E-LC1
(Executive Lounge Chair - 1)
Senior Studio 1
Duration: 15 Weeks
Design Brief
Design and fabricate a piece of contemporary seating that demonstrates your developing expertise in furniture design and construction.
Initial Research
Modern / Sleek/ Serious / Relaxed
A serious Chair for sophisticated people
Who is “sophisticated” or at least who thinks they are.
-Boomers
-Executives
-Doctors
-Lawyers
-Tech Bros
-Generally High earning individuals
- They like status symbols
- Money
- Experience
- They want respect through material possessions
Important words for these people
-Material Celebration -Premium Materials -Handmade
-Luxurious -Refined -Masculine
Concepts and Refinement
During concepting I decided to experiment with concepts in metal and wood as both meet the requirements of material celebration, luxury, and refinement.
These next 3 concepts are much more the style that I wanted to replicate however none of them felt proportionally correct
Critique Takeaways
-metal forms feel more on language
-wood concepts feel like just another lounge chair that exists
-lounge chair style works with user group and context
-spindly/ spider like forms are moving in a positive direction
-more interesting seating surface than a normal cushion should be used
(leather/ natural cording/ high end fabrics)
Future considerations
-focus on sleek form with simple to read lines
-triangulation of materials for strength
-make less organic and more buildable/ repeatable
Final Design Direction
This was the final render of this chair before making a model and having a professional critique with members in industry.
Fabrication Process for Model
Changes and Professional Critique
-Taller seat height from initial render +2in in both front and back (proportions felt small)
-more lateral supports needed in the future
-arms are not comfortable and maybe aren’t needed at all
-metal is too thin and feels cheap, move from 3/8 and 1/2 to 5/8 everywhere
-cording makes it feel outdoor/ cheap
-proportions are close but geometry needs fixed in small areas
-rounding legs into themselfs helps splaying and looks more refined
-paint feels cheap, keep a more natural look to be more true to material (more luxurious)
-comfortable seating position (small increase in seat pitch would help
-remove bar near head and rework back design to be safer/ more comfortable (lower or raise back height by a few inches)
-terminate welds in better positions to add to luxury feeling
Final Concept Refinement
Colorway Decision
After asking a variety of demographics
(Executives, Boomers, Gen X, Students)
Younger people find the Brown leather more appealing while the Black appeals to an older demographic without regard to income level
