History of Furniture Design...

It is fascinating how furniture design has evolved over the centuries. If we return to the middle ages and the era before, quite a few developments in furniture construction techniques were in progress. Prior to this era, in the centuries before, very little furniture was available. It was considered a luxury to own furniture such as chairs, tables and cabinets. The larger, more finely made furniture of this era was typically destined for the aristocracy of the time as a display of their wealth and status. Most conventional furniture of these early periods was assembled without consideration to wood expansion and contraction or wood movement. This worked for many years, since the interior of buildings in this era was often at the same temperature as the exterior. With the advent of heated interiors, wood movement became much more of a factor to deal with in construction and design of furniture, and the practice of simply assembling wood planks together to form furniture needed to evolve. It was in the middle ages that frame and panel construction was adopted. This technique allowed a solid wood panel to literally float within a wood frame composed of rails and stiles. The solid wood panel could expand and contract on a seasonal basis, and not cause any structural failure within the furniture. All of a sudden many more possibilities were created for furniture design and its widespread appeal began in earnest. 

Furniture also began to become more affordable as of the 18th and 19th century, more furniture makers existed and sound construction techniques began to become standardized. There are numerous periods over the past centuries and each of these had a style or styles associated with them. Additionally, each country had a style of its own within these periods. One can see how similar furniture design principles were adopted by successive countries over the different periods. Popular furniture
styles which are widely recognized have familiar names such as English Chippendale, German Biedermeier, American Federal and Arts & Crafts, French Art Nouveau, Italian Rococo, etc.

To be continued...

Design...

When you are creating either a piece of furniture or a wood object and not following a pre-determined plan, a design will need to be established. I hardly ever work from plans. The design process typically begins with an idea hatched in my mind and is then transferred to a sketch pad. The idea might have originated from a shape I have seen, the need for a particular object or a furniture piece with certain design criteria, or simply an idea hatched on a whim. The basis of the design process is coming up with a good design. What is it about a design that make it a success? Is it the aesthetics of the piece, the pleasing proportions, the balance of form and function... or all these characteristics combined?

Taking a step back, the aesthetics and pleasing proportions are definitely at the forefront. I'm usually drawn to a piece of furniture or object that stands out with respect to the "look" of the piece. This one characteristic causes me to stop and further examine the piece by trying to understand what has drawn me to this particular design. This analysis aids my design process as I better understand what characteristics of an object or piece of furniture I am drawn to. We all have different styles of furniture that we are drawn to, but the common theme is good design. My favorite style of furniture is modern and contemporary. Typically even an admirer of period styles of furniture will stop at a well-designed modern piece of furniture to further analyze it. 

We've all heard the saying that everything has already been discovered or invented. I have even heard of this saying applied to furniture design. After all, we're re-shaping the same objects over and over... adding curves, changing proportions, adding ornamentation, removing the ornamentation, using darker or lighter woods, utilizing curves, replacing curves with straight lines, utilizing thicker or thinner components, etc. It is easy to come to this conclusion, however, I regularly see new pieces of furniture or decorative wood objects that make me sit back and say "wow, that is an interesting, unique design".. or "that is a cool design, I wonder if it's been done before". In light of this, the boundaries of design are limitless, one just needs to think outside the box. Also, I feel that often using pre-existing styles as templates for a new design sometimes handicaps the designer, where the designer subconsciously has the existing style in mind and cannot get past it. Sometimes it is better to begin with a clean slate, in my case, hatch an idea then transfer it to pad and pencil and begin to sketch it without being influenced by pre-existing designs.

aXial Hi-back Lounge Chair

A glimpse of the new aXial Hi-back Lounge Chair I will be introducing at IDS15 in Toronto from Jan. 22-25. It is a contemporary styled hi-back lounge chair which features a unique X-pattern frame. The innovative X-pattern frame eliminates the need for rails and stretchers creating a modern aesthetic in a refined, sleek appearance. The Canadian designed + handcrafted aXial lounge chair will be available in a variety of woods including walnut, maple, birch, cherry and ash. Seat and back upholstery is available in selection of fabrics or top grain leather in a large selection of colors. Shown is a solid walnut chair with top grain white Italian leather seat and back.

Dimensions: 38 in. H x 27 in. D x 22 in. W

Lounge Chairs

I’ve been steadily working on the development of a new series of lounge chairs. These lounge chairs have unique design characteristics which have involved considerable design and development to get right. I am glad to say that the production version is currently having finish applied and I’m pleased with the design.

Design considerations such as rigidity, strength, ergonomic concerns, aesthetic criteria and contemporary design have all come together in this lounge chair. Early prototypes can be seen in this photo. The design has since evolved and become more refined. The series of prototypes were essentially mules to be able to test for optimum seating heights, depths, angle, etc.