DESIGN NAME: Pep
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Rocking Stool
INSPIRATION: The project is an effort to capture nostalgic pleasures, reminiscent of our childhood. Through the use of Pep we hope to reawaken the pure joy of repetitive rocking or swaying, these comforting feelings we have all experienced in our lives. Whether it was in our caregivers arms or the famous rocking horse toy.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Pep can be a stool, seating device, rocking chair or simply a toy. Call it what you want, Pep is designed for everyone, from kids to the kid at heart. The product is truly as simple as it looks, it is composed of three nesting elements, each able to function as a stand-alone or as one collective seat.
The way the felt warps around each Pep is reminiscent of a horse saddle. While the leather strap fixed to the biggest Pep, is solely an aesthetic detail. The strap itself is open to interpretation, it could perhaps be viewed as a leash, collar or a horse tail. All in all, a very ambiguous reference to horse riding.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: Pep enhances balance and coordination skills. It can be considered as the modern, deconstructed version of a rocking horse. What sets Pep apart, however, is its unique capacity to encourage imaginative play for all ages.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: 2 months, January 2019 - February 2019
FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Furniture Design
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: Beech plywood is used for the main structures with simple tenons and mortise joints keeping them together. Beech plywood was chosen for its excellent dimensional stability, strength, longterm durability and lightweightness. It can also be bent in long-grain making it easy to shape respecting the form of the structure proposed. The seats, on the other hand, are made of felt. Felt was the material of choice since it is highly resilient, retaining its strength and unique properties. While the strap on the side is made of full-grain leather. This strap is held together with a piece of machined brass. Which is then slotted and fixed into the side of the biggest Pep.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Width 803mm x Depth 270mm x Height 662mm. All parts (main structures, felt seats, leather straps with brass joinery) can be dismantled for transportation.
TAGS: Chair, Stool, Rocking, Toy, Object, Sculpture, Swing, Sway
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: Both team members came together to create an ambiguous object reminiscent of a childhood toy (the classic rocking horse). When the idea was being brainstormed we thoroughly researched to see if any similar products exist in the market. While we found some, our proposal, however, is different in the sense that it caters to all age groups. Pep is a stylish and safe product that can be enjoyed by grown ups and kids alike; encouraging harmony across all generations.
CHALLENGE: Our objective was to design a modern, light and minimalistic piece. The challenge was to have three pieces that can function separately or collectively. Thus defining the correct scale and dimensions proved to be difficult, but not impossible. Since at the end we were capable of figuring out a reasonable compromise.
Another challenge was to insure when the product is used as a collective piece, that the separate nested elements don't move or fall out. This was resolved by choosing felt as the seat material. Since the felt is slightly raised on each seat, they cushion down when nested into each other. Thus preventing them from sliding out.
ADDED DATE: 2019-02-27 21:56:32
TEAM MEMBERS (2) : Omar Qubain and Tina Saghbini
IMAGE CREDITS: All images were computer generated using KeyShot
PATENTS/COPYRIGHTS: No patent yet
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