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.

Reading The Lark Studio Series Furniture Books.

I was lucky to get the last copies of these - the Lark Studio Series' Chair and Tables. I bought them last Christmas vacation from Fully Booked in Gateway Mall at Cubao, Quezon City.

I stumbled upon these pocket size books on a visit to that bookstore months before but I didn't have the money then. They were a perfect Christmas gift to myself since I did not have much to do when I spent the holidays in the province.

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: 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: 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.