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Portfolio
Ben Whittaker Furniture and Product design 2nd Year @ Nottingham Trent University
I am currently a 2nd year student studying BA Furniture and Product design at Nottingham Trent University. I am a very enthusiastic young designer and a very practical minded person. I love to get hands on at any moment I can as I feel this is the best way I learn. I am a confident MIG welder and have done several projects which has needed some welding. This is my portfolio showing a mixture of 1st and 2nd year work along with some extra projects and works from home and school. My school years were based around sculptural art and design as this suited my 3D style. Some of my projects at school included Concrete, wood, Mild steel, Duck tape and polystyrene.
About me
Umbra and John Lewis Project Isokon Donkey Project Narrative and Ritual Project PDP Part 2 Project QFC Sofa Project Golf Putters Lemon Research Project Concrete side table Box Project Stone Chair Order and Disorder Drawings
Contents
John Lewis Umbra
This project was to work in partnership with Umbra and John Lewis on designing a new space saving product between ÂŁ20-80. We designed simple as the price point did not allow us to go over the top. We set out to design a small side table with a hardwood top and fabric sling under to store magazines, remotes and other sofa items. The product Kanves is made from mild steel legs with hooks for the sling to sit on easily. H460 x W 360 x D 360
From sketches to final design, we played around with the canvas sling as this part would set the design apart from the other side tables they had on their website
We looked for simple forms and aimed to produce several different options before choosing a final sling
Final Product: Sling has an upper level for magazines and remotes and a lower sling for blankets and pillows. Hardwood top with a soft chamfer to make the top look thin and clean Steel tubed legs with a collapsible fixing perfect for flat packing. Legs have U’s to allow canvas to sit
Isokon Plus
Design and manufacture a high quality prototype, a specific furniture typology, the portable free standing storage form as typified by The Penguin Donkey. The final model is a portable storage unit which can be used inside and outside
This Donkey is a small portable plywood unit that uses all the negative space for storage. The shelves can store mugs, glasses and a range of book sizes. The internal U shape storage has been designed for blankets or newspapers which are both used to being rolled up. The base is stable with a low centre of gravity preventing it from being knocked over. The donkey is easily portable with the central single handle allowing the user to open a door or carry a glass of wine with their other free hand. This Donkey has been designed to be movable from a living room to an outside seating area while being able to carry anything you need both inside and outside.
Ben Whittaker Furniture and Product design 2nd Year @ Nottingham Trent University
Sketches
Initial sketches and Models 1:10 and 1:5
Narrative
A narrative for me is my family and the time we spend together this being at home or on holiday. We are a sporty family and have always played golf together at any time in the year. Due to myself and younger brother not being at home as much, I created a game to play when we come back to see our parents. Golf for us as a family has created some great memories which we will be able to tell each other later on in life. Golf has not only been about family but friends as well. Friends make my summer better as I am able to escape the working world and have time to relax and chat with them. With friendship comes competition The idea is to have items that are hidden in plain sight which come together to allow us to play the game. The items are all separate yet a simple collection at the same time.
The Coasters are made from 3mm mild steel with a matt grey finish. The singular hole represents a hole on a golf green and can be used to store a golf ball to prevent it from rolling away on a table. 100mm
The door wedge made from high quality spotted ash. The hole is 50mm which is just bigger than a golf ball. The hole is not a standard size as the game is only played on a shorter and flat distance. The size of the wedge would have been overwhelmed the idea of a small, classical wedge.
The mallet putter is a solid cast out of architectural concrete and steel golf shaft with a thread, this allows the putter head to be screwed off and placed onto a table or desk to be used as pin pot or a paper weight. The soft shape suited the style as a normal blade style putter would have been too literal
PDP Part 2
This speaker is designed to only play when a phone is on a surface. This forces the user to put their phone down on the speaker and concentrate on the work. When the phone is placed on the speaker and the play button on the phone is pressed, music will play from the speaker via Sound Flow. The speaker has a Micro B USB port at the back along with an on/off switch. Sound flow is a Sound flow runs off of NearField Audio, a new wireless audio concept that worked.
The final model shows that the phone is the direct size on the top of the speaker. This makes it hard to pick it up without having to slide the phone off stopping the music from playing. The dark grey around the main body would be a fine mesh which hides the speakers
QFC
DRAWER
TOP STITCHED SEAMS
COMMUNAL SITTING
The Sillon sofa is a multifunctional double sided sofa with a freely adjustable back and a double sided drawer under the sofa. Designed for open planned living, it has a large foot print to sit on and has the capability to turn into a single bed with mattress foam as the main foam.
SILLON
The Sillon drawer which can be accessed either side of the sofa is on wheels, this makes the drawer easy to pull out and move. The base also has slats which are for support forcing the drawer fronts to drop by 50mm to be able to pass the slats and doubles as a handle for easy pulling
SILLON
Golf/Putters
This was a personal project where I wanted to draw my own putter which I could one day use. I have been inspired by a putter creator Tyson Lamb, who creates putters in his garage. I cnc’d a wooden prototype after drawing it on Solidworks and the idea was started. This will be milled out of steel in the near future
These putter plates are for personal use and some have been designed for friends and family with Nicknames on. The plates have holes for tees to fix into a green to help practise putting. The putter has to get through a gate to hit the ball cleanly and this helps the user to focus on a straight stroke to the ball. This helps start the ball on the correct line allowing more putts to be holed.
Lemon
Lemon is a campaign targeting schools to get kids and young adults to exercise and eat more fruit and veg. The campaign is based off Obesity levels increasing in children for the past few years and little is being done to prevent this. Campaigns will go into schools and universities at the start of terms to make it easier for students to start the year correctly rather than try and adapt halfway through a term. The Campaign will also target well-being weeks which try to help children and students change their lifestyle choices such as smoking, excessive drinking, exercise and diet. Nowadays students of all ages have access to social media. They will be able to share a video on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Linkedin, Youtube or Twitter of them exercising for their friends to watch and be inspired
These are clips from the screen which is in front of the children as they exercise. The first screen shows the main page with the Logo and Brand name. The second screen shows exercises available for all children to choose from. The third screen provides a countdown till the start of the exercise. The forth screen shows the time and amount of exercise thats needed for the task to be completed.
The campaign has a include a range of enjoy, speakers so camera is fitted to This can enable to
screen showing the children what they have to do. The screen will features such as, a touch screen for the younger children to music can be played while exercising to making more enjoyable, a track and record the movements of the exercise being performed. watch it back and send it to a friend or family member.
The logo and brand name LEMON, uses a bright yellow colour to make it stand out from a distance to promote interest in the campaign. The stand will have a small printer that releases tickets when the performer completes the task.Resulting in the reward of fruit and vegetables.
The fifth screen shows a congratulation message upon completing the task in the time. It then gives the performer some options; to watch the video back or send it to a friend via social media or restart the exercise. The sixth screen shows a replay video and gives the option of sharing this. If the performer was to fail their task this message would appear or give them the option to restart. The final screen shows a Thank you message with a reminder to eat their fruit and veg
Home Office
This project was designed with Blackfields Furniture in mind as they create furniture which mixes together. The Blackfields Furniture Concrete side table is a new and sleak design. The side table ease of staorage. It includes a sliding lap board which is placed on your thighs when sitting on can be flat. The board is made from Oak and slides to be hidden in the top of the side table when has reinforcements in the shelf to a add strength.
both concrete and wood has separated stoage areas for a sofa so a laptop or plate not in use. The concrete base
Box Project
The Box Project was a remaking task where we were given a wooden box and were tasked to remake an item from it. I wanted to create something I could use everyday. The idea is a storage unit with the things I use daily Phone, Wallet, Keys and headphones all in one place where I could grab and go
Stone Chair
The Stone chair is an Art A Level project I made durin my 3 day exam. The idea was based around stones and balancing them this lead me to make this large scale marbled polystyrene chair. I careved the chair simular to how a stone is shaped while rolling at the bottom of a river bed
Order and Disorder
Sketch Pages
Contact Infomation Furniture and Product Designer
Nottingham Trent University 2016 - Present
Culford School 2006 - 2016
Benwhittaker17@yahoo.com Mobile: 07484 622941 https://issuu.com/benwhittakerdesigns https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-whittaker-a2a402152/
Home Address Hengrave Lodge Hengrave Bury St Edmunds Suffolk IP28 6LT