1: book cover redesign
we were tasked with redesigning the cover of a preexisting book, in my case manhattan transfer by john dos passos.
i took a mixed media approach, creating a contact sheet of historic new york photographs digitally and then marking it up by hand using a red grease pencil in an attempt to capture the timeless essence of 1920s new york city with a modern twist.
2: flatpack chair
we were tasked with designing a chair that packed flat into a 1” tall box, while also supporting 250 pounds. it had to be easily assembled by a customer but also could not use preexisting hardware. In addition to all these constraints, it had to be manufactured via a waterjet cut template cut from particle board.
i took the approach of designing a simple 3d-printed clip to clamp through small holes in each piece to hold the chair together due to the natural tolerance issues with parts cut from a 1990s waterjet. the chair was easily assembled in under five minutes and held 250 pounds with ease.
the first step of the design process: a rough prototype depicting the original chair design i had in mind — the structural integrity of the front legs were an immediate concern, and the design needed some serious refining.
the second phase of the design process: after exactly 17 iterative prototypes, i arrived at the final design. the slight splay of the legs added some serious sturdiness, and the smaller parts made for a smoother pack & assembly.
waterjetted parts have iffy-at-best tolerances when it comes to fitting them together, so to avoid the chair falling apart a clamp system was modeled in fusion360 and 3d printed to keep the parts from slipping.