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Development of signal blocking furniture.

Posted on by Nicholas Jones PD

To follow my design process of my signal blocking furniture I decided to turn to CAD to develop my idea further.

In my last post I explained the intended form and how it will function. I wanted my design to feel like a new space, like a room within a room to accomplish this idea I needed to design a enclosed shape for the seating system. I began to play with curves and flowing forms. The design needed to be designed with a ceiling to give it the advantage for blocking signals but also enhances the acoustic values of the interior. The ceiling makes the seating system an enclosed space. Below are some renders of my first CAD model.

I really enjoy the form that has taken in this CAD model. The smart thing about the form being curved is the fact that it allow the users to face each other, but not directly at each other.

The legs are inspired by the legs on the classic Charles and Eames egg shell chair. I’ve intentionally flipped the legs upside down to explore new ways of designing legs. However I feel that they look odd, and out of place. I Intend to flip the back around to form tripod legs during the next stages of  development.

The one thing that I would change is the ceiling and the seat parts of the system. I really feel that they need to follow the same aesthetic of the middle section of the seat. it will be interesting to see what it looks like when its fully made from meshed steel.

 

A new direction.

Posted on by Nicholas Jones PD

I took a step back from my seating project so that I can take a fresh look at the projection of the project.

I decided that the intended form and design of the seating system wasn’t what I wanted. in all honesty because I didn’t like the way it was shaping up I began to lose sight of the project. so I took it back to square one. rethought the appearance.

I spent the rest of last week redesigning my signal blocking seating system. Was a risky move considering I’m so close to my deadline. However I feel like I’ve found a new direction in the project. The new design features a meshed wire exterior that provides a signal repelling property that encourages no phone use and more face to face social interaction. The use of meshed wire adds a certain aesthetical appeal that will intregue the user, but it also visually communicates the signal blocking function of the seating system. The inside of the enclosure includes vinyl sufaces that provide privacy for the users but also makes the interior highly acoustic. The acoustic value allows for a more intimate conversation between the user’s.  The frame of the interior/exterior will feature fixtures to allow seating to be attached to the integral structure. The idea is to make the whole meshed structure out of 5 gage building steel, this material has so many pros, for one it deflects signals both phone and EMI but it also means that the structure will need no frame to support it as its strong enough to support itself and any weight on it.

so I began to design the appearance. Below are my concept development sketches explaining the idea from concept to final design.

The structure can be made from one/two pieces of bent meshed steel sheets. The sheets will be made up of 5 gage steel rods. (architectural grade). this material provides immense integral strength but also looks aesthetically pleasing and industrial (which I love). The shape and form will look like a cocoon enclosure. the original idea was to have steel tubes on the inside which would house brackets for wire chairs to hang off. However I further developed the form from these drawings and what I came up with is far more superior and also a bit clever.

The steel sheets can be manipulated in many directions, which means I can produce complex but beautiful shapes. such as this Eames Sofa.

see how its been designed to be bent in multiple directions, that’s what my intent is with this seating system. I began to develop the idea further to fully visualise the form. in the sketches above you can see that the structure is curved inwards on its sides, top and bottom. to produce a enclosed space. the smart thing about the design is that it curves up at the bottom, this particular curve forms seating without the need to add seats, its all built into the same structure. The sides of the structure provide a backrest and the top curve provides a ceiling. all built in. this means that the structure can be made from one sheet of meshed steel. that saves a lot on the manufacture and assembly costs. the inside of the structure will be lined with thick fabric to provide that acoustic value. the legs will be made separately and attached to the structure during assembly. to fully explain the idea I’ve mocked up some models on CAD.

 

 

Development of the aesthetical appearance of the canopy and the structure of the frame.

Posted on by Nicholas Jones PD

After building multiple too scale prototypes I thought it was time to move on the aesthetical appearance of the seating system.

below is a visual story of the development process.

The development process began with a full geometric construction of triangles. However after a tutorial I found that the geometric form wouldn’t work with the frame. Which mean that if I wanted to accomplish that structure I would have to compromise the construction of the frame. Which I didn’t want to do, but I felt that the geometric form was aesthetically pleasing so I reconfigured the idea, instead of the whole canopy being geometric, just the sides would be. the form developed from there. as you can see from the above sketches the side panels began to lose material is some places, the idea behind having one of the triangles removed was to allow light to seep into the internal space of the seating system. and that was the form I wanted to have.

From the sketches I thought it was time to move away from sketches and prototypes and onto CAD development. Below are the CAD structures I produced using solid works.

These are the final design renders. CAD is such a good tool for designers to fully understand the visual appearance of their intended design. It allows me to explore different material and context choices without a lengthy and expensive prototyping.

From this I needed to understand how these would fit and look together. Below are rendered images from CAD models that communicate the way they will be placed in a social environment.

Anthropometrical prototyping. Comfort is key.

Posted on by Nicholas Jones PD

comfort is the major aspect of all seating furniture and mine is no different.

All through out this project I’ve been working in large scale prototypes. This allows me to explore and understand how we as humans have to sit to be as comfy as possible. To hit the nail on the head, as it were, I took measurements from the internet and cross referenced them with existing seating furnishings from around my university and Cardiff city centre (Bars, cafes, coffee shops and other social spaces such as the shopping centre). this gave me a great understanding of how we like to sit in different environments. the middle ground between them all is were my seating system need to be. To fully realise the size of my seating system I made a new prototype from my primary, secondary and ethnographic research. As well as exploring the size I also constructed it in the form I wanted.

Below is the prototype test rig.

the outcome of the prototype provided everything I needed to continue my design process. Off the back of this test rig I began to work in halve scale models to explore the possibilities of the canopy that will sit above the seating. the canopy provides multiple features, it blocks signal to discourage mobile phone use and to encourage more face to face interactions with other humans. the second feature it provides is that it turns the seating system into an enclosed space that allows the users to have privacy, thirdly it provides acoustic values which eliminates the need to shout over background noise which in turn allows the conversations between the users to be more intimate. fourthly it provides a safe haven from the technological world, a place to read a book or to think.

below is a halve scale model wit the canopy attached.

The advantage of making these prototypes is that it gives me a greater understanding of how to construct such structures and how it can be adapted to be more aesthetically pleasing. The post to follow this one will contain the development process of the shape of the canopy and the structure of the frame.

 

Concept development.

Posted on by Nicholas Jones PD

Before I began to develop the geometric forms I experimented with the idea of using corrugated aluminium to create a condensation collecting surface as illustrated above. I experimented with this particular material because of its ability to keep itself cool, its a naturally cold surface which means condensation will condense back in to a liquid state at a quicker rate than a naturally warm material.

I ditched this idea of corrugated aluminium surface after experimentation as I felt that its a crude looking material. so I began to experiment with other materials and styles.

so I began to explore the geometric forms. here are some initial sketches of the new style that also describe new ways of collecting condensation. I began to develop this style further but combining the geometric style with aluminium and glass surfaces (both naturally cold materials).

from 1 through to picture 4 describes the development of the shape, aesthetics and function of the product. it uses long glass and aluminium protrusions to reach out to collect condensation on their surfaces. the cool surfaces then are angled to allow the collected water to run off into a storage cavity underneath. the tooth brushes sit in a cylindrical protrusion in the centre of the storage cavity. the process works well but I was still unhappy with the aesthetic I was suggesting and my tutor agreed. so I began to develop the form more.

I discarded the geometric form and began to develop a clean cylindrical form using the same aluminium and glass protrusions. I much prefer the style now. it feels more bathroom friendly. once I had the shape I began the process of figuring out how I could attach the protrusions to the main body.

this is the solution. the protrusions are fixed to a injection moulded hinge which in turn is attached to a top cap which will sit on top of the storage cavity.

 

 

‘Are you sitting comfortably?’ Field project

Posted on by Nicholas Jones PD

I’ve started a new project called ‘Are you sitting comfortably?’ This project is based around furniture design and to be more specific chair design. I’m so excited for this project because I’ve been waiting for a furniture project to happen for a long time.
I’ve been given a brief to work from. But along side the brief I’ve been given an lecturer in my university to use as my target audience, the chair must be unique to that particular person.
I’ve conducted some primary research in to my consumer, using a simple questionnaire, asking basic and more in depth questions to get a general idea of what type of design will suit them perfectly. Once the chair is made we will be exhibiting it in the art and design school heart space. where they will be kept for a year, for anybody to sit on and enjoy.

Light Depending Resistor/ Arduino.

Posted on by Nicholas Jones PD

Light Depending Resistor (LDR).

a LDR does exactly what it says on the tin, it measure the amount of light around it and using the recordings it takes in, it alters the way the LED on the circuit behaves.

so the more light the LDR is sensing the more light the LED emits, the less light that is sensed the lest amount of light it emits and everything in between this allows you to make the LED fade in and out if you slowly cover and uncover the LDR.

light depending resistor

3D CAD renderings

Posted on by Nicholas Jones PD

Here is my final CAD rendering of my product, I used solid works to firstly CAD and secondly to render the model.

im very happy ith the outcome, ive got the shape and geometrics of the product to the exact measurements I intend to use if I as to manufacture the product. the size of the model is 8cm x 8cm x 9cm. ive added all the correct features of injection moulding so that I can firstly prove it can be manufactured efficiently and secondly add up the material cost and tooling cost if I as to manufacture it. the model is made from PLA polyester, however I don’t know if it has the same material features of a plastic such as PET, ive decided to use this particular material because it boasts four great features 1; it has a 47 day decomposition cycle once on a landfill site 2; it is a bi product of  starch fermentation during corn wet milling 3;won’t emit toxic fumes when burned (making it more safe for children’s toys) 4; manufacturing of the PLA uses 20 to 50 percent less fossil fuels than petroleum-based plastic which makes it the perfect material for my product as the brief states that it has to have a low environmental impact. there are three parts that have to be made from metal, which I intend to use stainless steel, using either extrusion moulding or CNC machining as the manufacturing processes. I’ve chosen blue as the primary colour as it can be applied to both girls and boys, however I would like to sell it in many different colours. there are only four screws involved in the assembly process and they attach the clear base to the main body which requires low skilled workforce to assemble.

preview2

 

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