2015
Final prototype made from bent plywood and MDF.
(Excuse the extremely floppy flops I included in the scene)
(Excuse the extremely floppy flops I included in the scene)
BELOW IS THE NARRATIVE ALONG WITH SKETCHES LEADING TO THE FINAL DESIGN:
Initial concepts: When initially tasked with designing a stool to be used for the fitting of shoes, there were so many avenues to take I was almost lost. With the aid of a brand to aim towards and with a large amount of research I was able to direct my thoughts into something clear. I was initially tending towards a stool with a foot rest but scrapped the idea after finding it to be unnecessary in conjunction with my selected brand.
Anthromorphic considerations: I found the seat would need to be tilted slightly downward. This would prevent the user from slipping while leaning over to reach their feet.
First refinement: I strove to attain the desired shape with the use of interlocking flat sheets of plywood. I tended towards the use of wood because it would express the values of Sanuk and fit well with many of their existing store designs. By using wooden profiles, the speed of production would be extremely fast with the aid of CNC processes. This direction was changed when I discovered that the profiles would, in fact, be highly wasteful and inefficient.
Second refinement: My focus was then placed on achieving the form with the better use of plastic parts. I had intended to maintain the use of wood in the design with wood profiles, but would then connect them together with two plastic injection moulded parts. These parts would need to be different due to the angle of the connecting plywood. This would mean that two separate tools would be required, resulting in extremely high costs and an inefficient process.
The parts I had intended to create ended up being highly complicated to produce through injection moulding and would ultimately be impossible to create through that process. Furthermore, there would be additional plastic parts required to keep the structure intact while under the load of a human body. Therefore, this idea was also scrapped and a new direction was needed to be taken.
Third refinement: My thrid refinement of the stool went back to the use of wooden profiles and interlocking joints. This soon proved to be extremely hard to create the desired shape; which lead to me over complicating a number of aspects in order to fulfill the brief requirements and structural integrity. A number of the decisions were also infuenced by the ease in which the stool would be able to be assembled. With all these paramenters in which the stool had to fit, this concept poorly met most of them and so it was time to search for something new.
Fourth refinement: For my fourth attempt at creating the form I so depsparately wanted; I accepted the use of bent wood in in hopes that it would allow possiblities previously unavailable. I intended to use two injection moulded plastic parts to sandwich the two pieces of bent wood. The two plastic parts would be held together with the use of a large screw pin. This pin would keep the parts together and also provide the support I thought needed in the centre of the stool. The main problem with this concept was attaining the strength required. I had planned to injection mould the central ‘toe post’ with a wall thickness of 5mm but that would lead to unnecessarily high costs and wasted material.
Thus, the my final concept was realised with the simplification of many aspects of the stool and the use of a better suited manufacturing process.
For my fifth and final refinement, I planned on using rotation moulding in order to create one central part that would be able to hold the two wooden curves together and provide enough support for the loads in question. The design would allow for extremely simple assembly – requiring only four screws – but would lack in some of the flat-pack aspects.
The new design will consist three parts in total: The plastic ‘toe post’ and two wooden curves that will slot into the plastic part and be fastened with screws. The plastic part will utilise rotation mouldings ability to add metal inserts within the plastic in order to catch the screws used for fastening. The graphics on the front of the stool will be applied during the forming process with the use of graphics within the mould.
For my fifth and final refinement, I planned on using rotation moulding in order to create one central part that would be able to hold the two wooden curves together and provide enough support for the loads in question. The design would allow for extremely simple assembly – requiring only four screws – but would lack in some of the flat-pack aspects.
The new design will consist three parts in total: The plastic ‘toe post’ and two wooden curves that will slot into the plastic part and be fastened with screws. The plastic part will utilise rotation mouldings ability to add metal inserts within the plastic in order to catch the screws used for fastening. The graphics on the front of the stool will be applied during the forming process with the use of graphics within the mould.
