there was 10mm thickness of card on the base that I had not accounted for. I completed the trial regardless, in order to test the locking system.
I re-measured another working model in paper, also adapting the locking system which had been too complicated on the first model. This attempt was much faster to cut out, I think due to practice improving my technique.

Esquisse 1

It took several attempts to master the v-fold corner. Every trial produced a different result due to the characteristics of the material, in particular the grain of the honeycomb. The L-shaped corner was a lot more straightforward, and the bend corner allowed greater flexibility once it was held in place with the fastener.
I used multiple tabs to create the join, which allowed the outer shell of the cardboard to remain intact and screen the join. The tabs hold the cardboard in place securely, however they may not prove durable over the long term as they are quite small and therefore look quite easy to break or crush.

Esquisse1