Dynamic design...

I alluded to the term "dynamic design" in a previous post. This is a term I have coined to describe how design doesn't necessarily need to be cast in stone but instead can be modified as a project progresses. The changes I refer to are often subtle changes and not large scale changes. One of the meanings for the word "dynamic" from the American Heritage Dictionary.

dy·nam·ic - Characterized by continuous change, activity, or progress

As a piece of furniture is being handcrafted, sometimes the design we originally envisioned can be improved on at different stages, or the original design can remain as is. Having this flexibility provides a continuous excitement for the furniture maker along with the benefit of improvising on the original design after seeing the furniture piece at various intermediary stages.

An excellent example is the original design of the door frames. I had chosen to form the vertical stiles a little thinner than the horizontal rails to accentuate the horizontal lines running across the door frames into one continuous shadow line.The other design element was the angled horizontal rails. After mocking up the door frames with panels inserted I found these to be a unnecessary details as the focal point of the doors is fundamentally the figured door panels. Often, too many design elements take away from the focus of a piece ... I believe in leaving as few detail elements as possible to have the major element stand out. I have left the door frame members instead at the same thickness, this only really made sense to me after having dry fitted the door frames and panels and applied to the armoire as the photo in an earlier post.

So here we have an instance of what I like to call "dynamic design", sometimes the beauty of a design is in its simplicity. Simplicity is one of the tenets of the minimalism philosophy. I have to admit that I am a fan of "minimalism", and have read one book on the subject so far. You tend to gain a different perspective on design after being exposed to the minimalism philosophy.