Design Idea: Pinnacle.

The last post I had under my Design Ideas was my first attempt to design a chair in Google SketchUp. I called it the Pinnacle Chair. I promised to redo it in CAD since I still don't have rendering tool for my SketchUp. I wasn't able to do it right away though as I was pretty occupied with work in the past couple of weeks that I had to let it all pass before I can bring myself completely into this.

So here's the Pinnacle, reinterpreted in AutoCAD.

A Different Flavor.

It was high time for me to try SketchUp! Loooooong overdue activity to be honest.

Sometime last month, I suddenly recalled that my SketchUp 8 installer had been buried long enough in my hard drive. I got it last year from my friend, Allie, who taught me how to go about the different tools of the software. So I pulled it up and installed it on my computer and earlier this month, I began to experiment with it. Basically, I tested the nature of SketchUp - the correspondence of its tools to AutoCAD. I discovered that not all the functions I know in AutoCAD are present in SketchUp. They have to be downloaded and copied to the plugins folder. Even the render tool has to be downloaded that's why I just screen grabbed the one below. This is my first design attempt and I call it the Pinnacle Chair. I shall redo this in AutoCAD and tell the story behind the design on my next post.

To sum up the experience, I was trying to do something outside my comfort zone (AutoCAD) which I have been in for more than a year now. Nagpapaka-versatile! (Trying to become versatile!) So it's now possible that the upcoming design posts would be done either on SketchUp or AutoCAD.

Design Idea: Prisms. Of Shapes and Weave.

I had a week-long break last month to spend some summer time in the province. Lengthy vacations are great stress relievers but at the same time, they easily break your mind and spirit when you're about to get back to work.

So a few days before it ended, I looked around the house and took some photos of things that I think would help me in designing my next furniture concept. When I saw our old chairs with solihiya weaved seats, I knew how my next design would look like.

Design Idea: Inverse. Putting Some Sunshine.

Rendering with sunlight is something that I've been meaning to do for a long time. So I'm more than happy to share to you that I have finally accomplished this goal!

Presenting the Inverse Table X Sunlight project! :)

Design Idea: The Stack.

Back in October, a friend from the office, who happens to own a furniture customization business, approached me and asked for a bed design idea suitable for a condominium unit. I can't remember if it was a studio or a one bedroom unit. Anyway, assuming that it was a small space, I picked the sofa bed and started sketching my version of it.

Here's the Stack.

Design Idea: Intersect 22. An Outdoor Attempt.

Apparently, this is not the "interesting chair" that I declared on my last post a month ago. I still have some reservations on how to execute its design but nevertheless I shelved that concept for future work.

For the meantime, this is the first time that I moved away from the indoor theme that has been present in my previous designs. You might expect a sunlight on the output. Alas, I still haven't tested my skill on the natural lighting department (but it's still on my AutoCAD priorities list). So before I dive into the natural lighting worry pool, here's my outdoor chair concept that incorporates lines and some curve, the Intersect 22.

Why the name Intersect 22?

Design Idea: Jigsaw. Seven-In-One.

While I was already on the process of designing my next chair (a round ottoman), I encountered an illustration from the AutoCAD book that I'm reading (this book came from the AutoCAD weekend class I  attended earlier this year) and it depicted a shape similar to a jigsaw puzzle. I was quick to hold off the round ottoman and jumped into doing this one. I was really engrossed by the shape that was made possible by a specific AutoCAD command.

The Jigsaw ottoman.

Design Idea: Elliptical. Its Unlikely Inspiration.

I love lines! I do. Whether they're intersecting or parallel to one another. Be they diagonal or perpendicular. You name them, I love them. They're generally evident in my previous designs. But this time, I was up to the challenge (as well as part of improving my furniture drafting and designing craft) of putting some curves.

This is The Elliptical. The inspiration behind it? Prepare to say 'very unlikely'!

Design Idea: Amusement. Lift and...Surpise!

After designing those chairs that you probably came across with on this humble blog of mine, I began to move on doing tables. In contrast to the first chair I did, which was more of applying what I learned from the AutoCAD course or what I called 'testing the waters', I tried to tinker my creativity in doing this table by tapping in some transformation.  The result? A dual purpose table, changing from a coffee table to a playful-looking study table - I did not have any particular name to this design.

If this was real, how would one do the transformation?

Design Idea: Book Boxes.

Modernity dictates that the bookshelf no longer has to be traditional. Just like the bookshelves you can see on this inspiring post by Freshome. I'm pretty sure you reacted the same way I did after seeing those beautiful and lovely designs. And talk about inspiration, I did my version of the bookshelf by incorporating it with a bench. 

Design Idea: Young. Reversible. elbisreveR.

By the time I was done with my first chair, I thought I should begin my quest in creating more functional furniture. Inspired by the cramped (and expensive!) home spaces that are sprawling in the metro, I have here my version of a reversible chair.

What I had in mind was simple - a chair that I can flip with the arm rests, painted with two different colors, becoming the legs, and turn it over back to its early look. I believe this can be convenient for anyone who wants a chair with two looks but takes up the same amount of space.

The only sketch I made for the idea.

Design Idea: Gypsum.

As promised, I'll be sharing my furniture concept designs right here, every now and then. Mentioning again that I finally managed to bring myself back to blogging, I'm glad that these experiments, as I like to call them, found their home. So after my graduation from the CAD weekend class in early February, I began to design furniture and it went to become my passionate hobby. As of now, I have designed three chairs and one table, all virtually stored in my portfolio.

I named my first chair The Gypsum Chair for the reason that I used a gypsum wood as the material for the seat and seat back.  For the stile and legs, I used metallic and glossy black and red colors respectively. But before I present the final design, here is the Gypsum Chair design in my early sketch.

My Love Affair with Design.

In the late half of 2011, I threw myself into thinking of what I would really love to do with my life, particularly the job that I would really love to do and make me say 'I really love my job, I'm no longer gonna have to work a day in my life!' brouhaha. The process brought back a ghost from the past - the frustration of not taking a degree in Architecture. When I was a kid, my mom used to watch me draw our own house and she told me how good I was. She noted that I was very detailed on my illustration. But our finances went rough, so I had to take a college course that would save me from starving. Right now my day job in an IT firm stays true to one of its premises. I guess the ghost came back after I lied to my coworker that I got over it and pronounced that I have nothing to lose. Nah, this is a serious matter of the heart.