Branding

I went about the branding of my finished outcome by picturing it in its context, and found that like original concept that it was derived from as a cafe stool, the obvious place it could be found is in a contemporary cafe.

From there I thought of branding it as a concept cafe brand "coffeeME". i went with colours that i felt reflected the feel of a contemporary cafe with two contrasting fonts to reflect the old and new.

I placed the brand name on the stool, and also placed some stools in the context of a cafe, to help create the right feel for the stool.



I am very happy with my final outcome, the design as a whole works well with the concept of a cafe stool as it works well within the context of a contemporary cafe.

Assembly of final outcome

Further refinement

I further refined the bottom corners where the seat folds leaving no gap as there previously was, gaining more strength to the corners.





I changed the design of the teeth locking system to create a more aesthetically pleasing outcome.


I created the holes to act as handles in the extra piece to help the process of inserting and removing it. I also curved the bottom slots to again create more ease when initially inserting the piece in place.


A major change that I have made to the entire design, I have shortened the sides that are inside the triangle, the length of them are at 160mm so they now only reach roughly the middle of the triangle. This has now reduced the amount of Xanita board whilst still maintaining the support needed for the minimum weight load.

Development / Refinement

I decided the appropriate size for a handle would be 50mm by 90mm. I began to experiment with different styles of handles that would work for this design.

I found that I didn't want to just create a hole for a handle but to create a handle that is both aesthetically and ergonomically pleasing.
With this in mind I thought of creating a handle that curves inside to the shape of the hand once used.

I created the handle design by cutting through the board with the above dimensions along the sides and along the bottom. on the back side of the board I peeled off the skin to the shape.
I then heated the honeycomb till the glue is soft, and then curved the strip to my desired curve shape.







I am very happy with the outcome of the handle, i find it comfortable to use and aesthetically pleasing.

Development / Refinement

I was really happy with the outcome of the scale model as a whole, but I found there were some areas that could be improved.

◘ I found that the stool will need handle.

◘ The teeth locking system could be reduced to two teeth on either side, this would make the stool more aesthetically pleasing whilst still maintaining the strength of the locking system.


◘ The extra piece that locks in the shape can be re-designed to create more ease when slotting the piece in place. The bottom corners will be curved. Two holes will be made for handles to help when removing the piece.


◘ The two corners where the seat folds over will be filled (currently have a void) give added strength.

practice 1:1 scale prototype

Final Dimensions

Cuts and Folds

I wanted to work out the how the folds will work and decided to go with the method of removing a 10mm strip off the bottom layer of the board so that it can be folded at a 90 degree angle.
these folds will be used on the faces that meet half way and fold inside to create the triangle shape.



I also had to experiment with the different angles for the rest of the folds the triangle shape requires cuts that are less than 45degrees. I found that if I made the cuts 10mm on either side of the fold centre and cut toward the centre it would create approximately 25 degree angle.

I also decided to have the seat cover fold over using the method shown in the above image.

Further Development

Since concept two was not working well as a whole concept i decided i would spend my time attempting concept one.

I liked this design in the first place but i originally thought it might be too simple of a design. through re-visiting the concept i found that although the look of the design does seem quite simple, the folds and locking system were more complex and could work to create a much stronger design solution than i could possibly achieve through concept two.

what also drew me back to concept two was the general concept of a stool. I like the idea of a cafe style stool, so the height is taller than a normal chair, but shorter than a bar stool.
also the triangle shape allows for many stools to tessellate and be stored in a corner requiring less space.


I went on to look at various sizes that would work for the seat of the stool. I had to consider comfort and support that is different from a round or square stool, as the points give less room for comfort. i experimented with three different dimensions of what the edge could be and found that having each edge at 330mm was comfortable enough for a stool.

Further Development

I made the decision to keep developing concept two. What i noticed about the first 1:5 scale model was that it was too hard to determine if the design would be able to hold the minimum load. I decided that I would attempt a 1:1 scale model using two layers of regular cardboard that have been glued together, creating a 10mm thickness to mimic the thickness of the xanita board.

Once i finished the model i soon realised that the design could not withstand the minimum load and other problems began to show. To make the model able to hold the weight i began playing with the idea of slotting in three triangles in the same shape of the main voids (under the seat, the bottom right, and bottom left) to fit tightly within these voids giving the form strength. However, this design would exceed the dimensions of the Xanita board (1500mm, 18300mm).

Another problem was the locking system that i intended to use to keep the two separate triangle pieces together was the dovetail locking system ( shown in esquisse 1) was not strong enough for the design.

The only way i could see this design working was to completely redesign the dimensions, I felt in the end that i was spending more time fixing the design then i would if i were to attempt to make concept one work.

Concept three

With this concept I went in a different direction and came up with this shape, I like the shape on it, but mostly like the idea of it being made out of just one piece, I intend to have a dovetail locking system along the edge of the side where the two ends meet. To create the shape I will be cutting folds at roughly 100 degrees then have the seat fold down and lock into place using the teeth locking system similar to that of concept one.

Concept Two

Continuing on the triangle theme i began looking at other ways this could be used. i wanted to stick with the concept of using as least pieces as possible.
This concept came about when i was playing with different triangle shapes, I placed two triangles in different directions and found there could be something interesting happening with the shape that it created. I like this concept more than concept one, as i think this contains a more complex design, and also that it contains a small backrest.

Concept One

I wanted to experiment with the use of trials through my design, and also wanted my design to use as least amount of pieces as possible. I like this concept as it covers both of the above ideas. This design is easy for one person to assemble with ease, and because it relies on two separate pieces, confusion is minimised.
The locking system that i intend to use in this design is for the small separate piece to slot in to the larger piece once it has been folded into the triangle shape. I will be cutting three folds at an approximate 35 degree angle to create the shape and have two folds cut at a 90 degree angle for the end sides to fold into the triangle shape.Once the triangle shape is formed the seat is folded into place using a teeth locking system to hold it in place.

Event Research

esquisse five NGV visit

esquisse four

This esquisse requires me to work with another student on a 1:1 scale model of a chair using only cardboard (no glue or fixings). the design is to provide a seat and possibly back rest.

As a team we began brainstorming ideas and agreed on one design that included a backrest.

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esquisse three

Esquisse three required me to create a locking system that gains strength with load. It must be made of cardboard and must be capable of holding a 100kg load and be a minimum of 200mm in height

I decided to approach this the through the simplest locking system design that I could think of. i cut the cardboard into strip pieces, made them into two stacks and locked the two stacks together by cutting one stack through the centre half way donw then the other stack through the centre half way up, the two stacks then are easily able to lock in

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esquisse two

For esquisse two, the brief was to create a four faced pyramid out of xanita board. the base dimensions at 100mm by 100mm and the centre of the pyramid at 100mm. the pyramid must be able to be locked in place through a locking system that requires our own design.

The first step I took was to work out the measurements of the four faces, as this was not specified. We knew that the base was 100mm by 100mm and that the centre height was at 100mm so I went about finding the dimensions by drawing up a simple diagram, using basic lines and angles I found the dimensions needed. See the drawings below.

I began to play with locking systems and how I plan to keep the pyramid shape, with the esquisse one dovetail locking system working successfully I decided to find a way to apply it to this model.

I found that the folds for the faces of the planes had to be cut at a certain angle to allow for the shape of the pyramid and for each face to meet equally at the centre. After much experimentation i found that the cut should be made on a 32 degree angle.

Because the dovetail locking system is designed to lock one side into place allowing it to be opened from the other side, it meant that each side was locked in once the side next to it was attached. This allowed for the entire model to consist of a strong solid shape.

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Esquisse one | Understanding the material

The brief outcome is to create a four sided square shape box at 100mm height, length, and width, using Xanita board. The design should include three different methods of folding a built in locking system and capable of being flat packed.

To start off I first began experimenting with the possible folds that could be achieved with Xanita board, this allowed me to understand the material and to see where its boundaries lay.

The first folding method is to make two 45 degree angle slice cuts 18mm apart, with the center being where the cuts meet, being careful though not to slice through the bottom layer of card. Once cut, the upside-down triangle piece remaining should be able to be removed with ease. Now just a careful fold making the new incisions meet, creates a clean 90 degree fold.
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The second fold is created by cutting a strip 10mm thick, making sure not to cut through the bottom layer of card. The card must now be flipped with the cuts facing down, heat must then be applied using a heat gun for about 30 seconds. The cut strip can now removed leaving the bottom layer of card clean. The board can then be folded at 90 degrees.
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The third fold I experimented with, is created by cutting a strip through the first layer of card 10mm thick. Heat is then applied with a heat gun to cleanly remove the top layer of card. The board can then be folded with the removed strip facing inside the fold. This should then achieve a clean curve fold.
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Now with the three folds out of the way, I began experimenting with the locking system that would hold the square shape in place once assembled. What I also wanted to achieve with the locking system is for it to be hidden on the outside, to keep the model crisp and clean.

The first locking system I experimented with was created by cutting out a rectangle shape out of the edge of a piece if board keeping the bottom layer of card intact, and then cutting the negative shape out of the second piece of board, again without removing the bottom layer of card.
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I found that this design wouldn't work well with the rest of the model as although is will connect the two ends of card together, it can quite easily disconnect from the spring-back force of the third curve fold. I then realised, I would need to have the locking system be able to be connected and disconnected from one direction holding the side of the curve fold in place.

From there I decided the same idea will be used except with the addition of a dovetail design to lock the two sides in place. I achieved this by cutting through one side of the board a rectangular shape that has a 45 degree cut going through the honeycomb.
The other side having the negative shape of the 45 degree angles cut out through the board, that looks like a dovetail. This design is the more successful method of locking system for this model.
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Now that all the experimentation has taken place it was time for me to attempt the model as a whole. I found that practice makes perfect, as my first attempt failed creating the correct shape. This was because the 45 degree cuts for the first fold failed, affecting the entire outcome.
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My second attempt was much cleaner and more resolved then my first. All the folds worked well together and the locking system did its job in holding the forms shape and keeping the curve fold in place.
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