Frequencies

BFA Furniture Design 2017 Senior thesis by Bailey Preib

frequencies

Bailey Preib

704.962.9232

bcpreib@aol.com

©2017

Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s Introduction Guidelines Research Conceptualization Final Renders Prototype Final Build Conclusion Appendix Bibliography Bio

In t ro d u c ti on

As a designer, I have always been attracted to play and interaction. Musical instruments have been a perfect example of combining the interplay with creativity. Unfortunately, very few people actually play an instrument despite the fact that nearly eveyone enjoys and listens to music. I think designers have a responsibility to better the world and find solutions to existing or future problems. In addition, community has been affected by technology and people seem more disconnected than ever. I had the unique opportunity to create a furniture collection not only based on my personal interests, but also to address issues in our modern world. By combining musical instruments into furniture, I beleive I can encourage the active participation of music while also cultivating community.

Gu ide l i n es

Seemless integration of instruments into furniture Fully functional as furniture Simple instruments that anyone can play without musical education Musical attributes throughout the design language as a whole

Re s ea rc h

Practical There are many benefits to listening and playing music such as stress relief, improved sleep, increased brain function, and general happiness. Statistics show that the average American listens to 4 hours of music a day. Music is a big part of our lives and nearly everyone enjoys or at least partakes in music listening.These facts should lead to a culture that plays musical instruments; however, that is not the case. In fact less than 15% of Americans play an instrument. This was extremely surprising and rather confusing, so I sought to help understand this divide between listening and playing music.

After conducting research from surverys, interviews, and observations, I discovered most people wish they could play an instrument and many people are intimidated to even try, despite their love of listening to music. This mentality should be combated. I also found it intriguing that many people do not consider themselves musicians even if they play instruments. It seems our society has given the professional muscian too much power and in consequence the common man thinks he must be a professional in order to be a musician. In reallity being a musician has nothing to do with profession or even whether one is good or bad at playing music.

Community is very important to me and I wanted to not just design a product that is multi functional but to go a step further and address societal issues. We have become immersed in the digital world and our community has suffered because of this. There is a need to check into the physical world and people around us. I believe people are social beings and in a sense, it is our social interactions that help us identify who we are and make us human.

I looked into social statistics and found that people are addicted to their cell phones. The average American checks his cell 150 times a day! Now I’m not saying cell phones are evil, but too much of a good thing often becomes corrupted. I think it would do everyone good to put their phone down and experince those around them.

Music is a medium that can bring people together and promote such social interactions.

Comparative Although I thought I was the first to conceptualize the combination of musical instruments and furniture, there are a few designs already on the market. Musical Furnishings, Hardwood Music Company, and Ed Potokar were the only companies I found that have devled into this realm. My designs differ from their exisitng products and no one has developed an entire collection based around this idea. My overal design style is vastly different from the above parties as well. These companies have actually helped validate the desire and market for musical furniture and they have inspired and encourged me to continue this pursuit.

Theoretical

The musical self-esteem of children is often the main factor of whether or not they pursue learning an instrument or further their musical knowledge; it is not based on actual musical skill or potential of the child excerpt from Musical Identities

I learned that playing an instrument is not actually determined by skill but rather encouragement of playing an instrument. We seem to have lost the informality of music, particularly in the home setting.

By eliminating the hesitation of playing music due to level of skill or judegement by others, people would more readily participate in music. The worry of embarssement or desire to be amazing at playing an instrument has led to the fear of even trying. Our society should do a better job of encouraging music participation instead of intimidation. After all, even the Beatles started off on a bad note.

Co nce p tu a l i z a ti o n

Now that I have conducted research and have a goal to work towards, I begin sketching. My initial sketches are extremely informal and allow me to draw whatever pops into my head without much worry pertaining to dimensions or function.

My sketches become more refined and begin to seem more realistic. For this project, I decided to focus on my function over aesthetics at this point. I can easily change the style of these pieces later. I also give some thought to scale in this stage.

During my second sketching phase, I made the decision to limited myslef to three furniture forms: chairs, tables, and benches. These forms seemed most appropriate for incorporating musical instruments. Since this project needed to be an 8 piece collection, it made sense to seperate my collection into three mini collections while still sharing a similar aesthetic.

After sketching, I made a mood board to help me visual what I want my collection to look like. I start to think about materials and colors as well. The overal feel is warm and playful, but still has a minimal aspect to it.

I prefer to play with scale and shape in Rhino as opposed to sketching. I can quickly model a form to scale and get a better sense of what it would actually look like in real life.

In this stage, I really focus on dimensions and style. I also make sure that my pieces could be built in real life and are not just pretty forms. The majority of my work happens during 3D modeling.

After modeling, I import my files into Keyshot and assign material to them. I play with different types of wood, metal, and fabric, but my form and intended material do not change significantly. I make minor changes and really pay attention to small details in this stage.

F i n al Ren d er s

L ivi ng Room C ol l e c tio n

S ling S tri ng Lo u n g e

D r u m C o f f e e Ta bl e

Tongue Chair

D i ni ng Room Col l e ctio n

M a r i m b a Tabl e

H a rp Bench

Out d o or C ollection

X y l o p h o n e H a n g i n g C h ai r

M etronome Ro ck e r

Ki c k B en c h

C ontext renders

P ro t o ty p e

I chose to build the tongue drum chair. I begin by making technical drawings of the chair with a front, side, plan, and section view. I decide what size screws to use, the thickness of materials, and the order in which I will assembly my pieces. I show detailed shots and call outs to aid me during the build process.

Before making the real chair, I made a mockup.

Essentially the mockup is the same as the final piece, except that it is made out of plywood. The legs are bent and welded steel tubing and the seat is webbed.

My first mock up ended up being way too small for the average person. I based my dimensions off a normal chair, but since my arm rests are solid blocks, it makes the entire chair more confining. I am only 5’3� and the chair fits me just right, so it needs to be larger in both depth and width.

My second mockup was purely a porportions study and was not playable at all. The new mock up fits a wide range of people comfortably. The man sitting in the photo is 6’1� for reference.

There is no right way to play the drum and every person will play it differently. I wanted to place the tongues on the arms so they would be comfortable and natural to play regardless of how you hit them. I also want the side of the arm rests to be played or hit and thought about having a recess or texture change to highlight this.

The arms of the chair are what produce the sound and I made several prototypes in order to fine tune the sound.

I made a few different versions changing the thickness of material and the tongue pattern in order to find what sounded best. I wanted the sound to be playable with just your hands and my first few mock ups were not as loud as I wanted them to be. Every difference of width, length, and thickness effects the sound so I tried produce a pleasant sound and recreate it before making my final piece.

Fi n a l B u i ld

I began building the seat bottom first. Each corner has a floating tenon for added structure. Slots for the webbing were cut on the mill machine and then I glued it up.

Next I glued the arm and back rest together and then attached to the seat frame. I apllied finish to the bottom and top of the fram before webbing it. I glued the top of the arms last in order to not damage them and then sanded and applied a polyacrylic finish. I cut patterns for the cushions and my friend sewed them with a 2� foam pillow and dacron insert.

I bent the steel tubing and drilled holes to attach the seat. I used a 10 degree angled jig and welded the legs together. Then I primed and spray painted them black. The end caps on the legs were turned on the lathe and then attached to the legs.

Final Pi ece

M a p le

S teel t ubi ng

Vel v et

Conclusion

start

finish

This was the largest project I have ever worked on and it was completed over the span of six months. It was challenging to finish a project of this scale from initial concepts to the final build. I learned the importance of full scale mock ups and experimentation before beginning the building process. All the pieces in this collection require a lot of testing before building and although I am happy with the chair I made, I could have easily spent an entire quarter perfecting the sound. I also learned how to source to vendors, budget, and time management. Overall, I am pleased with my collection as a whole and enjoyed the entire process. I believe I succeeded in combining furniture with instruments as well as helped people interact with each other. I plan to continue developing Frequencies and eventually showcase the entire built collection.

App en d i x

e x am p le of o n e s urve ry c onduc t e d

Ball, Philip.“Will We Ever Understand Why Music Makes Us Feel Good.” Future, 19April

2013, http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130418-why-does-music-make-us-feel-

good. Acceseeed 28 January 2017.

Chappel, Michelle. “Scientist Find 15 Amazing Benefits of Listening to Music.” Life Hack,

http://www.lifehack.org?317747/scinetist-f9nd-15-amazing-benefits-listening-

music. Accessed 28 Janurary 2017.

Gibson, Maranda. “Is Your Smart Phone Making Life Worse?” Arkadin, 28 January 2014, https://www.accuconference.com/blog/is-your-smartphone-making-life-worse/.

Accessed 28 January 2017.

Havighurt, Jay. Making Musical Instruments by Hand. Rockport Publishers, 1998.

Levintin, Daniel. This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession. Penguin, 2007.

MacDonals, Raymond, et al. Musical Identities. Oxford University Press, 2002.

“Share Of Adults Playing a muiscal Instrument in the United States in 2012, by Age Group.”

Statista, https://www.statista.come/statistics/381509/share-of-adults-playing-a-musi

cal-instrument-by-age-group-us/. Accessed 28 January 2017.

Shropshire. Corilyn. “American Prefer Texting To Talking, Report Says.” Chicago Tribune,

26 March 2015, http://www.chicagotribune.come/business/ct-americans-texting-

00327-biz-20150326-story.html. Accessed 28 January 2017.

Stutz, Colin. “The Average American Listens to Four Hours of Music A Day.” Spin,19 June

2014, http://www.sping.com/2014/06/average-american-listening-habits-four-hours-a dio-day/, Accessed 27 January 2017.

Walker, Britanny. Instructional Center for Education Technologies. University of Wiscon

sin Platteville, 2014, https://www.uwplatt.edu/icet-news/positive-and-negative-im

pacts-technology-has-our-daily-lives. Accessed 27 January 2017.

Bibl io g r a p h y

Bio Hi, I’m Bailey! I am originally form North Carolina and currently live in Savannah. I graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2017 with my BFA in Furniture Design. I consider myself lucky to be able to have such a direct impact and interaction with the daily lives of people. Furniture is something that is used by nearly everyone and is a neccesity in our lives.

That is why I believe furniture to be so important and in need of good designers. I aspire to make my work unique and thoughtful. I gravitate towards minimalism, playfulness, and originality.

Feel free to contact me with any questions!