Furniture Design Three - Accent Chair

Accent Chair

You are tasked with designing an Accent Chair that coordinates with your Side Table from Project 1. While the degree to which the two designs “match” will vary, the goal is not to transform the table into a chair. The goal is to create two distinct pieces of furniture that speak similar design languages.

Phase 1 - Market/User Analysis

You will perform a market and user analysis for Accent Chairs in the same manner as for project 1 including detailing:

Context (including function)
Users
Formal Qualities
Precedents and Analogs
Materials and Processes
Environmental Impact
Strengths / Weaknesses
Opportunities (problems worth solving)

Phase 2 - Exploration and Development

Inspiration and Ideation

How do you leverage the design language of your side table to create a chair design that is distinct and innovative? What details will entice the viewer to investigate the piece? How can you use CMF to unify the two pieces? How can you diverge from the table design?

Fabrication Exploration

Are your design concepts feasible for your abilities and the capabilities of the shop? Can you fabricate the connections to a level that is flawless? If not, can you hide difficult connections? What materials and processes are the most appropriate? What alternatives exist? What is not working and how can you address it? Will practice resolve craft issues?

Simplification and Refinement

What is the essence of the design? What if anything is taking focus away from the essence of the design? Is the distraction essential to the success of the design? If so, how can you minimize its effects? What can be removed? What can be combined? How can you make it lighter both visually and physically while maintaining structural integrity?

Proof of Concept

What is the most difficult aspect of the design to fabricate? How many times does that process need to be repeated? What tolerance is necessary? Have you successfully created all connections at an appropriate level of craft? Are you ready to use final materials?

Phase 3 - Fabrication

Final Materials

Are materials, colors, and finishes decided? Have you ordered what you need in time to fabricate? Do you have enough material to cover for mistakes?

Fabrication Strategy

Have you “assembled” your piece digitally? What is the order of operations? What can be fabricated in parallel? What needs to be sequential? How much uninterrupted time do you need for each part? What machines are likely to be in use and is it a problem? Glueup time? Who is your “proofreading” partner?

Make the time to make it

Practice on scraps to get the bugs out and then get to fabricating. Plan for things to take three times as long as you think. Mistakes are inevitable. How can you recover? Remake or adjust? Remember to give yourself time for finishes.

Phase 4 - Documentation and Presentation

Design is both a process and a result. Therefore it is critical to communicate not only the design artifact (the thing) but also the series of decisions that led to it (the process).

Deliverables:

- Full Scale finished piece of furniture

- Dimensioned line drawings (top, front, side)

- Presentation quality rendering(s) of the proposed design that includes alternate colors, materials, and finishes

- Digital documentation of all research and ideation items including studio photos of the furniture, digital renderings, and a reflection essay. (11”x17” .pdf)

- Succinct digital presentation summarizing your design development including (1) project brief, (2) product analysis, (3) ideation, (4) refinement and (5) proposed design (11”x17” .pdf)

Download Phase 1 & 2 Rubric

Download Phase 3 Rubric

Download Phase 4 Rubric

Download Competition Instructions

Competition Entry Form

Student Examples