Do you trust your furniture? Jon Demonstrates the integrity of well executed joint work.
Creating furniture that is both light in appearance and robust enough for daily use is a fine balance. It is always exciting to see a piece perform beyond anyone's expectations. This little end/night table is certainly ready for the rigours of holding daily reading material!
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Hand One Design typically builds custom pieces for individual clients, however a local store recently expressed some interest in a bed side/end table I designed last year called "The Book Page". It is a simple but highly functional zig-zag of solid wood that keeps books and magazines. My favorite part is how you can toss a book onto the acute angle and it will keep your page (no more scrambling for bookmarks!). Right now we are in the process of refining the last few details and are looking forward to presenting the final product.]]>
After watching a short film on the work of Jackson Pollock, I was inspired to try my own abstract expressionist piece. I filled nitrile gloves (like latex gloves) with paint and charged them with compressed air until they exploded paint all over the canvas. I was pleased with the way the high pressure air finely atomized the paint in the background, and left large streaking drops in the foreground. It has a real sense of depth this way. I have a bit of a Bauhaus thing running through my head right now; hence the primary colors and black geometric shape. Doing a painting like this is far less calculating than custom furniture design, but gives the same hands on creative outlet. Very satisfying. ]]>Being in nature is a big part of how I draw inspiration for designs, as well as hit the reset button. The distinct aesthetic of the westcoast really gets me excited about creating custom furniture in the Vancouver / Lower Mainland areas which are surrounded by such awe inspiring places.
My brother (Gary; who also happens to be a great graphic designer - click here) and I are laying plans to shape our own surfboards from wood. Hopefully we'll have something by the next Tofino trip!
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Most projects I design are minimalist modern, however every now and again I love to bring out the French curves and design something with a little bit of that classic wavy elegance. There is a whole different skill-set in setting the visual weights and balances of multiple curves that run together. Much of it is done on the fly with the spoke shave (a blade you sculpt wood with) and heavily relies on artistic intuition/spontaneity. After the dust settles you are left with something much more expressive than the straight stuff. Doing this type of work gives me a renewed sense of tradition in the craft and keeps me well rounded.
This piece in particular will get a gently curved drawer face and a light white wash to give it a fresh up to date look.
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A while back my dad and I fixed up this old hand plane that we picked up from a friend. I love old hand tools because the quality of steel is so high, so they stay sharp longer. This plane had endured some serious punishment over its many years of service and was showing its age. We lovingly restored it to a smooth, sharp tool, and I have really enjoyed using it ever since. As of late I have been running on the last couple millimetres of blade material and have been expecting its last sharpening to come sooner than later. The other day I was calibrating the bottom of a large maple farm table and the handle broke! I guess it was ready to retire sooner than I thought. I get rather nostalgic about the tools used in the creative process. I like to think about all of the projects that this hand plane dug its iron into, and I'm glad I got to witness its last push on a worthy project. I will likely replace it with another second hand plane. There's something about using seasoned hand tools that just feels right!]]>
Sometimes a sketch isn't quite enough to really grasp the proportions and weight of a piece. Such is the case with a recycled steel pedestal table base I am working on. I thought I might throw together a little how to on "mocking it up".
Mocking up a piece of furniture is like a Bob Ross painting, you should go into it with a general idea about what you want, but leave it open ended to add or subtract as you go. Move fast; your first intuitions are usually correct and will get you where you want to go. Remember it's just a mock up! Don't get too fussy over shapes and curves as it is merely a tool to get a tangible sense of volumes and proportions.
You will need: A box cutter, packing tape, cardboard or foam, scrap paper, tape measure, chalk, and a concept to mock up!
1.) Sketch full size layout of the various parts on some paper with some loose measurements.
2.) Find some old cardboard boxes or foam to make up the cut n' paste assembly
3.) Cut out your full size layouts into patterns
4.) Transfer patterns onto whatever scraps of boxes or foam
6.) Get cutting and taping. Cut things off you don't like and add things that were missing until you have found what you were looking for!
7.) If it isn't a solid color already, paint it to highlight the overall shape of the piece. I like to use white because it casts shadows well.
Have Fun!
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My goal is to eliminate everything superfluous so that the essential is shown to best possible advantage.
Is my design good design? How does one evaluate their work?
Dieter lays it out in his Ten Commandments of good design:
GOOD DESIGN IS INNOVATIVE
The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.
GOOD DESIGN MAKES A PRODUCT USEFUL
A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
GOOD DESIGN IS AESTHETIC
The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. But only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
GOOD DESIGN MAKES A PRODUCT UNDERSTANDABLE
It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory.
GOOD DESIGN IS UNOBTRUSIVE
Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.
GOOD DESIGN IS HONEST
It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.
GOOD DESIGN IS LONG LASTING
It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today’s throwaway society.
GOOD DESIGN IS THOROUGH, DOWN TO THE LAST DETAIL
Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.
GOOD DESIGN IS ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimises physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
GOOD DESIGN IS AS LITTLE DESIGN AS POSSIBLE
Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials.
Back to purity, back to simplicity.
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Some have said this pile of Pacific Maple looks like an oversized game of Jenga, but it is actually a kitchen! The studio is full of a dizzying array of carefully jointed components which will make up the framework for a very unique kitchen going in at the Phillips farm on Mayne Island. They wanted something that would have integrity; dissatisfied with the disposeable casework kitchens so commonly sold these days. The result is shaping up to be an over zealously designed jigsaw puzzle of joinery that will display a true arts and crafts approach to the modern farmhouse kitchen. There is more hand work than I had initially budgeted for, but I must say it has been enjoyable all the way. There is something about the careful orchestration and execution in this style of building that I just can`t get enough of. Perhaps it is the, creativity involved, challenge of precision, or the emmense satisfaction I get when seeing it all come together. More likely it is because I am doing what I love! In any case I can`t wait to post some pics of the end result. Many more updates to come along the way as things shape up. ]]>
Michael Pawlyn, founder of Exploration Architecture (est. 2007) gave a fantastic talk at TEDSalon in London, on three characteristics of nature that could revolutionize architecture and society: radical resource efficiency, closed loops and drawing energy from the sun. Click here to watch his lecture.
Michael's firm draws inspiration from nature to devise solutions that produce radical increases in resource efficiency – creating more with less. This discipline, known as ‘Biomimicry’, represents an under-explored territory that can yield imaginative and beautiful architecture. It can provide solutions to complex issues such as water shortages and waste management.
