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Brief
I was breifed to create a folding chair based on the mechanisms of the FOL.D by Peter Jouin for XO while incorperating the design ques and stylings from the brand Kartell.
This was a brief two-week project following in depth. ergonomic and structural evaluations of the FOL.D.
Peter Jourin for XO- FOL.D chair
Kartell
Kartell is a company steeped in heritage with several different lead designers taking the helm through its history, because of this, aside from their distinct use of plastics, its hard to define a singular style that fits them. Instead of trying to encapsulate their whole history I instead chose to focus on a selection of chairs known as Eros.
Inspiration
In this project I dove deep, researching Kartell’s evolution through the eras including colour pallets, material usage, forms and typical design elements. I chose to focus on a particular chair, the eros to draw inspiration from.
I took cues from the metal mould inserts, postmodern styling and tulip stems to create this new design.
This project taught me how to identify and pay homage to cues of successful design whilst evolving it to fit a specific design criteria
material exploration
colour exploration
Final Concept
The final concept is a blend of elements of the eros which I believed reflected Kartell the best and the existing folding mechanism, reclining the initial upright posture of the fol.d to a more relaxed lounge like setting.
In context render- Folded
In context render- unfolded
Notable changes in styling included the metal mould inserts, stylised feet and change in the form of the hinge pieces, transforming them from functional, flat stamped steel to a shaped aesthetic detail. As well as this the overall shape of the chair relaxed, transforming from an upright dining styled folding chair, to a more angled lounge like position.
Orthographics
Drawing inspiration from the swivel iteration of the eros chair I sculpted the feet to taper into the floor.
Tulip Feet
Throughout the project I wanted the mechanism to be revised, shown off rather than attempted to be hidden like the original design. While the movement and pieces of the mechanism stayed the same they were reworked from stamped flat steel that bolted into the ribbing of the seat to mould-in shaped pieces that flowed into each other.
Sculpted Mechanism
Again drawing inspiration from the Eros chair mould in inserts were chosen to reflect a design choice commonly chosen throughout Kartell's history. Once again in line with displaying instead of hiding the mechanism a semi transparent polycarbonate was chosen as the seat material bringing an added dimension to the design.
Metal Mould Inserts
Project Reflection
Although this concept design was a short, two week project and one of my very first projects at university, in many ways it represents how much I've learn't since that point in time I think it's one in which I learn't the most.
Throughout the process one of the most important skills I learn't was to analyse brand identities as well as strengths and weakness's, taking the best a design has to offer and altering the worst to create a better solution.
