A Level Design and Technology Project

Brogan Watkins

Contents• Brief………………………………………………………………………………………………Page - 3• Brief Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………Page - 4• User needs and wants…………………………………………………………………...Page - 5• Plan for research…………………………………………………………………………….Page - 6• Possible products…………………………………………………………………………..Page - 7• Possible themes and materials……………………………………………………….Page - 8• Initial design specification………………………………………………………………Page - 9• Primary research…………………………………………………………………………...Page - 10• Secondary research………………………………………………………………………..Page - 11• Possible users…………………………………………………………………………………Page - 12• Possible products …………………………………………………………………………..Page – 13-14• Existing products…………………………………………………………………………….Page 15 - 20• Mood board……………………………………………………………………………………Page 21• Ergonomics and Anthropometrics………………………………………………….Page 22-23• Professional designer…………………………………………………………………….Page - 24• Specification with heir achy………………………………………………………….Page 25 - 28• How I will test my specification points………………………………………….Page 29• Product analysis…………………………………………………………………………..Page 30-31• Above the line analysis…………………………………………………………………Page - 32• Below the line analysis………………………………………………………………..Page – 33• Questionnaire…………………………………………………………………………….Page -34• Results and conclusions……………………………………………………………...Page - 35

I have chosen the brief “The ability/facility to perform a number of functions can sometimes form an unique selling point for a product. Design and make a product, or system with a specific range of functions, which has this feature as its main selling point.”

Situation

In modern times people are always looking for new ways to save on space and innovative ideas in order to do this. I chose this brief as I believe I could design and make a product that is multi-functional. I know that there is a wide target market for this sort of product and it could definitely be sellable. Multi-functional products are marketable and increase their ability to sell. There are two major considerations that affect the attractiveness of a multifunctional product, they are space and time.

Space

Space involves the environments in which we live, work, relax, etc. It includes the amount of physical space you have and shared space. These are vital to consider when I begin my design process and could help me significantly to design a good product.

Time

This includes dedicated time for particular activities, shared time for multiple activities (like often found in the multitasking workplace), and random time for the unexpected situations and activities. When examining both of these considerations in context, I will look for allowances and constraints. Doing this will help me find an opportunity to take advantage of.

Lifestyle changes

Lifestyle changes will serve as catalysts for utility and value in multifunctional products. We already have individual products that can currently do their job well, but in the new circumstance or lifestyle change, a single product with increased functionality that allows for time & space improvements can be of significant value. One area where time and space are often limited is in urban areas, where living spaces tend to be smaller, resources and amenities may be geographically dispersed, reliance on public transit is greater, and people can tend to live faster. An additional factor that affects time and space is the blurring line between work and leisure. Flexible working hours and more individuals working from home has created opportunities for manufacturers to create products that can be catered for both environments. Change will force us to be creative. If there is a product in demand a design or solution will soon be made. This is why lifestyle is a huge factor when designing a product for a problem or issue that has risen.

I now have identified the main aspects of the situation bracket that I will have to consider when designing my product. I will bear these in mind for my initial ideas and throughout my development phase.

Brief

I am going to select key words from the brief and put a focus on analysing them in depth so I develop a better understanding of my chosen brief.

Key Phrases

Number of functionsAs I understand, my product that I will design will have to carry out a number of functions. More and more products are beginning to be multi-functional. This is due to the lack of space in peoples houses or the lack of time people have to carry out two different activities.Unique selling pointThis aspect of my brief outlines the necessity for my product to be unique so it doesn’t have competition in the market for customers. If I can design a product that satisfies a problem or issue that is yet to be solved then I can target a significantly wider target market.Range of functionsAlthough this phrase is almost identical to “number of functions” the emphasis I have put on range identifies the possibility to have a function with two completely unrelated functions such as a door that can transform into a ping pong table as opposed to a stool that turns into a table. This increases the amount of things I could look into designing.Main selling pointTo increase the saleability of my product I will promote the multi-functional concept as its main selling point. I hope this will allow my product to beat off any competition in the market.

How the key phrases will affect my design

The phrases I have identified on the left will most definitely affect my design considerations. The number of functions means I have to make sure that my product has more than one purpose and can carry them out sufficiently. The second point is unique selling point. This will put emphasis on the aim of my product being unique in the main function that is used to sell it. The third aspect is range of functions , this puts an emphasis on the functions that it carries out being diverse and different. This means I can design a product that carries out completely different functions . The final point is main selling point. The main selling point means my product will be sold with the promotion of a multi-functional ability being at forefront of the selling campaign. This means I have to make sure this aspect is highlighted and dominant within my product.

Brief Analysis

User needs and wants

Function

The client would want a functioning product. This brief means that my product has to be multi-functioning in order to satisfy the need and wants of the user. When coming up with initial design ideas I will consider this and also when developing my ideas.

Aesthetics

The user will want an aesthetically pleasing product. This will also have to be a major consideration when designing as it will not sell if it doesn’t look nice. Aesthetically it also has to be rather bland to fit in with more houses and living rooms. This will in turn increase the target market I can sell my product to.

SPace

The client would want a multi-functional piece of furniture to be an efficient use of space. The very nature of this product means I should look actively to satisfy this point for the possible client. To be clever in my design would mean I integrate the maximum amount of functions in collaboration with the minimum amount of space. If I can do this I will be very happy as I can look to target my product at a lot more people .

User needs and wants

Function

Aesthetics

Space

Cost

Ergonomics

Cost

The possible user will want their product to be cost efficient and reasonable in price. This is a consideration so when I'm designing I will have to look for reasonably priced materials and easy ways of resourcing them. I will also have to make sure my assembly processes are not too expensive. If all of this is done and completed then the product can be sold at an affordable price for the client.

Ergonomics

The ergonomics of my product is all about the relation between the user and the product. I will make sure my product will have comfortable handles if I decide to include handles or comfortable seating if I decide to include seating in my design. This will enhance the performance of the ergonomic aspect within my design.

Plan for research

Types of research

Internet

Newspapers

Existing products

Surveys

Professional

Exhibitions/ museums

Questionnaire

Books

1. Identify research methods

The first step I will do is to identify research methods and various avenues to explore. I have assembled a mind map of possible methods of research. I can now categorise these into two categories . The first is primary research and this will cover surveys and questionnaire. This is because I will carry out this research myself. All the rest fall into the category of secondary research because I'm finding the information from other places.

2. Carry out research

The second step I will carry out will be doing the necessary research to get the information I need. This will mean searching for types of designs and ways of integrating different functions. Once I have gathered the right information I will then present my findings in a slide containing all the details. Following this I will carry out the stage of making my own data from surveys and questionnaires. I will give these out to everyone like classmates, family and professionals. These will be focused and related to the data I need to collect. Once I have gathered this information I will present my results through graphs and tables for easy analysis. I will also write out reports on my findings so once I come to the conclusion stage It will be a lot easier for me to make a conclusion.

3. Analyse the gathered research

The last step is all about analysing the information I have found to benefit me once I come to design. I will have my data and information from looking online and carrying out my own surveys and questionnaire. Then

I will look to see if I can identify any patterns or trends within the design such as a large majority of people saying they prefer neutral colours to bright colours. This would then effect how I design my product as I have the results to show why I would make sure my design is made with neutral colours. This can be done with many aspects of the design and in different ways. Once I have analysed the graphs, tables and reports I will look to write a conclusion. The conclusion will need to summarise all the findings and write out clearly the points that I will need to take forward and consider when designing. This will mean I make a product with the opinions of possible clients . Doing this will prevent me designing an item that has a very narrow target market.

Possible products

The first possible product I could make is seating or chairs. These are found in almost every home and building are come in a range of styles. Designing a chair would give me a large spectrum of possible ways to incorporate in the multifunctional aspect. I could also make it target a range of different customers.

Tables come in a range of different styles. The first would be a standard kitchen table, there are also coffee tables and bedside tables. All of these already come in a range of designs approaches. If I was to design one It would be difficult to design a unique one. With this in mind I will consider making something else possible.

Outdoor furniture is becoming ever-more popular and this allows a large market with a lot of customers for designers. As you can see there is a lot of styles outdoor furniture can come in. the image on the right shows a circular bed for relaxation with extra cushions. It also has a hood for extra protection from the weather.

Wardrobes and large storage products would be difficult to design with the multi-functional aspect in mind. I would need to consider changing the set-up and structure of the insides in order to meet this brief. This has all already been done. However one possible avenue to explore would be the possibility of adding a wardrobe type product with a table or desk to allow it to be multi-functional and as space efficient as possible. With such emphasis on the function I will need to pay close attention to the detail of the aesthetics and the shape and colour.

Desks and work surfaces as shown below can be a very good product to add functions to. They are versatile and could also act as a table for eating or playing on. This could come in the form of adding a table tennis net on top or changing the the top to become table football top. I coulld also look at the bottom components such as the drawers and cupboards to see how they could be changed to add extra functions

Possible Themes

Art Deco Art deco is an influential visual arts design style which first appeared in France in 1930s and 1940s. It is an eclectic style that combines traditional craft motifs with Machine Age imagery and materials. The style is often characterized by rich colours, bold geometric shapes, and lavish ornamentation. This could be incorporated into my design my basing the whole theme around it. I could use bold colours and the electric style to enhance the aesthetic appeal of my product. I would hope that that would then increase my potential target market. I am fond of this theme and really think I could use it in my design

Memphis art movementThe Memphis Group was an Italian design and architecture group founded in Milan by Ettore Sottsass in 1981 that designed Post Modern furniture, fabrics, ceramics, glass and metal objects from 1981-1987. The work is often plastic and bright colours. I believe I can use this in my design and use it to enhance the aesthetic appeal of my product similar to art deco.

Possible materials

MetalI would consider to use metal as it is readily available in my school and we have the correct tools to use it to my

advantage. It can also be very strong and durable in furniture or outdoor equipment. It is also relatively cheap and can look aesthetically pleasing when used in the correct manor and with other materials. I would consider using metal most definitely In my design.

WoodWood like metal is also readily available. it can come in a number of different strengths and grains, each suitable for different roles in products. It too can also be cheap to buy.

If I were to use wood it would most probably be my favourite material to use as I have experience in using it and think it looks highly aesthetically pleasing. I also like the range of wood you can get to

choose from, which insures you get the right wood for the job.

PlasticPlastic also comes in a range of different styles. Th plastic I am most familiar with is acrylic. It can be softened by heat for re-shaping and comes in a range of colours. However

It can often look out of place when used with wood so I will have to be very careful of using the two materials side by side as the colours of acrylic are so bright.

Initial design specificationFor my specification I will need to consider a list of points to design and make my product around. I will chose these points in accordance to their relation to my design. The point I have chosen are :

• Function - The action for which a person or thing is particularly fitted or employed.Assigned duty or activity. A specific occupation or role: in my function as chief editor.• Aesthetics - A conception of what is artistically valid or beautiful. The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and expression of beauty, as in the fine arts.• Material - The substance or substances out of which a thing is or can be made.• Cost - An amount paid or required in payment for a purchase; a price. Cost• Size - The physical dimensions, proportions, magnitude, or extent of an object. Relative amount or number, as of population or contents• Anthropometrics - The study of human body measurement for use in anthropological classification and comparison.• Environment - The circumstances or conditions that surround one; surroundings. The totality of circumstances surrounding an organism or group of organisms, • Sustainability - To keep in existence; maintain. To supply with necessities or nourishment; provide for• Health and safety - The condition of being safe; freedom from danger, risk, or injury.• Ergonomics - The applied science of equipment design, as for the workplace, intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort. Also called biotechnology, human engineering, human factors engineering.

• Target Audience – An individual or group selected for influence or attack by means of psychological operations

ConclusionI have now identified all of my points for specification. I can now think about developing and progress by looking in depth. As I come up with initial design ideas I can begin to add more to my specification to make sure my final design is in accordance with my specification brief. I believe if I can come up with an in depth specification I will be able to design a much better overall product. I hope to achieve a final high quality that will be able to be targeted at a higher end of a target audience and of the public. This way I hope to accommodate the needs and wants of my selected target audience.

Primary research

Questionnaire I have chosen to assemble a questionnaire as part of my primary research. I have chosen to do this because the responses are gathered in a standardised way, so questionnaires are more objective. Generally it is relatively quick to collect information using a questionnaire. Potentially information can be collected from a large portion of a group. Return rates can be dramatically improved if the questionnaire is delivered and responded to in a small amount of time. However in some situations they can take a long time not only to design but also to apply and analyse . Also open-ended questions can generate large amounts of data that can take a long time to process and analyse. I will use this to gather information on peoples opinions. I will then use this to create my design brief specification which will then influence my design.

TestingI have also decided to use testing as an aspect of my primary research. I will get existing products and use them and analyse the function of them and other specification points against the product. I will then discard any negative points and focus on the positives from the given product. Once I have identified them and focused on them I will look to record them and then use the positive aspects in my design. First however I will need to consider them and include them in my design specification in order to create a product based on all the information I gathered from doing this exercise and activity.

Product AnalysisThe final method of primary research I have decided to use in product analysis. I will get a product that is similar to the product that I will design and disassemble it. I will then consider if its fit for purpose, If it meet the needs of the target market, And How well is it designed and made. The advantages of this are I get to see the way the product has been made and look at different methods of assembling and building products similar to mine. I can then utilise this information when making a brief specification and when designing. However one disadvantage is its time consuming and can sometimes result in not gaining much information from doing it. I will also analyse products aesthetically for design and finish.

Secondary researchInternetI have chose to use the internet as a method of research because its faster than most research methods, I can get access to articles and databases from libraries, it has condensed information which makes finding relevant topics easier. There is also a wider range of media available for use. However I will need to consider the disadvantages. It can discourage the use of books. Not all information is free or easily accessible and information can be falsified or made up. Anyone can make a website look legitimate. I will use the internet to gather opinions of experts in my field of design and to hopefully gather already existing data and information on opinions of clients . This will then contribute to creating my specification to go and design my multi functional product.

Newspapers and booksI have also chosen to use books and newspapers as a method of secondary research. I believe there a benefits of using books. If you really want to understand something inside and out, a book is a better source than short, brief, strongly biased web resources. Most books contain more interesting and more memorable analogies and stories than shorter articles that just get to the point. They take longer to read, but page for page many are much more entertaining version of the same information. Also they are a permanent and invariable source of information. The source of the information given can usually readily be identified and very often precisely dated. They are readily available to peer groups, and others conducting research assessments and reviews.One negative aspect of using books and newspapers is you can often waste time reading through unnecessary stuff and it can be time consuming. I will use this information to contribute to my specification

Television and radioThe final method of research I will conduct from the secondary aspect is television and radio.The advantages of television and radio research is it can be done casually. I can find out information about topics related to my design without putting in too much effort. I can listen to radio in the car and watch television as a past time. Both these sources of information can provide a good base of information. The ease at which this research can be gathered really does exhibit how precious it is. I can also use T.V to do surveys such as watching soaps or dramas and observing furniture and storage items used in these. They are often a very good indication of trends and popular products. I can then utilise this to enhance the detail in my specification brief. Seeing what products are used means I will be able to create possibly a similar product which has proved saleability and an already existing target market.

Possible users

University students

The first possible group of clients is university students. University students typically have very little money to spend because of their lack of time or qualifications to have a full time job. They also usually rent out small rooms in halls of residence or small flats. This means they have restricted space. However they also usually have a lot of documents or notes to keep safe. Their lifestyles can be rather chaotic and their interests are typically going out with friends and partying. All of this add up to show that there is a gap in the market to create cheap, space efficient storage. This could be multi-functional but have an emphasis or focus on storing documents and paper. This would almost definitely sell and be ableto be targeted at university students. This is a very big market to explore.

Families

The second target group is families. Families often also have very little free time as parents work through the week which limits free time to evenings and weekends. Family interests can be sport, activities, spending time together and relaxing in the house. The amount of money families have to spend on furniture and products can vary incredibly. In comparision to university students family homes tend to be larger and hence more spacious this means they have the oppurtunity to buy larger pieces of furniture. Another notable difference is that the very nature of families means theparents tend to invest in more products so they can often spend more money as they are not buying products on such short term temporary basis’ like uni students.

Elderly people

N the other end of the spectrum in taget markets in elderly people. Elderly people are renowned for having an awful lot of spare time due to them retiring because of their age. They also tend to have on average more money as they have less expenses such as no children to bring up and no mortgages. This means their spare time can often be taken up by doing activites like gardening, swimming or walking. If a product was to be made to target at elderly people it would not have to have a specification point with a huge emphasis on cost. However other things would have to be considered as elderly people can often be much less active and need assistance to use some products. This indicates it would have to be relatively simple. They are also a lot less likely to purchase fashionable products and more likely to buy tradidtional, functioning products.

Possible products

Storage

The first possible category to consider is storage. This could be a wardrobe, shelf, bookstand, magazine holder, desk, or a chest of drawer. The function of all of these products is to store products. The materials used could be anything. Many storage units found in households are made out of wood because its strong and aesthetically pleasing. Metal is also commonly used as legs and or to break up the wood. The final common material found in storage is glass. This could be found in the

top of a coffee table or in the door of a storage unit. It can also be found as a protective method on book shelves. Designs of storage tend to be quite square and boxy

I could consider combining two of the common storage items in the house to create a multi functional storage product. This could be a table that folds up into a shelf or a coffee table that turns into a desk. I will also have to consider combining two different categories of possible products like utensils and furniture. Possible colour and colour schemes need to be neutral and bland in order to attract the most customers. However this doesn’t need to be the case with the design as this can be interesting and different and still attract a lot of people. I can definitely consider making a product from the storage category of multi-functional products.

Furniture

Another possible range of products to look at is furniture. Furniture can come in chairs, stools, tables and cabinets. Similar to storage the most common material is wood. It is aesthetically pleasing and relatively cheap. However this is mainly used to build the structure and then covered in fabric cushions or leather for comfort. If I was to make furniture I would definitely consider using wood with fabric. However metal like aluminium is used in outdoor furniture a lot because of its high lever durability. It can be waterproof and cheap, it is strong and light which makes it highly attractive. It can also be used in building the frame for an indoor chair or table. Furniture can also be storage. If I were to make a multi-functional piece of furniture I would consider something such as a table that assemble s into a wardrobe or bookshelf. I could also consider making a storage product that has more than two functions to increase its market ability. As shown in the image some products can have 5 or 6 functions and the ability to transform into lots of different products. This can significantly increase its ability to aimto more of a possible target market. Again I will have to ensure my colour scheme is neutral to enhance it popularity with clients and make sure its design is interesting and alternative.

Utensils/tools

Utensils could be a possible product. They are essentially tools in a broader spectrum. This is an image of a Swiss army pen knife. As you can see it has many functions such as a knife, scissors, tooth pick, and bottle opener. This is one of the products in the world that has the most functions. It is a perfect example of how to integrate a range of different purposes into such a small device. With clever design and detail this could be achieved if I were to make a utensil item. Usually utensils are made from metal or possibly plastic. The size is small so they could be stored or carried around in a pocket. The colour doesn’t usually matter but can be a range of colours to target different aspects of a target market.

Sports equipmentSports equipment can come in a range of sizes and functions. You can get football posts that turn into rugby posts or shin pads that are bottle carriers. However one of the most popular sports equipment is gym equipment. Training devices similar to Swiss army pen knifes could have 10-15 different purposes. This could include, lifting devices to target specific parts of the body like abdominals and pectorals. These often include very clever design that all stems from one mechanism of lifting weights but with the function to turn it into a variety of different exercises. The size of these are normally large as they are targeted at private gyms or at people who are building there own gym at home and have sufficient space to include it in their house. The colour and finish doesn’t normally matter as it is made from metal to be strong and withstand the pressure it will face.

EquipmentMuch equipment outside of sport is in the garden or household. Some designs can include equipment that can transform into many different tools. For example a very popular product now is a garden tool that can turn from a chainsaw into a hedge cutter and into a grass mower. This is another great example for me of how to include so many different functions into one product. If I could do this with something else such as furniture or storage then I will be very happy. I would consider the way in which it all stems from one common attribute with its own little part to change it into a totally different product. This could be for example a box shell that when moved around could be a sofa, a desk or a book shelf with the right design and thinking approach.

Existing products - 1

FunctionThe function of this this product is duel. As this image illustrates it can be a chair or a desk. This is a very complex yet simple design. The dimensions and proportions are perfect so it can function as either when in different positions. The other minor function it has is a tray/rack for newspapers or other products.AestheticsThe aesthetic appeal of the chair is limited due to its emphasis and focus on function during the design process. However that is not to say the design is ugly. When designing my product I want to have a balance between function and aesthetics. I hope then my product would be able to be aimed at a wider target market which in turn would make my product more sellable. I will also look to use more aesthetically pleasing materials in my design.

Size and anthropometricsThe size of this chair and desk is relatively large considering its function. I believe this is due to it having to have the potential to transform into a desk or visa versa. The frame is large to give a good stable base but this makes it big. This factor of it being large means many people would not be able to buy it as they wouldn’t have room for it. The anthropometrics of the product are good as it has two functions so when in desinging process this would have been highly complex to try and include.MaterialThe materials used in this product I believe are chipboard with plastic. The chipboard would be heavy and make it hard to use this chair. The plastic which has been used as the desk top and seat would have to be strong but light. These are all considerations for making my breif and designing.Target audienceThe target audience for this product would be anyone with enough room to accommodate this product but who also would not be able to fit separate desk and chair in their space.

CostThe cost of this product could be anything from affordable to expensive. When buying this product a lot of money would go to the clever design. However it would be relatively affordable because of the materials they have used. EnvironmentThis product has been designed so it can fit into many different environments. It is rather neutral so it should be able to go with most other furniture. That is because light wood is very popular and it has o outrageous design to put people off. This is a consideration for me as well.Health and safetyIn terms of assuring there are no health or safety issues with this product it would be limited. The only alternative one would be how hard it is to pick up and turn into a desk. If it is far too heavy then this could pose a problem as people wouldn’t be able to pick it up and turn into a desk

Existing Products - 2

Furniture Size/AnthropometricsThe size of this product has been made with considerations to its possible clients. This will have been done from a set of dimensions that is published .these dimensions are then used to make sure the product is in scale and proportion and can cater to a large percentage of the target market.CostThe cost of this product is rather high because of its high end finish. The quality that it has been assembled and designed to means it is high market. Although this narrows its target market its compensated for by the higher price. The cost of materials, assembly and travel would all be used to come up with a price with a profit margin added on.SustainabilityThe sustainability of this product can be viewed and assessed by how it lasts overtime. This can be assessed in coordination with its durability .Environment The environment in which this could work as a product would be outside as garden furniture. You could have this table on a terrace of on some decking. It has suitable legs to go on grass as well as the distribution of weight it good. Target audienceThe target audience for this product could be families where they would purchase for their garden. Another possibility of clients is schools/ organisations. Schools could purchase them for fields or organisations like pubs/ scouts huts, or village halls.Health and safetyThe considerations for health and safety include making sure nothing gets stuck in the mechanism such as hair, shoelaces or fingers. This was designed so that the mechanism had a protective casing around it to prevent this happening.

FunctionThis product has 2 functions. The first is as a larger table. The second function is a smaller table incorporating in seats that fold down from the table. This is a very clever, space efficient piece of furniture. The mechanism involved is a metal bar that slides up and down to allow the seat to become an extension of the table at ease. This makes it very user friendly which is a big concern when designing multifunctional products

AestheticsThe aesthetics of this product are good but limited. I believe this id due to the compensation of the function. However the aesthetics have been maximised considering the situation the designer was in. When making my product I will have to keep a balance in priority of aesthetics and function to maximise the overall rating of my product.MaterialThe material of this product is wood and metal. The main structure and mechanism of lowering and heightening the seats is made from metal and then then seat and table is made form small slats of wood to give pleasing aesthetic appeal to the product. This product could be improved by using more wood I feel. However I appreciate this is harder to do when its essential to have this mechanism in the product to fulfil the function specification.

Existing products – 3 & 4FunctionThe function of both of these chairs is to act as a seat and to accommodate someone’s needs to sit while also carrying out another function of a table and storage respectively. Both of these are simple designs with very effective purposes. These functions have developed initially because of demand for furniture that is space effiiceint because of the ever growing issue of a lack of space in peoples houses. AestheticsThe aesthetics of these products are pleasing. The black and white theme in the first image works well and could be a colour scheme I go for. The aesthetics of the lower image is also good because of the nature of the design and the wood they have used to build this product. MaterialsI like both materials. The main material in the first image Is metal which is used for the legs and the table. This is interesting as it makes the design flow and look very aesthetically pleasing. The materials used in the second image is wood. The wood has been finished well and to a high standard. This helps with the aesthetics greatly.

Size/ anthropometricsthe size of these chairs is important as it is the main selling point that they are multifunctional and space effieicient. both chairs are small and use the space well. However the first chair could have put more storage under the table/ chair. The second chair uses all the possible space to full effect by putting in shelves to store products.

SustainabilityThe sustainability of the second chair will be good because its made of wood the first chair will not be that sustainable and may need may repairs.

Target marketThe target audience of these products would be very broad. The second chair is more tarditional I suppose and therefore fit in with more houses while the first chair is more modern so that would limit its target audience.EnvironmentSimilar to what I touched on in target market the second chair would fit in with more environments than the first because of its alternative design and aesthetics.Health and safetyAs there are no moving parts in either of these products the health and safety is immediately limited. However there are still some sharp edges that could cause some concern with young children.

Existing products – 5 & 6

FunctionThe function of these two products are to seat people and to store products as a another function. The first desing uses the legs or supports to accommodate logs and newspapers while the the second product can be identified as a storage unit that can transform into two chairs and a desk.AestheticsThe aesthetics of the products are good but I believe there is more of an emphasis on design in the first product with the storage function being more of an add on. However in the second product I think the focus is on the function of the product to act as storage and seating as oppossed to an emphasis being on thedesign. It is boxy and lacks any real design or creativity.MaterialThe materials used also contribute to my overall evaluation on the appeal aesthetically wise. The first product uses a white plastic with wood well and it looks aesthetically pleasing. However, again the second product uses just the dark wood which doesn’t look as nice as the first product.

Target marketThe target market for these products would differ a lot. The first product is more modern like other product I have analysed. This limits their target market as people are less likely to buy products like this for their home. The second product wouldn’t have a huge target market either but this could aimed at people who have a lack of space and need space efficient furniture.Size and anthropometricsThe size of the first product is small and narrow. This could fit in a lot of different spaces. The second product is big and bulky and would need specific amounts of space to fit in. however it is an efficent amount of space once fitted in.EnvironmentThe first product would fit into less environments inside houses than the second product. The second product is more traditional and would be more fitting in more peoples houses. This is because of its simple design and choice of wood as its material of choice.

Health and safetyThe first product would not have any obvious major health and safety concerns. However there are sharp edges which would need to be watched with little kids. The second product however has the movement of the chairs away and towards the table/ desk.this could catch fingers, hair, or clothing and hurt the user.SustainabilityThe first product wold be low maintenance but may nit be built as well because of the choice of materials. However wood is usually high maintenance so the second product would not be as sustainable.

Existing products – 7 & 8Functionthe function of these products is multifunctional to a very far extent. The have functions of equal importance all stemming from one handle or piece of wood/metal. The fist has the functions of a hammer, a knife, a bottle opener, a pick and a tweezers. The second product has the functions of a spatula a tongs and a fork. Alll these various functions can be accsessed by pulling them out from the initial product. These are based around very clever design.AestheticsThe aesthetics of the product are not really considered as about 95% of the time and effort in designing is put into the function aspect.Size and anthropometricsThe size of the product is also a huge consideration when designing. It is very important for the first product to be small and able to fit into some ones pocket of bag at ease. The second product it doenst matter as much as it would be stationary in a kitchen.

MaterialsThe materials must accommodate the need of the tool. In this case the need is for the tool to be steel so there is no really room for choice. However the handle is chosen to be ergonomic and made of wood. This helps aesthetically and practically as a metal handle would conduct heat when using the utensil or could become slippery when using the blade in product 1.

EnvironmentThe environment for product 1 does not need to be considered as it is moving around in your pocket, however for product 2 it has been made to fit in with other kitchen utensils and to be relatively bland to fit in with most kitchen design and possible colour schemes. This helps its marketability greatly.

Health and safetyHealth and safety is a huge issue with these products. They have sharp edges, they are heavy, have mechanisms (moving parts) and are small. The mechanism of the blade being pulled out and the retracting is very dangerous if a finger gets caught in here. Normally these products can only be sold to people over the age of 18. when I am to start design I would want to avoid knifes and moving parts such as the ones in this product.SustainabilityTo sustain these products is pretty simple. Due to the amount of metal is is important to avoid rust so you musts not let water settle in the crevices. Apart form this the products have to the potential to be very sustainable.

Existing products – 9 & 10FunctionThe function of both of these products is to store things. The bottom imgae shows a wall this product has a priority to act as a wall with an additional bonus to store things such as books, magazines and ornaments. The top image shows a product that’s primary function is to store products such as books and magazines and computers when acting as a desk. Both are very clever, space efficient and aesthetic products. AestheticsThe aesthetics of these products are very good. The top design is well designed to use a minimum amount of materials and space but has a lot of utility. The design is simples but pleasing to the eye. The lower product is very clever. It is a wall that has gaps put in it so it can store products. This is a highly space efficient product as it means there is no need for extra storage units which means there is more room for other things. The main aesthetic apeal I believe stems form its very simple design. As a bonus to this product it allows light to flow through this wall.MaterialThe material used for the desk and storage unit it a ply wood I believe. This makes it very light and relatively strong because of its 90 degree placing of the wood. The wall storage product is made from plastic boxes which are strong but quite cheap to build a whole wall out of.

Target marketThe target market for this products would probably be rather similar. The wall would be aimed at companies and business that are happy to have alternative products and that could be said for the desk storage unit as it not traditional to fit into most houses.

EnvironmentThe environment of the wall would need to be particular. It would have to be modern and open so it fitted in with it. The desk and storage unit would fit in to most environments because eof its wood but it would need to be pretty modern.Target marketThe wall would be aimed at a particular group of possible buyers. They wold need az modern surroundings for it to fit into to. This wall would also probably cost a lot to buy and to construct so this narrows its target market again. The second product would be aimed at a more geberal group of people as it is probably cheaper and doesn’t have such an extrvagant design. SustainabilityThe sustainability of the wall is lowas it would need painting of wallpapering. However it would be wuite hard to clean and dust. The storage desk it very sustainable and has very low maintenance as its wood that doesn’t need treating.

Stefan Borselius was born in Malmo, Sweden in 1974. he was educated at the Konstfack university college of arts, craft and design. He attended Carl Malmstens school and steneby school, and studied furniture carpentry and design. Stefan Borselius is an ingenious designer with a head bursting with ideas. He balances his inventive design with it being aesthetically pleasing. He was inspired grandfather and great grandfather who were both skilled furniture carpenters. Stefan works methodically and whole-heardtedly through every single detail. He pushes the boundaries of what is possible to produce and would rather give up and pursue another route that not produce anything at all. He leaves no stone unturned in his quest for a solution. As a result his product have a strong sense of identity. Stefan has mainly designed seats during his career that are aesthetically pleasing and simple. One of his most famous pieces of work is the Wilmer O56T. This product has featured in my research already as an existing product. It is also pictured below. It is an ergonomic seat that has a two tables coming from the legs. The upper table is design, as illustrated to support a laptop or work that comes across your lap while the lower table is for a drink or to put something else on away form your work/ laptop.

This design has inspired me because it is highly functional, is it multifunctional and at the same time it is aesthetically pleasing. I would like to use this concept of merging a table and seat together as one product for my final design. His choice of material is also very good as it is aesthetically pleasing. This has taught me to look carefullly at what materials I use together and what colours I use to finish these materials to enhance their overall aesthetic appeal.

Borselius has also designed seating such as the Dundra stool, shown on the left and the Vec, shown on the right. These two seating products have different qualities and demonstrate the range of designs Borselius has produced . The stools are designed to stack so they are space saving and highly practical. While the Vec has more emphasis on the design and aesthetics. It is clear as well that ergonomics have beed considered heavily in this chair, fir example there is a declining gradient to allow the user to sit back in it and there is leg space under the chair to avoid any minor discomfort.

Stefan Borselius – Professional Designer

Anthropometry refers to the measurement of the human individual. Today anthropometry plays an important role in design and ergonomics where statistical data about the distribution of body dimensions in the population are used to optimize products. Changes in lifestyle, nutrition and ethnic composition lead to changes in the distribution of body dimensions and require regular updating of anthropometric data collections. These statistical data covers the 95% of the population. Obviously it can cover everybody so there is 5% that don’t have products to accommodate them and cater for them. I will use this data when making a chair, seat or table so it is the right size for most of my clients. I can access this information online I will test my product by getting a group of clients to use my prototypes and to rate it in how it accommodated their size and needs.

AnthropometricsSeatThe seat must be designed so that the fron of it is 550mm off the floor. However because of the angle of the seat this means these back of the seat will be quite a bit lower but should still mean the front of it is comfortable for the user. I have made it 450mm wide as that is over the average width of a persons bottom but would not pose a problem if I person is wider that this because there are no arm rests and therefore no restrictions. When I consider how high to make the seat I must consider the width of the plywood and the feat as supports which are going to be 20mm. Therefore the actual seat must be 490mm off the floor before the feet are attached. The seat must also be long enough to accommodate the average length from a persons bottom to under their knew which is 400mm. However this is also small enough so that a shorter person with a shorter distance from their bottom to under their knees would still be able to sit on this chair and feel comfortable.

BackThe back of this chair is long narrow which would mean that wider people could still sit on it and be comfortable and thinner people would also be comfortable. This is because I will position foam in key areas to support areas like the muscle either side of the spine and your shoulder blades which tends to be around the same for every grown person. The area which then tends to differ is the outer area of the torso such as the hips and under arms. The back rest is 450mm wide just as the seat is and the 850mm long from the seat to the top. I am confident this would mean that around 90% of the users that try this would say it was comfortable and ergonomically friendly

ErgonomicsErgonomics was created to to design more efficient methods of assembly in factories. It has been adopted by designers looking to make their products more effective or comfortable. Ergonomics is all about the relationship between the user and the product for example how well a hand fits a handle.

Ergonomics now affects every product that we use. I will look to involved an ergonomic aspect to my design for example If I have a handle in my product I will make sure its ergonomic by being the right size shape and material. I will do this because it makes it more attractive to potential buyers. I can look at how ergonomic my designs are by testing them on my peers and family. By asking them for a rating out of ten I can then use the most popular, ergonomic design in my product to attract more buyers. These could include angles of the seat, methods of supporting a persons back with cushions or devices to allow the user to rest their arm on. I will then include these in my design.

Ergonomics – legsTo make my chair more ergonomically friendly I will consider putting a gradient support on the edge of the seat. This will be to prevent the edge of the seat digging into the users legs. I will need to consider this because the gradient of the seat is an an angle that could make the edge dig into someone’s leg. The depth will be 55m to allow just enough space to support under the knee and it will be at an obtuse angle of 130 degrees in relation to the seat.

Ergonomics – seatI can start by making the seat ergonomically friendly by developing the angle it is at. This would prevent the user feeling like they are falling out of the chair. By putting the back rest at 78 degrees to the base to allow the user to lean back into it an extra 12 degrees from perpendicular. I will then tilt the seat back so that it is around 80-90 degrees in relation to the back rest. This would create a shape that would be very ergonomic for a user to sit in. it will also make the chair a relaxing/reclining one as opposed to an upright one and a chair that encourages you to work or write at a desk. The other aspect of the chair that I must consider in terms of ergonomics is the cushions/foam. I must create a design using foam that will support a persons back and bottom. I know the shape of the spine and will try to accommodate the two muscles either side of the spine along with the shoulder blade. This would create a shape that would look like to ‘c’s back to back curving outwards with a wider top for the shoulder blade. I must the put two pieces of foam on the seat for the coccyx and then a shape that goes forwards towards the edge of the seat.

Specification ( with hierachy)

Function ( 1)My product must be multi functional. It must be able to seat someone and store products. It must be comfortable and allow people of all shape and sizes to sit on it. It terms of storage I want my product to have drawers underneath or a table attached to hold newspapers and books. It must be free standing. This is so that I don’t have to consider supports or suitable connecting devices to accommodate this. Justificationthe reasoning behind this is because I want to design a seat with storage because during my research I discovered there was a huge target market for this type of product. I also know that this is a vague category which gives me the room to design a broad range of initial ideas to take on and develop. I want it to be free standing so it doesn’t need supports so I dont have to consider that when designing

Size (3)My product must be a size that can be fitted into most peoples houses as a moderately sized chair. I will base my design size and dimensions around anthropometrics. Anthropology will give me all the necessary dimensions to design a chair fit for use. This will include looking at data on length of legs to determine the height of my chair of the floor. I will also look at data on length of backs and forearms to design the length of the back and of the arm rest. It must be a weight that a person is capable of moving if needed to but not so light that it compromises the strength of my productJustificationIt must be able to fit into peoples houses for obvious reasons. If it couldn’t meet this basic point then people would not buy it. I will also need to use anthropology a lot to make sure it is all the right size, this way it will sell a lot easier

Aesthetics (2)My design must be aesthetically pleasing. I want it to be similar to Steffan Borselius’ Wilmer T chair. This will give me the inspiration to go on and develop this design idea of a chair with storage. I hope to include curves and shapes that will increase the aesthetic appeal of my design. I also hope to use different materials and colours to make my product eye catching and uniqueJustificationMy design must be aesthetically pleasing in order to attract customers and sell. I want to base it on Steffan Borselius’ Wilmer t because this is a very popular multifunctional chair. I want to use storage and seating because this has a wide target market. I hope that the curves and colours will make my product stand out this is in order to catch customers eyes. By increasing the aesthetic appeal as much as I can I hope to increase the saleability at the same time. This is a very simple correlation that should work.

Materials (4)I want to use resistant materials in my product. They must be readily available and relatively cheap. I must be able to come up with methods to join them that we have resources to do here in school. When considering my materials I will consider cost, colour and finish. The finish is very important, I will look at all the different ways to finish the material and this will play a big role in deciding the final material(s) that I use.JustificationI must use resistant materials as this is what my experience is in. I need them to be readily available so I can resource them at ease and they need to be relatively cheap so I can afford them. We are also slightly limited with what resources we have in school so I must make sure I can carry out these tasks in school. The finish is important as it’s the above the line aspect that the customer will first see. It will play a big role in deciding my final material as it is highly important in the whole scheme of things.

Specification ( with Hierachy )Cost (5)The cost must be less that £60. it must not cost loads to resource the materials or to get the joining methods. It must also be a pretty low price to build and make as it will then have to be sold with a profit. However when making this product it must be taken into account that this is a one off production and so the production cost will be a lot higher. If I were to be making a batch of these products the cost would be less and less with the more products you produce do to the nature of mass production.Justification the cost must be less than £60 as this Is my budget. I will not be able to afford it if it goes over. I will have to consider this when choosing my materials and methods of assembly . The reason for the high price when selling will be due to the reason of no mass production and instead one off production

Ergonomics (7)My product must be ergonomic . If I get handles I will use anthropology to come up with specific design dimensions so my design is ergonomic. It must cater for the 95th percentile of dimensions in accordance to the human body. It must have ergonomic arm rests and head rests. This will be done by looking at data on dimensions of people as ergonomics is all about the study of how products interact with users in the working environment.JustificationMy product must be ergonomic to increase popularity amongst customer. It is essential to incorporate anthropology so my product caters for its users. The arm rest is needed so people can comfortably relax in my chair with their arms reclined. The head rest is needed for the same reason so it can allow the user to comfortably relax and recline in my chair. It must be at the right height and position if it is to work effectively as a method of providing extra support to the head. I will use the information provided by anthropology to get reliable and valid data.

Health and safety (6)My product must not have any detachable small parts. It must avoid including any mechanisms that give an opportunity for hair, ties and fingers to get caught in. I must not use any toxic liquids during the making process including any finish. I must avoid sharp edges and corners. I must also avoid small gaps in which young children could get their head of limb stuck in. I will also look to make my product steady and self supporting and not top heavy.JustificationMy product must not have any small detachable parts so children cant swallow them. I will avoid mechanisms and moving parts to limit the chance of something getting stuck in their and it hurting someone. I will not use toxic liquids so it doesn’t effect anyone. I will try to not involve sharp edges and corners in my design to stop there being injuries . It must also not be top heavy to stop it falling on someone.

Sustainability (8)I want my product to be sustainable. I will do this by making sure I use good sustainable materials to avoid it being a short term product. I will consider what finishes I will use, for example I could use aluminium which is low maintenance and needs no time and effort to maintain. I will make sure my product is made out of materials which I can recycle and that it is environmentally friendly when being made.JustificationI want my product to be sustainable as I can use this as a main selling point when trying to attract customers. I will chose my materials wisely to make sure they are sustainable in accordance to my product. I will make sure my product is eco friendly to show awareness of the environment to show to the customer that the product is environmentally friendly and to help everyone in making sure we think about our future and sustaining fossil fuels. Especially I will put thought into the making process as much as my materials.

Specification (with Hierarchy )Target audience (9)My target audience will be anyone who is short on space and needs a seat. I hope to make my product have an identity but at the same be neutral enough to be able to aim my product at a broad range of possible customers. My product will be aimed at young adults, families , students and older people. This means my design cant be too modern or extravagant. I will make sure my design can be targeted at a broad range of peopleJustificationIt will be targeted at anyone who is short on space because my design will be space efficient and sold with this as a main selling point. I will make it neutral as this will widen my possible target market. It will be aimed at all of these people so it can sell more products. I will make sure its not too modern or extravagant for the same reason so I can keep it aimed at the wider target market.

Ease of assembly (11)My product must be relatively easy to assemble to save time and effort when constructing my design. It must have joints which are easy to use to assemble my product. It must be easy to use the materials I chose. It must also be easy to resource the materials. It must be able to be stored flat pack so its easy to transport and easy for the buyer to assemble. It must also not need any tools which are not common so It can be assembled by anyone with the majority of household tools.JustificationIt must be easy to assemble so everyone can construct it. It must also be able to be made out of every day tools so everyone can make it. It must be able to be put into flat pack so it can be transported easier. It must finally be made out of materials which are easy to join and don’t need any special facilities such as screws, nuts, nails and butt joints with glue.

Finish (10)My product must be finished to an aesthetically high standard. It must be a finish that can go on my chosen material. It must be non-toxic and must be affordable. It must make my product eye catching and different or unique. It must enhance the overall aesthetic appeal of my product. It must protect my material and make it durable. It must be pretty easy to apply as we are limited for time.JustificationIt must be finished to a high standard to attract more customers to my product. It must be a finish that can go on my chosen material so I can carry out my design. My product must be eye catching and unique so it gets customers attention and hopefully makes them buy the product. The finish must be aesthetically enhancing to make the product better and must be protective to sustain the aesthetic appeal of my product . It must be relatively easy to apply so that a large section of time is not wasted on simply applying the finish. This is particularly important because there is no time to be wasted and the whole programme is following strict deadlines to stay on track.

Colour and shape (12)My product must have a colour scheme. It must be picked after research and evaluation of existing colour schemes on existing products similar to mine. It must be eye catching but this cannot comprimise the ability for my product to be targeted at a wide market. My product must be inventive and unique by using organic and flowing shapes. It must enahance the design of the product by utilising these shapes.JustificationMy product must have a colour scheme in order to give it an identity and make it unique. It must be picked after research so I know it’s the right colour for my product. It needs to be eye catching to appeal to customers. It must use flowing shapes to make it aesthetically pleasing to avoid a boxy design and product. The shapes must enhance the design of the product by improving cosmetically the overall theme of the product. This is important as although there is a heavy emphasis on function the aesthetics of this product are very important and will decide the success of the design.

Specification (with hier rachy)

Anthropometrics (13)My product must use anthropology. I must effectively use the data to come up with appropriate dimensions for all of the parts of my product. It must accommodate the 95th percentile of people according to how much weight it can bare, what width the seat is and how high off the floor it is. I can also use it to make sure the length of the back of the seat is correct and the length of the arms are correct to cater for the average size of the forearm .JustificationI must use anthropology to get the appropriate dimensions so my product can cater for its users. It is vitally important that I use anthropometric data to get every dimension correct. It will be used for how much weight the chair can bare and what size the actual seat is. This will be precise data to make sure the user is comfortable in the chair and that the size of everything is in proportion and appropriate.

Quality (14)My product must be made to a high quality. Throughout the design and make process there will be quality control checks. These quality control checks are vital. I want my product to be a high qulaity structurely as a chair. It must be of a high quality in terms of the material I use and joints I choose to bring them together. My finish must be of high quality to make sure the customers first impression is good when they see the product. The quality control checks will be carried out after every stage of the process.JustificationIt must be made to a high quality in order to attract customers. The quality control measures are needed to make sure there is no drop in quality at any stage and the high quality finish wanted is carried out throughout the process. The quality of the product must be consistent in all aspects of the product, this includes materials, joints, design and the finish. If all of these are of a relatively high quality then the product will be a very good finished article.

How I will test my specification pointsFunctionI can test my function points by making sure it’s a seat and has storage. I can ask peoples opinions on whether my product is comfortable. This will be qualitative testing.Sizei can test my specification points by measuring them. This will be quantitative testing. I will measure the back , the height of the chair and the length of the arms.AestheticsI will test the aesthetics of my product by asking a group of people in a survey what they think cosmetically of my product. I will then test the results against my spec points. This will be qualitative testing.MaterialTo test material I need to look at the colour, texture cost and aesthetics. To test colour and shape I will need to ask peoples opinions and gather the qualitative data, but for the price I will need to measure the amount I spent so this will be quantitative testing.CostI will test the cost of my product by adding all my prices and testing it against my specification point of £60. This will be Quantitative testing.Health and safetyI will make sure and ask for a second opinion to check that there are no small detachable parts, no toxic finish, no mechanisms, no gaps and no sharp edges, this will be a mix of qualitative and quantitative testing.ErgonomicsI will ask a group of peers to asses the ergonomic extent of my product. This will include feeling the headrest, the arm rest and the comfort of the chair, this will need to have a lot of testing and it will be qualitative because I will have a lot of different opinions

Sustainabilityi will make sure my product is sustainable by using tests to see if my product can be recycled. I will need to check if my material is sustainable by asking someone for a second opinion. I will need to look if my construction is eco friendly and this will be qualitative testing.Target AudienceI will ask clients if my product has been successfully aimed at them and appropriately sold to them, I will get opinions on whether or not I have successfully done this, this will be qualitative testing as it is a matter of opinion.Ease of assemblyTo asses the specification of my product being easy to assemble, to pack flat, to therefore transport and to construct I will need to do a survey and ask opinions on how the users found this product compared against the spec points. This will also be qualitative testing.FinishThe method of testing my finish specification point will be asking opinions as it is a matter of opinion because it is talking about how aesthetic the finish makes my product so this is qualitative testing. However the matter of looking at the price of my finish is a quantitative issue as we can measure it.Colour and shapeTo assess the colour and shape will do a survey to gather qualitative data on the specification point.AnthropometricsI will be able to test my anthropology specification by measuring whether or not it fits into the 95th percentile, this is obviously quantitative testingQualityI will assess the quality of my product by asking a questionnaire to a group of volunteers and gather qualitative data on my degree of success is complying with the specification points.

Specification point

Product 1 Product 2 Product 3 Product 4

Function It does meet my spec of having seating and storage.

It does have seating but no storage, instead it does have a table which makes this multi functional.

This product does have seating and storage and has done it cleverly.

This product does have seating and storage and a table which is more than I intended my product to have.

Size It is moderately sized and would fit in to most spaces in a house.

This is too big for my spec point , it would need a lot of space.

The size of the product is small enough to fit into most peoples houses

The size of it is medium but it has three functions so it has an efficient use of space.

Aesthetics this chair and desk is aesthetically pleasing to some extent but not as pleasing as I want mine to be.

Aesthetically it is not too pleasing because of the metal which makes it look cheap.

This product is aesthetically pleasing and designed well.

Aesthetically it is quite plain but the emphasis is on function.

Material This does use resistant materials, I am unsure of the cost of these materials so I cannot judge that.

This uses wood and metal in moderate pricing and costs.

The materials uses here are wood and metal, the designer has combined the two very well.

The material is just wood so it doesn’t use a range but it has been used well and made to look quite nice.

Ergonomics This product is ergonomic even though there are no handles it is used in the arms instead.

Ergonomically it is not great it is rather bulky and not user friendly.

This product is ergonomically very friendly. And meets my spec.

This product is good ergonomically.

Sustainability This product has been made with sustainable and recyclable materials.

The sustainability of the product is good, it has recyclable materials.

However this product is not sustainable as you cannot recycle it.

This is sustainable and meets by spec as it can be recycled.

Target audience This is successfully targeted at people who are short on space

This is not targeted at people who are short on space because of its size.

This can be targeted at people who are short on space.

The target audience is people who are short on space but with out children as this poses many health and safety threats.

Ease of assembly This product is easy to assemble like my spec because it is flat pack.

It is not easy enough to assemble because of the mechanism.

It is not easy to assemble as it has complicated joining methods.

It is easy to assemble and can be stored as flat pack help with this.

Finish The finish of this product is successful in meeting the brief it has a high finish.

This does meet my spec point it is a high quality finish which makes it some what aesthetically pleasing.

The finish is very good and would be how I want my product to look.

The finish is good and helps make it look aesthetically pleasing to an extent.

Colour and shape This does have a colour scheme which has been picked after research.

It doesn't’t really have a clear scheme as I would like my product to, and the shape is pretty boring.

It has a colour scheme and is neutral which is my spec point.

The colour is just the wood but the shape is quite boxy which compromises the aesthetics, this would not meet my spec point.

Anthropometrics This product has been made in relation to anthropology in mind.

The anthropometrics of it are good and it meets my spec point.

It is anthropometrically sound and meets the spec.

Anthropology has been regarded in this most definitely and meets my spec.

Quality The quality is good and has had clear quality checks.

The quality of the product is good but not enough for my spec point.

The quality is good just as I would want my product to be.

The quality is good and the assembly is neat just as I hope my product will be.

Cost I am unsure of the cost of this product so I cannot analyse it.

The cost of the overall table is expensive and doesn't’t meet my spec point because of its mechanism.

The cost is small and comes in at under £60.

The cost of this product does come in at under £60 which is how much I want my product to cost.

Health and safety This product has no sharp edges or toxic finish however it does have sharp edges and small gaps.

This is not safe for kids so it doesn't’t meet because of sharp edges and moving parts.

The only spec point it doesn't’t meet is not to have sharp edges.

The health and safety is poo, there are moving parts, sharp edges and small spaces.

Above the line AnalysisMaterialsThe material used here is pine. It is affordable and readily available. It is strong for furniture and can be assembled easily with basic joining methods. It is an aesthetically pleasing material .FunctionThe function is to be a seat for a table. It has been designed closely to anthropology and is all in proportion. Is is not multi functional but could easily be adapted into one.AestheticsThe aesthetics of the product are good. It has been esigned very simply but cleverly. It is very low cost but is aesthetically pleasing. The aesthetics are also neutral so it would fit in with most houses and colour schemes. The only negative is that it is quite boxy which does limit its aesthetic appeal when trying to sell it to possible buyers.

User interfacethe interaction with the user is good. As you can see there are two planks which have been warped to accommodate the curve in the back to increase comfort. It is also a nice height from the floor. It has no arms so it can be slid under the table when not using them.PerformanceThe performance of this product is good. It can allow people to sit on it and to be moved around a lot. It is durable because of its design such as having the additional supports going along the floor.ErgonomicsThis product is ergonomic. It has the back arches to allow the person to sit comfortably in the chair. It also has wide surface to sit on to accommodate the vast majority of possible users. When making this product there has been close attention to anthropology to make sure it is ergonomic and user friendly.

Build QualityThe building quality of it is good. It has been assembled with careful joints and for the pine chair. It can easily been disassembled and stored as flat pack. It can easily be assembled with screw drivers and Alan keys which are household items.EconomicsThe economics of this product are very good and efficeint. It can be bought for very cheap and has a very good function and aesthetic appeal.ReliabilityThis product is very reliable it is durable and sustainable. Because it has no fancy mechanism or gadgets it is just very simple and well designed it meets its function of a seat very well.MaintenanceIt is very low maintenance as it has been varnished and it is very easy to clean because it is varnished.

SafetyThe saftey features of this product are good, although it is rather boxy there are no sharp edges as such because they have been sanded off to give a nice curved finish. However this product does have two gaps where young children could get there heads stuck.Similar productsThere are similar products that are functioning chairs for low cost when bought in bulk but none similar to this in the respect of design.FinishThe finish is good. It has been varnished to expose the grain more and to make it look nicer. This finish is also good to stop it aging and protect the wood against anything that could spill on it.PackagingThis product can be packaged flat pack and then assembled very easily. Flat pack means there is no assembly cost and its cheap to transport.

Below the line analysisTechnologyThe technology involved in this product is minimal. There only joints are Dowell and mortise and Tenon joints. These are very simple and easy to use. This makes the chair affordable and more attractive to the possible clients who could buy it.MaterialsThe materials used are wood. The wood is pine. It’s an affordable and readily available it is good because its strong and durable. It is obviously recyclable and can look aesthetically pleasing when finished with varnish. It is easy to work with as you can screw into it easily and manipulate it to have bends and curves.Manufacturing processesThe manufacturing processes involved here are very simple. The wood has been measured and cut to size with two pieces having mortise and tenon joints and then put together using dowell and screws. Anyone can put this product together.

AssemblyAs you can see in the picture the chair is made up of the two sides which includes the legs and back uprights and the supports going across the two adjacent legs. Then the seat is put on and the four perpendicular planks are put in place, the bottom two being flat and top two being curved allowing for that extra comfort.ComponentsThe components of this product are as said above plus 4screws to keep the seat in place in each corner. Then 8 screws put into either side of the mortise and tenon joint for added strength and security.FunctionThe function of this product is to be a chair. Its specifically made with a set of other chairs and a table to match. This can be seen in the design with the omission of arms to allow it to neatly tuck under the table when it is not being used.

EconomicsThe economics of this product are good. Below the line analysis shows that the joining methods are very financially efficient and allow the price for the product to be kept very low. This means a wider target market can afford it and therefore can increase sales.Quality controlThere has been clear quality control checks throughout this process of construction. There is clear attention to detail when making the components for this product. Each aspect of the design has been made to a very high standard which is evidential in the assembly process when the user makes it. Quality AssuranceThe assurance of quality is also very good. Although this isnt a very aesthetically pleasing product the quality assurance lies in the function and making sure that is completed to a good standard so people will buy it.

ReliabilityThe aspects of joints and design of below the line is very reliable. They are basic but function and avoid any unneccessary complexity to the whole product. It is also very reliable as there is not much chance of a mechanism breaking or an individual component breaking because they are so basic.ConstructionThe construction is good. It has been made with care and detail. For example the Mortise and Tennon joints have been made with precision accuracy which allows the buyer to assemble their product with ease and just slide the joint together.Sustainabilitythe aspects that are below the line are highly sustainable. This product could be recycled including all of the screws and dowells which adds to the wood which is recyclable and sustainable.

Questionnaire

1. How many chairs/ seats do you have in your house?

0 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-10 11-15 16+ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

2. How many items of storage furniture do you have in your house(shelves, book shelves, wardrobes, cupboards and cabinets)?

0 1-2 3-4 5-7 8-10 11-15 16+☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

3. Do you have any multi functional pieces of furniture in your house?

Yes No Don☐ ☐ t know ☐

4. Which of the following statements applies best to your house/accomodation?

I’m very short on space I don☐ ’t have much space I have some spare space ☐ ☐ I have a lot of spare space☐

5. When was the last time you bought a piece of furniture for your house?

Less than a week ago Less than a month ago In the last year ☐ ☐ ☐Over a year ago Never ☐ ☐

6. What is the most you have spent on a chair/ seat in the past?

Less than £20 £21 - £40 £41 - £60 £61 - £80 £81 - £100 £100+ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

7. What would you be willing to pay for a chair/ seat now?

Less than £20 £21-40 £41-£60 £61-£80 £81-£100 £100+☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

8. What is the average life span of any seats/ chairs in your house?

Less than a year 1-2 years 3-4 years 5-6 years 7-10 years 10+ years ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐

What I hope to find from my survey

This survey has been made to help me gather research which I will then use to make my final specification and there for product. I need to find out some simple basics in order to make a functioning product that can be targeted at a wide audience. The first piece of information I hope to find is the average amount of seats in a house I can then make sure that seating is a big market and very popular I can prove that everyone has and buys seats and how lucrative this market could be. The second is storage which is very similar to the seating information. I will then use both of these pieces of information to combine to make a multifunctional piece of furniture. I also want to prove that the vast majority of people are short on space and would buy a space saving and space efficient piece of multi functional furniture. I then want to find out how much people have paid for seating in the past and how much they are now willing to pay for seating. I hope this will be able to prove my point that if I can combine the two functions I will be able to sell my product for the same price as people are paying for seating but with the additional function of storage. Therefore making my product space and financially efficient. I will finally discover what the average life span of chairs in people houses are so I can design my chair to out last these products and be durable as a main selling point of my product.

Results and conclusion

1. How many chairs/ seats do you have in your house?

2. How many items of storage furniture do you have in your house(shelves, book shelves, wardrobes, cupboards and cabinets)?

4. Which of the following statements applies best to your house/accomodation?

0

1 to 2

3 to 4

5 to 6

7 to 10

11 to 15

16+

5. What would you be willing to pay for a chair/ seat now?

6. What is the average life span of any seats/ chairs in your house?

0

1 to 2

3 to 4

5 to 7

8 to 10

11 to 15

16+

im very short on spaceI don’t have much spaceI have some spare spaceI have a lot of spare space

less than £20£21- £40£41-£60£61-£80£81-£100£100+

Less than a year1-2 years3-4 years5-6 years7-10 years10+ years

ConclusionI can see here all of my results exhibited in a neat and presentable chart so I can easily analyse my results and come to these conclusions. I can now see that the average person will have between 11 and 15 chairs/seats in their house. This indicates it is a very popular market with a huge target audience for me to sell my product to. Second of all I can see many people have between 11-15 pieces of storage furniture in their houses. This emphasis’ the possibility I have of combining the two functions in one product and selling it to a very wide target market. 40% of people who took the survey said they are “very short on space” which means there is also a very big market for space saving, multifunctional products and furniture. I will also look to make my product for less than £60 as this was where the greatest amount of people said they would pay for a seat, finally I will look to make my product have a life span of over 6 years as this was the average life span of the chairs of the people who took the questionnaire

Week

Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Buy and resource material

Mark Ply wood

Cut plywood

Cut joints in plywood

Sand plywood

First coat of clear varnish

Draw Acrylic cut out on 2D design

Cut out acrylic on laser cutter

Wash acrylic

Draw Back support on 2D Design

Cut out playwood on laser cutter

Glue together back support

Insert acrylic in the back support

Mark and cut out feet using mortiser

Sand feet and give first coat of varnish

Glue seat to backrest and leave to dry

Glue backrest to base

Glue back curve to seat and base

Insert back support and glue together

Draw acrylic seat support on 2D Design

Cut out acrylic on laser cutter

Screw acrylic onto seat support

Glue seat support under seat and then screw

Glue and screw feet onto base

Insert wood filler in any gaps in joints

Sand everything back including wood filler

Give a final coat of varnish

Draw foam cushion on 2D Design

Print off template, stick onto foam and cut out on band saw

Stick foam onto the seat and backrest using double sided sticky tape

Plan of making

Questionnaire

Name………………………………………………………Age…………………………………………………………..Gender…………………………………………………….Occupation…………………………………………….

1. How much would you pay for this product?

£0-£20 £21-£40 £41-£60 £61-£80 £80+

2. Do you think the seat is comfortable?

Yes No

3. On a scale of 1-10 how aesthetically pleasing do you think the chair is? 1 is least aesthetic and 10 is most.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

4. What improvements, if any, do you think could be made?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………...……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

5. Do you think the chair is ergonomically friendly?

Yes No

6. Do you like the colour scheme?

Yes No

7. Do you like the shapes used in my design?

Yes No

8. Would you have this piece of furniture in your house?

Yes No

9. How do you think I could add more functions to this chair?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...

Results of questionnaire

How much people would pay for this chair.

£0-£20£21-£40£41-£60£61-£80£80+

Do you think this chair is com-fortable?

YesNo

How aesthetically pleasing do you think the chair is?

1 23 45 67 89 10

Do you think the chair is er-gonomically friendly?

yesno

Do you like the colour scheme?

YesNo

Would you have this piece of furniture in your house?

YesNo

EvaluationFunction (1)

My product must be multi functional. It must be able to seat someone and store products. It must be comfortable and allow people of all shape and sizes to sit on it. It terms of storage I want my product to have drawers underneath or a table attached to hold newspapers and books. It must be free standing. This is so that I don’t have to consider supports or suitable connecting devices to accommodate this.first and Foremost I have ensured my product is multifunctional by accommodating a storage area underneath the seat and at the back of the chair. It does effectively seat a person and it can store products. It is comfortable and I have ensured this by angling the backrest at 78 degrees and having the set at a right angle to that. This encourages the person to sit in a more upright position with it also being comfortable. I have also ensured it is comfy by adding a lip on the seat so the users legs will not dig into the edge of the seat. I know my chair is comfortable because I have asked a group of people to try it and give me feedback which is presented in my questionnaire, this is an example of qualitative testing because it cannot be measured instead it is a matter of opinion. My product does not have drawers or a table instead I decided put shelving in the back which would have the same function as a table. My chair is free standing and is supported by 4 feet in each corner which has allowed me to dismiss the concern of considering how to support my chair or arranging for suitable connecting devices.

Aesthetics (2)

My design must be aesthetically pleasing. I want it to be similar to Steffan Borselius’ Wilmer T chair. This will give me the inspiration to go on and develop this design idea of a chair with storage. I hope to include curves and shapes that will increase the aesthetic appeal of my design. I also hope to use different materials and colours to make my product eye catching and uniqueI believe my design is aesthetically pleasing however this too is a matter of opinion so I asked a group of people in my questionnaire and they too agreed it is. It is similar to Steffan Borselius’ Wilmer T chair because it is seating and storage and therefore multifunctional. However it does not have a table like the Wilmer T and it does not have that style of chair. Despite that I have used curves and organic shapes in my design by adding the curve at the back and the circle shape cut outs in the two supports. This has without doubt broken up the geometric nature of my design and has increased the appeal, aesthetically. Finally I have used different materials in plywood and acrylic plastic, which makes my design eye catching. The acrylic, which comes in a range of colours, is bright orange, which compliments the plywood and makes my design eye catching.

Size (3)My product must be a size that can be fitted into most people’s houses as a moderately sized chair. I will base my design size and dimensions around anthropometrics. Anthropology will give me all the necessary dimensions to design a chair fit for use. This will include looking at data on length of legs to determine the height of my chair of the floor. I will also look at data on length of backs and forearms to design the length of the back and of the arm rest. It must be a weight that a person is capable of moving if needed to but not so light that it compromise the strength of my product.My chair is 1160mm high and 450mm wide. It is far smaller than a traditional chair in a lounge and about the same size as a kitchen table seat therefore it has met the point of being able to fit into most peoples houses. I have used anthropometrics throughout my design to get the right dimensions so my users can feel comfortable when on the chair. I have used the length of the average sized leg from the knee to heel as a point of reference when making my chair and am happy that it accommodates a large range of people. I have dismissed the idea of an armrest because I feel it would have compromised the aesthetics of the design therefore I did not need to look at the average length of forearms and the relative height from the shoulder and hip. I have however considered the average backside but because of the length of the chairs back rest this was not a concern because it would be okay for any size to fit on. My chair is a weight small enough for one person to carry but as any chair of a similar size it would not necessarily be designed to be portable or even moved around a lot. I have also ensured that the strength of the chair has not been compromised in order for the weight to be lowered and the strength is far more important as it must support a persons weight to avoid any potential incident.

Materials (4) I want to use resistant materials in my product. They must be readily available and relatively cheap. I must be able to come up with methods to join them that we have resources to do here in school. When considering my materials I will consider cost, colour and finish. The finish is very important, I will look at all the different ways to finish the material and this will play a big role in deciding the final material(s) that I use.

In my chair I have used resistant materials such as wood and plastic. They were readily available and relatively cheap because I used plywood and acrylic. However I also used mahogany for my feet which is more expensive and harder to get. I did also successfully develop designs of joining them that could be done in school using the resources we had. I used joints such as through tenon, rebate joint, butt joint and screw joints all of which I did using the tools in school like the router, jigsaw, chisel, drill and screwdriver. I considered various types of finishes such as paint and spray painting but decided to go with clear varnish because of the aesthetic appeal of the grain in plywood. Using the clear varnish allowed me to demonstrate how good plywood can look and it went very well with the properties of acrylic because that is glossy and the opposite of matt.Cost (5)The cost must be less that £60. It must not cost loads to resource the materials or to get the joining methods. It must also be a pretty low price to build and make, as it will then have to be sold with a profit. However when making this product it must be taken into account that this is a one off production and so the production cost will be a lot higher. If I were to be making a batch of these products the cost would be less and less with the more products you produce do to the nature of mass production.

The cost of my Chair has come in at just over £60. It did not cost loads to resource however there were a lot of components that did cost which seemed to accumulate to over £60. However I have considered throughout that this is a one off production so manufacturing costs would be far higher than if I was to be making a batch of this product as I would be using items like the jig I made for the curve more than once and so the cost of that would be divided out amongst however many products were made therefore lowering the price of each individual chair.

Health and safety (6) My product must not have any detachable small parts. It must avoid including any mechanisms that give an opportunity for hair, ties and fingers to get caught in. I must not use any toxic liquids during the making process including any finish. I must avoid sharp edges and corners. I must also avoid small gaps in which young children could get their head of limb stuck in. I will also look to make my product steady and self-supporting and not top heavy.

My product has been successful in not having any detachable parts that could be swallowed by young children. It has also been successful in avoiding any mechanism that gives an opportunity for hair, ties and fingers to get caught in. I ensured this was the case when designing and so I didn’t start to consider making my design multi-functional by adding mechanism and moving parts. I have not used any toxic liquids during my manufacturing and finish of the product. I have avoided having any sharp edges and corners by sanding them back but they are still a minor risk. I have avoided small gaps that younger could get stuck in however there are very small circles so any supervisor or parent would have to be careful if children were playing around it. My chair is also successfully self-supporting and is very steady and has very little chance of it falling on top of a younger person of pet. Throughout this manufacturing process I have managed to avoid any accidents and took all necessary safety precautions in order to make sure nothing went wrong. These included tucking away my tie, wearing eye protection putting any bags in safe places away from the floor and wearing ear protection to avoid damaging my hearing.

Ergonomics (7) My product must be ergonomic. If I get handles I will use anthropology to come up with specific design dimensions so my design is ergonomic. It must cater for the 95th percentile of dimensions in accordance to the human body. It must have ergonomic armrests and head rests. This will be done by looking at data on dimensions of people as ergonomics is all about the study of how products interact with users in the working environment. My product is ergonomic because a number of a different aspects within the design. I did not use handles in the end or arm rests because as mentioned already I thought it would ruin the aesthetics of the chair. However I have added cushion foam as a backrest and this is all using anthropometric data. I had to use data on the distance between the two muscles either side of the spine to make it as comfortable as possible. I also had to consider the distance between the shoulder blades and buttocks. Once I had this information I could draw a design to accommodate all these pressure points. I am confident this makes my chair very ergonomic and this is a qualitative measure so I will ask a group of people to try it. I also have the addition of an angled piece of wood coming off the chair to avoid the wood cutting into the users legs. Sustainability (8) I want my product to be sustainable. I will do this by making sure I use good sustainable materials to avoid it being a short term product. I will consider what finishes I will use, for example I could use aluminium which is low maintenance and needs no time and effort to maintain. I will make sure my product is made out of materials which I can recycle and that it is environmentally friendly when being made. My product is sustainable because I have used sustainable materials to avoid it being a short term product. I did not decide to use aluminium despite its low maintenance levels because it would not fit in with the aesthetics of the design. However the materials I have chosen which are plywood, acrylic and mahogany are low maintenance and don’t demand anything more than an occasional dust. I have also made sure my product is predominantly made out of materials that are recyclable and therefore environmentally friendly. At the moment acrylic is not easily recycled because when heated up it will burn in stead of melting therefore it can not be melted down into different shapes for different uses, despite this small disappointment I am happy with the overall sustainability of my design.

Target audience (9) My target audience will be anyone who is short on space and needs a seat. I hope to make my product have an identity but at the same be neutral enough to be able to aim my product at a broad range of possible customers. My product will be aimed at young adults, families, students and older people. This means my design cant be too modern or extravagant. I will make sure my design can be targeted at a broad range of people. I think I have successfully aimed my chair at people who are short on space and who need a seat that is an efficient use of space. However I believe I have narrowed my target audience down because of the character of the chair in particular the obscure shapes and bright coloured orange acrylic. This certainly makes it less of a neutral design and therefore would increase the price of it if I were to sell it. It is still, however, aimed at people of all ages and backgrounds such as students, families and elder people. I feel that the design isn’t too modern or extravagant however I’m sure some people would disagree with me, as it is a qualitative measure.

Finish (10) My product must be finished to an aesthetically high standard. It must be a finish that can go on my chosen material. It must be non-toxic and must be affordable. It must make my product eye catching and different or unique. It must enhance the overall aesthetic appeal of my product. It must protect my material and make it durable. It must be pretty easy to apply, as we are limited for time. I strongly believe that my product is finished to a high aesthetic standard. I decided to use clear varnish as it brought out the grain in the plywood and in the mahogany. It is not toxic and was relatively cheap. I believe my chair is eye catching and it is definitely unique. This has enhanced the overall aesthetic appeal by putting a gloss on the wood and also protecting it at the same time. The clear varnish was applied to my wooden parts of the design early on before assembly to protect them while they were being stored. It prevented any scratches and when dust sat on them it meant I could easily wipe it off because of the gloss finish as opposed to an untreated piece of plywood. Finally clear varnish was the right choice as it was easy to apply but not necessarily a quick way to treat the wood as you have to allow it to dry and then cut it back before applying more coats and repeating the process. Despite the time consuming nature of this finish it does result in the best outcome aesthetically and as a protection method.

Ease of assembly (11) My product must be relatively easy to assemble to save time and effort when constructing my design. It must have joints which are easy to use to assemble my product. It must be easy to use the materials I chose. It must also be easy to resource the materials. It must be able to be stored flat pack so it’s easy to transport and easy for the buyer to assemble. It must also not need any tools which are not common so It can be assembled by anyone with the majority of household tools. My product was easy to assemble in parts and difficult in others so I did not completely meet this specification point. The majority of he assembly process was ease free however I had particular trouble trying to cut the angled mortise and tenon joint in the upright using a chisel. This was time consuming and resulted in me taking a bit off before trying to fit the seat in and then repeating this process. The rest of the joints were trouble and stress free to cut and assemble such as the rebate and butt joints. These were easier to do using plywood and mahogany for the feet. The design could easily be stored flat packed with the width of the curve the widest bit of it when laid flat for easy of transportation. It can easily be assembled with just glue and a screwdriver once all the joints are cut so this makes it easy for the user to assemble if bought flat packed.Colour and shape (12) My product must have a colour scheme. It must be picked after research and evaluation of existing colour schemes on existing products similar to mine. It must be eye catching but this cannot compromise the ability for my product to be targeted at a wide market. My product must be inventive and unique by using organic and flowing shapes. It must enhance the design of the product by utilising these shapes. The colour scheme of my design is varnished plywood with orange acrylic. This is complemented by the shape scheme of circles. When the orange acrylic is seen around the circles cut out in order of biggest to smallest mirroring the curve of the two supports it gives a real sense of character and enhances the aesthetic appeal greatly. It is most certainly eye catching and is unique in every way and aspect, I do believe however it has marginally compromised in being able to target a wide market of people. It is inventive and has met that design specification point very well it has also used organic shapes as seen in the curve at the back of the chair and the curve in the seat support. Finally they have absolutely enhanced the design because without them the chair would be one dimensional and made out of geometric shapes and lacking any real flow.

Anthropometrics (13) My product must use anthropology. I must effectively use the data to come up with appropriate dimensions for all of the parts of my product. It must accommodate the 95th percentile of people according to how much weight it can bare, what width the seat is and how high off the floor it is. I can also use it to make sure the length of the back of the seat is correct and the length of the arms are correct to cater for the average size of the fore-arm. Throughout my design process and manufacturing process I have used anthropometric data to come up with initial sizes for my chair and then development of those sizes to best cater my target market. As I have previously mentioned I have decided not to use arms and therefore will not need to look at the anthropometric data on this aspect of a body. However I did need to look at the width of a person’s bottom which defined the width of the seat, I then looked at the average length of a person back and this was used to come up with an initial length for the back piece. I finally looked at the length most peoples knees are off the floor which defined the height the front of the seat was off the floor which was higher than at the back of the seat. This was to allow the user to sit back into the chair to stop them feeling like they would fall off. Quality (14) My product must be made to a high quality. Throughout the design and make process there will be quality control checks. These quality control checks are vital. I want my product to be a high quality structurely as a chair. It must be of a high quality in terms of the material I use and joints I choose to bring them together. My finish must be of high quality to make sure the customer’s first impression is good when they see the product. The quality control checks will be carried out after every stage of the process. The quality of my product is good enough to be sold as a high specification. Throughout the manufacturing process I took regular quality checks to ensure my chair was being made and assembled to a high standard. However, despite this there some signs that it was made by a student like me who is not a trained in woodwork. These are things such as little scratches where I was chiselling and caught the wood and some edges which have been given a chamfer from not sanding or plaining in a straight line or at 90 degrees. The joints I used were vital for the strength of the overall chair but were very hard to do and to assemble. The finish however is overall very good and would be more than impressive to a potential customer as a first impression. This is down to the concentration, focus, planning and quality checks I implemented at every stage of the manufacturing process.

Design Changes The first aspect of the design process that I would change is the plain style of the back rest and curved back. They are rather plain and boxy. If I were to do this design again I would definitely consider adding a cool, interesting design to the two pieces to make it even more aesthetically pleasing and then continue that theme throughout by making the base less geometric and more organic. I feel strongly this would enhance the aesthetics and change my chair into more of an aesthetic piece of furniture instead of a functioning, multi-functional chair. The second change I would make is the material I used. Plywood looks nice but wood such as mahogany or oak looks nicer in furniture, however there would be a cost implication to this. Plywood is far cheaper and is just as strong because of its 90 degree alternating manufacturing. If I were to do this project again I would consider making it out of oak, mahogany or teak and then getting rid of the acrylic as it would not go well with these darer woods. I hope this too would make the chair more aesthetically pleasing. The last change I would make to the design of the chair is the height of the front of the seat and the angle it is at. I based my design on the anthropometric data provided but I feel after sitting in it that the angle the seat is at is a little too high which makes the front of the seat to high for the shorter range of people. This would make it uncomfortable for them and would almost definitely result in them not buying the product and therefore losing money and business. If I were to do it again I would lower the angle of 78 degrees down to about 65 degrees which would still allow the user to feel as though they are sitting right back into the chair but would lower the front of the chair down about 20mm allowing a far greater amount of people to feel comfortable when sitting in the chair. Alternatively I could consider making the feet shorter to keep the angle of 78 degrees there.

Improvements

Manufacturing changes The first manufacturing change I would make is the way I cut the through tenon joint in the upright. It was fiddly and time consuming because it had an angle in it so we could not use the router or the morticer because of the size of the piece of wood I was cutting the joint through. If I were to make this chair again I would most definitely look at practise the method of using a chisel first before trying to cut the angle out. I would also look at how close I was cutting the wood with the jigsaw I would cut as close to the marked line as possible in order to leave as little an amount as possible to be chiselled. There would also be the possibility of changing the angle of the jigsaw so we could cut the angle out with that and then use the chisel just to tidy up the edges as opposed to relying on the chisel primarily to cut the angle out of the wood. The second aspect of the manufacturing I would change is the use of the electric sander. When getting rid of the marks on a piece of the wood I almost sanded down to far which could’ve potentially ruined the whole aesthetics of the design. I was not fully aware of the speed the electric belt sander would sand the wood at. If I were to manufacture this chair again I would consider using a less powerful mouse sander all over the chair in order to get rid of any lines or blemishes. This would ensure I wouldn’t potentially ruin my product and would allow me to monitor the rate at which the wood is being sanded. I would then finish the wood by using sand paper making sure I sand in the direction of the grain before I varnished it. The last issue I would address in the manufacturing process is the use of wood filler. I am aware that some of the joints needed a natural wood filler to hide some gaps however when applied it became a very messy process and it ended up going everywhere. This could then show up when varnished and affect the aesthetics of the chair if not sanded back which is very time consuming. If I were to do this again I would be far more careful with the wood filler and I would make sure that I only used small bits of filler at a time so no excess filler got in any places that had to be sanded before being varnished for a final coat.

Steps Picture Process Explanation

1I measured a classmate to get ideas of the dimensions and anthropometrics I would need for my chair. I measured the back length, the height from the floor to the top of the knee, the width of the back and the height his shoulder and head were from the seat.

I needed to do this so I could implement these dimensions into my design. This would then make my chair suitable for most people of all sizes. I could ensure the seat would be comfortable as well by looking at the angle he was sitting at and the angle of this back subsequently.

2I then used all the design drawings I had including dimensions to mark and measure out all my parts on the ply wood. This included the jig I need to make the curve for the back of my chair. Once marked and measured I put to one side and was ready to move onto the next step.

I need to mark and measure in order to get the right sizes for my chair. I had to ensure that I marked using a measuring tape and a tri-square. I also had to make sure I had a sharp pencil which I could rub out later on. Once marked well I could get ready to cut the parts out.

3I drew the curve on 2D design and printed off a template as shown in the image. I then stuck this onto the chipboard and cut around it twice using the jigsaw. This would give me the two sides for the jig.

I had to draw and print off templates so I had valid pieces that were exactly the same. They need to be the same so I could make sure the curve for my chair would be even and not wavy.

4I then stuck the two curves together using tape and sanded them together so they were identical in shape. This meant I could then put the supports in and create a perfectly even curve.

I needed to tape them together otherwise I could have sanded the two curves seperately and ended up with two different shape curves. This would’ve resulted in an uneven curve and therefore affected the aesthetics of the chair.

5I then measured three 600mm pieces of pine to act as supports across the jig. As seen in the image I screwed the curves onto each side of the three supports.

I made the supports 600mm so that when I attached the flexi-ply I could saw the necessary 450mm from the middle bit of the 600mm. If I had made the jig 450mm wide then I would’ve had rough edges.

6I then glued the 4 sheets of flexi-ply down onto the jig ensuring a lot of wood glue was put on and I also screwed the wood into the curved edge to make sure it was securely attached. I did this for all 4 sheets of flexi-ply to get the 20mm thick curve.

I had to consider how to attach the wood so I decided to screw and glue for extra strength. I also had to use 4 sheets of flexi ply so I had the curve 20mm thick as the rest of the wood was 20mm thick.

7Once the final layer was glued and screwed I put clamps on every edge and used wood to push down on any part of the flexi-ply that was being resistant and trying to push up.

I needed to put clamps on the curve so I could make sure the wood was going to stay in that shape. I then left this overnight and once dried in the morning I cut it off from the jig leaving me with the 450mm curve for the chair.

8Next I measured and marked out the rest of my design dimensions out of plywood. I then was ready for these parts to be cut.

I had to double check all of the dimensions and markings to make sure the chair would fit together once al the pieces were cut. I did this by measuring the parts out all again after marking them.

9I then cut out the pieces on the band saw under supervision from my teacher. I had to cut out the base, the backrest, the seat and the seat support.

When cutting them out, I cut outside the line to allow for sanding and planing to get down to the line. I also had to make sure my tie was tucked in, that I watched my fingers and that I wore eye protection.

10I then planed the edges down to the line marked to get a straight line. I had to avoid having the plane at an angle.

I had to plain the edges as it would’ve taken too long to sand down to the line and that could’ve made it uneven. I had to keep the plane straight to stop curving the edges.

11After planing the edges of the wood back I sanded any rougher edges still left using the linesher before sanding the wood all over using sand paper.

I had to sand back the wood so I could get rid of the marks and rougher edges using the linesher initially and then sand paper to make it very smooth before varnishing.

12I then varnished all the parts of the chair, once then I cut it back and repeated the process 3 times to protect the wood before assembly.

I needed to protect the wood so I could store it while doing other work without it getting scratched or damaged. This would have seriously affected the aesthetics of my chair.

13I then drilled in the 4 corners of the back curve and back rest and used the jigsaw to cut the rectangle shape. Then I had a straight edge clamped onto each side and chiselled the necessary angle through both parts until the seat fitted through well.

I had to be careful of chiselling at the correct angle to allow the seat to fit through at a comfortable angle to sit on. This will then make the seat far more ergonomic and comfortable.

14

I then had to chisel the rebate joint in the base at the angle of 78 degrees for the back rest to slot in. I had to go 10mm down and chisel it an angle to allow it to fit in nicely.

We marked this at an angle to allow the wooden backrest to come in at an angle and still have a strong joint. By doing that it secured the whole chair a lot more.

15I then had to use the router to cut out a housing joint at the back of the base to allow the curve to sit in at 90 degrees. It went down 10mm and was 20mm wide. I then sanded it back.

Having a housing joint here meant the back curve could fit in better than using a butt joint as there is more surface interaction sand therefore more strength in the joint

16Then I cut the front 50mm off the seat and cut a slot out of the two sides to make a biscuit joint. I then glued the leg support back on at an angle of 130 degrees.

Having a leg support was designed so that it prevented the edge of the seat digging into the users leg. By adding this piece it meant it would flow more and be more comfortable.

17I then cut the angles onto the curve and back rest using the circular saw which had the changed to cut an angle at the top and bottom so it would fit into the joints at the angle of 78 degrees.

Cutting the angles meant that when the back rest and back curve were at an angle their tops would be parallel to the floor looking far better aesthetically.

18I then had to glue the seat onto the back rest and leave it there to be clamped and dry overnight. I used pva wood glue and was careful to wash the glue that was running away.

I glued the seat onto the back rest first as it is the main joint of the chair and had to be done right. I had to focus when doing this joint.

19I then glued the seat into the back curve and the back curve and back rest onto the base straight after. I glued them into the rebate joints and through tenon joint. I then clamped and left to dry.

Then I had to glue the seat onto the curve and the curve and back rest onto the base at the same time because they define how the curve is placed togethr and doing one before the other would meant it had dried at the wrong angle for the other joint

20I then drilled the wholes out of the seat support using the hole drill of three different diametre in descending order on the support in the same curve as the support.

I had circles cut out of the seat support because as long as the frame of the support was kept in tact then the strength would remain. Having the circles would help with the aesthetics and keep with the theme.

21I then drew the support on 2d design and cut out the shape on the laser cutter out of orange acrylic. I also cut out the circle shapes in black acrylic to and stuck both on using double sided sticky tape and screws with silver caps

I used acrylic to emphasis the curve and to bring in the orange colour I wanted. I had the black circles to further emphasis the circles and make them stand out.

22Next I washed the acrylic on the support and marked on the seat where I was going to drill. I then glued the support in place under the seat and screwed the support in place.

I decided to screw and glue because it would add more strength and make the fundamental support of the chair reliable and strong.

23Then I drew the back support on 2D design and cut it out of plywood on the laser cutter. Then I glued the 4 pieces together and clamped and allowed to dry.

I cut the back support out on the laser cutter because I used finger joint which was intricate and would’ve been hard to do manually. I used plywood as this could be cut on the laser cutter.

24Then using the same drawing I manipulated it to have a frame of either side in which the acrylic would sit and I cut that the frame out of ply wood and the acrylic pieces using same drawing. Then I glued the frames on and pushed the acrylic into the frames on the support.

I then cut out acrylic to keep in the theme with orange. The orange and circles are no evident throughout my design and look in keeping

25Then I glued the back support into place and clamped onto the back curve and back rest. This was left overnight to dry fully and be sufficient of supporting the weight of a person.

I decided to glue the back support on because screwing or cutting out any other joint would have affected the aesthetics heavily. The nature of the back rest and curve pushing together keeps it in place anyway.

26Then I cut out 8 circles of 80mm diametre from mahogany and stuck them together to have the 4 feet. They were glued and left to dry. I then sanded them back around the edge.

I decided to use mahogany as I think it compliments the plywood and orange acrylic. It makes the feet stand out and look aesthetically pleasing.

27Then using the morticer I cut out a 90 angle from the centre of the feet to the perimeter. I then chiselled off any messy finish to get a smooth finish. I then sanded these, varnished and glue and screwed onto each corner of my chair.

The morticer had to be used to get down into the feet without take a long time. If I had chiselled this then I would not have completed the project on time.

28 I then varnished the whole chair and cut back. I had to make sure I got rid of any blemishes before I varnished otherwise they would be highlighted once the varnish was on.

I wanted to varnish again a final time to help bring out the grain and give it a glossy look. This meant the aesthetic appeal of the final finish was very good.

29Then I drew my design for the foam cushion on 2d Design and cut them out on the laser cuter. I attached them using timebond and put planks over them and clamped to make sure they were attached.

I added the foam cushion to help with the comfort of the chair. I also managed to get the circle theme in the foam and still make it very ergonomic and comfortable.