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PA G E CONTENTS 3-5: Questions and cafe feedbacks 6-8 Research of existing ideas and trends 9: ideation 10.psychology of colour 11. ideation/sketching 12. material research (wood) 13-14:mood boards 15.material properties 16.final material choices 17-18: sketching and research explorative 19-25:personal designs 26.prototyping 27-29:life size mockups 30:mock up reflection 31-32: design evaluations 33-34:manufacturing methods 35-38: final mock ups 39:project reflection
• Where do you currently contain/store your entertainment and recreational goods for your customers? Is it efficient? -installed shelves with board games on them -a large table at the entrance with different reading materials -Shelves sometimes prove insufficient as they are above a table where customers sit, so it is sometimes awkward for people to reach -the height of the shelves is also an issue, the top shelf is very high and requires standing on a stool to reach -the table gets messy quickly and has the be sorted throughout the day -the tables collects alot of dust •How well do you manage traffic flow and customer requirement in daily business situations? -As we have a minimal amount of takeaways, our traffic is effectively directed to seating that has been strategically placed to allow staff to easily navigate through the cafe effectively and quickly -The small amount of takeaway customers are usually left standing around the coffee machine or near the magazine/newspaper table
Thousand P o u n d Bend Little La Trobe Street MELBOURNE
•What do you think would make your cafe more enticing? -With the large amount of customers who come in purely for internet access, power points at every table may be effective -Lounges -As all the chairs are not matching and different, some of the stools don't have any back support, this is sometimes a problem for some people -cushions •What do you feel would improve customer satisfaction when visiting your store? -Customer satisfaction is already relatively high -Lounges and more informal seating areas -communal tables -More power point •Where do you currently contain/store your entertainment and recreational
goods
for
your
customers?
Is
it
e f fi c i e n t ?
-A magazine and newspaper shelf is accessible at the front of the store although as it is in the corner it is not completely effective as people don't always notice it. People often ask if we have any newspapers or magazines and they have to be shown/directed as to where it is
•How well do you manage traffic flow and customer requirement in daily business situations? -The cafe/restaurant is designed by me (owner), each table chronologically ordered against the either side with a clear pathway through the center allowing quick and easy traffic direction. The bathrooms are at the end of this pathway making it easy to direct customers toward it. -Our large amount of takeaway customers are directed to stand or sit at the bar area to avoid getting in the way of seated customers and traveling staff, although when it is extremely busy people stand in the pathway which is frustrating and results in mistakes and accidents
The Eatery J o h n s o n Street BYRON BAY
•What do you think would make your cafe more enticing? -The implementation of a separate takeaway coffee bar at the front of the store separating the takeaway customers to the seated customers could solve many current issues regarding space and time. •What do you feel would improve customer satisfaction when visiting your store? - More seating options for takeaway customers -Faster serving times during busy service -Lounge options for takeaway customers
• Where do you currently contain/store your entertainment and recreational goods for your customers? Is it efficient? -We do not offer an magazines or game options in the store -We sell leather goods and handmade items which are displayed throughout the store in an array of cabinets and on shelving and ladders •How well do you manage traffic flow and customer requirement in daily business situations? -The cafe is open-planned warehouse industrial, there is no organised layout it is purely aesthetic and has not led to any problems as we are a fairly quiet and relaxed institute. -We do not offer a takeaway option as we are situated upstairs and people don't often venture up for takeaway. -The traffic flow is minimal and therefore non-impactful on service or staff
Captains Of Industry Little Bourke S t r e e t MELBOURNE
•What do you think would make your cafe more enticing? -The seating and tables are quite uniform and stale and do not fit the aesthetic of the warehouse and do not create the atmosphere we wish to create. -The implementation of new and interesting reading materials such as vintage classic books and/or new wave magazines would definitely be interesting and help shape the environment we want to portray •What do you feel would improve customer satisfaction when visiting your store? -More relaxed seating options -Phone chargers - Who doesn't need to charge their phone? -Reading materials -interesting games
STORAGE CHAIR/ STOOLS
CAFE Stool/Chair Trends
White contrasted against timber is trending in many cafes
White/ timber contrast again seen in this design also incorporating woven material for comfort
Black material with a darker wood finish could suit this project
CHAIR/ S T O O L RESEARCH
CAFE Stool/Chair Ideation
STORAGE
A E S T H E T I C EMPHASIS CHAIR/ STOOLS
The incorporation of storage capabilities within a chair suited for a cafe environment would be ideal according to our research. We found that cafes (especially in Melbourne) were mostly working within a small space and had issues with storage facilities especially if the had to bring furniture from outside to pack up during the day. We could overcome this problem by including a stackable option creating shelves for an attractive window overnight. This would allow businesses to potentially display products that they also sell and promote. AESTHETIC The consideration of materials from a final aesthetic perspective is a very important one as it will effect the value and want/need of the product. The contrast of two different materials could be an effective aesthetic and create visual interest.
STORAGE CHAIR/ STOOLS
Psychology of colour and texture COLOUR SEEMS to be one thing most people will notice and comment on, so it generates many discussions both during the design process and later when the cafĂŠ opens for trade. Many think that colour choices are wholly subjective. This may be so in the case of decorating your own house. Because your cafe must be successful as a business, I believe a few important rules must apply.
WHITE. Positive: Hygiene, sterility, clarity, p u r i t y, c l e a n n e s s , s i m p l i c i t y, sophistication, efficiency. Negative: Sterility, coldness, barriers, unfriendliness, elitism. Just as black is total absorption, so white is total reflection. In effect, it reflects the full force of the spectrum into our eyes. Thus it also creates barriers, but differently from black, and it is often a strain to look at. It communicates, "Touch me not!" White is purity and, like black, uncompromising; it is clean, hygienic, and sterile. The concept of sterility can also be negative. Visually, white gives a heightened perception of space. The negative effect of white on warm colours is to make them look and feel garish.
BROWN. Positive: Seriousness, warmth, Nature, earthiness, reliability, support. N e g a t i v e : L a c k o f h u m o u r, heaviness, lack of sophistication. Brown usually consists of red and yellow, with a large percentage of black. Consequently, it has much of the same seriousness as black, but is warmer and softer. It has elements of the red and yellow properties. Brown has associations with the earth and the natural world. It is a solid, reliable colour and most people find it quietly supportive - more positively than the ever-popular black, which is suppressive, rather than supportive.
BLACK. Positive: Sophistication, glamour, security, emotional safety, efficiency, substance. Negative: Oppression, coldness, menace, heaviness. Black is all colours, totally absorbed. The psychological implications of that are considerable. It creates protective barriers, as it absorbs all the energy coming towards you, and it enshrouds the personality. Black is essentially an absence of light, since no wavelengths are reflected and it can, therefore be menacing; many people are afraid of the dark. Positively, it communicates absolute clarity, with no fine nuances. It communicates sophistication and uncompromising excellence and it works particularly well with white. Black creates a perception of weight and seriousness.
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I D E AT I O N / I N I T A L EXPLORATION
I t h i n k w o o d Suitable Wood w o u l d b e a Types: suitable and a e s t h e t i c a l l y - Cedar sound material - Ply wood consideration in - Fir this project. - Pine Wood h a s - Redwood many desirable - Ash q u a l i t i e s a n d - Birch can b e - Oak manipulated in - Poplar a v a r i e t y o f - Teak techniques. - Cherry It is also contrasted well against a variety of other materials such as metals, t e x t i l e s , brickwork, glass and perspex.
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SOCIAL INVITING FUN CHILLED ATMOSPHERIC TRENDY
SUITABLE METALS:
SUITABLE WOODS:
SUITABLE FABRICS:
Gilding Metal: A copper alloy, comprising 95% copper and 5% zinc. Technically, it is a brass. C o r r os io n r es i sta nt, golden color, enamels well.
FIR: Works easy and finishes well. Uniform in texture and non resinous. Has low resistance to decay. Used in furniture, doors, frames, windows, p l y w o o d , v e n e e r, general millwork and interior trim.
Cotton: Cotton has stable and suitable properties for this project. As well as having good resistance to liquids and dirt, it is also a cool material that has good thermal properties.
Tin: A malleable, silvery metallic element that occurs in igneous rocks. It has a crystalline structure and crackles when bent. Tin is used as an anticorrosion agent and is a part of numerous alloys. White and soft, corrosion resistant. Aluminum: GrayishWhite, soft, malleable, conductive to heat and electricity, It is corrosion resistant. It can be welded but this is difficult. Needs special processes.
ASH: Ash is widely used for structural frames and steam bent furniture pieces. It is often less expensive than comparable hardwoods. PINE:Pine is a soft, white or pale yellow wood which is light weight, straight grained and lacks figure. It resists shrinking and swelling. Knotty pine is often used for decorative effect.
Polyester: Polyester fibres are particularly resistant to light and weather and can withstand climatic effects. They can be used where lightness and fineness are primary requirements. Polyester fibres are very well suited to blends with natural fibres. Leather:High tensile strength, Resistance to tear, High resistance to flexing, High resistance to puncture, Leather contains a great deal of air, which is a poor conductor of heat, Permeability to water vapor
Suitable Materials and their Properties
Plywood is an assemblage of wood veneers bonded together to produce a flat sheet. While it can be tailored to suit an extensive range of applications, the normal product consists of at least 3 plies, with the grain in the alternate plies running at right angles. There are four groupings of plywood products, with each group designed for specific applications: Structural Exterior Interior Marine.
FINAL MATERIAL CHOICES
Plywood offers the following benefits: Increased stability Plywood offers all the inherent advantages of the parent wood plus enhanced properties in its laminated structure. High impact resistance Being a wood based material, plywood has the ability to accommodate the occasional short-term overload; up to twice the design load. This is useful where seismic activity or cyclonic winds can occur. This property is also effective when used as construction flooring or as concrete formwork. Plywood's laminated structure distributes loads from impact over a larger area on the opposite face, which effectively reduces the tensile stress. Surface dimensional stability The cross laminated construction of plywood ensures that plywood sheets remain relatively stable under changes of temperature and moisture. This is especially important in flooring and formwork construction where moisture exposure is very likely. High strength to weight ratio With high strength and stiffness to weight ratios, plywood is very cost effective to use in structural applications such as flooring, shearwalls, formwork and webbed beams. Panel shear The panel shear of plywood is nearly double that of solid timber due its cross laminated structure. This makes plywood a highly effective material to use in gussets for portal frames, webs of fabricated beams and as bracing panels. Chemical resistance SCREWS Plywood does not corrode and can be used in chemical works and cooling towers as a cost-effective, durable material when As a group we opposed using preservative treated. nails and instead chose to work with screws due to the strength and stability they can provide.
HINGES The strength of stainless steel butt hinges are ideal for our project. They provide strength and wont move sideways as they are fastened at four points.
Fixed wall seating - floating. Couch/sofa relaxed and inviting
Long tables with swiveling in and out c h a i r s connected to the table. Inviting and personalised.
COMMUNAL/ SOCIAL SEATING EXPLORATION Inviting a socialization potentially b e t w e e n strangers. Creating a s o c i a l atmosphere and laid back f r i e n d l y environment.
Warehouse/ industrial interior well suited to a chair w i t h communal and social s e a t i n g capabilities and also the aesthetic of s t o r a g e seating.
Singular seating design with storage offered at the base for books and magazines. Soft top.
STORAGE/ S O C I A L S E AT I N G EXPLORATION
Couch/sofa relaxed and inviting offering s t o r a g e solutions at base
Design 1/ Diagonal Chair
T h r e e separate entities brought together by coinciding slants that fit together to create a bench or communal social area for groups.
larger comfortable lounge like chairs with storage space for board games and reading materials. Made from a light material that allows users to easily move the chairs to their leisure and creates a interactive with the inclusion of reading materials and games in the chair.
Design 2/ Mag Chair
T h r e e separate entities brought together by the same design to create a different longer seat t h a t accommod ates larger groups
Diagonal shelf storage area suitable for b o o k s . magazines and newspapers
S I D E VIEW
Fitting together to create a long communal seat suitable for larger groups
Design 3/ Shelf Chairs
T h r e e chairs, each with u p p e r cushioning t h a t uniforms the seats and allows the user to push them together to create a soft boothlike bench
Storage solutions for magazines and reading materials relevant to the atmosphere
S I D E VIEW
Design 3/ Booth Stools Soft u p p e r seating - joining together to create a large booth
Storage s p a c e beneath - angled backrest inviting a c a s u a l atmosphere.
One long communal seat caters to multiples of people, three separate sliding seats that can fit together or separated when needed.
Design 5/ Bend Chair
The s t r o n g geometric design of this chair boasts a unique aesthetic that can be softened or hardened by it’s environment
S I D E VIEW
The upper seating area could be blocked by cork for a softer seating area which would contrast effectively against the similar wooden colour or a metal
The chair folds in to two stools providing a versatile relaxed option or a more formal option when folded up.
Design 6/ Fold Chair
S I D E VIEW
PROTOTYPING
MOCK UP #1 STACKABLE stacks as shelves to create a suitable place for magazines and displaying items that can be sold.
Folds out to become two stool. When unfolded provided comfort with a backrest
MOCK UP #2
MOCK UP #3
“TRY AND HAVE FUN” - NIGEL A t fi r s t w e h a d trouble trying to communicate and see the fun within the project, but as the project progressed I think we all started to get to know one another more and have a bit more fun. We all really had a good time in workshop making the finals mostly. WE HAD TO MAKE QUICK DECISIONS EVEN IF PEOPLE WERE ABSENT We had to get on with it even if people were a w a y, sometimes having to call them and and message them to ask them opinions etc.
Y O U H AV E T O TEST AND RETEST/NEVER ASSUME We just made many assumptions about our designs that let to faults further down the line.
NOBODY EVER F U L LY A G R E E D WITH ANYTHING EVER. So we had to roll with majority vote. Sometimes others didn't like this and sometimes I hated it.
What I learned from Mockups/ First group practicals
FOLDING/BENDING/ MOV ING/CHANGING/ INVIT ING
As a group we discussed options that integrally included functional specifics including storage aspects and ability to cater to communes of people whilst creating an inviting environment. The designs on this page - (drawn by cossy) - reflect a multitude of discussions about interchangeability and product flexibility to cater to different users needs. Thus the concept on bending and folding was integrated and explored in many of our designs. We placed particular emphasis on these aspects because we believe it to be a very important component in the cafe lifestyle.
USING/JOINING/ADJUSTING/ PERS ONALIZING/ADAPTING /STORING
We also explored the concept of joints and grooves to encourage people to experiment with the seating options to personalise them to their needs and wants. We felt this aspect also encouraged a social aspect within the environment and therefore created a happy laid-back atmosphere. We also discussed the option of stacking and the space saver and versatility this could add to our design. This led us to explore extremely lightweight options and techniques so this concept could be easily implemented by the user on their own.
LIGHTWEIGHT/ W E I G H T DISTRIBUTION/ EASE OF MOVEMENT
After researching weight distribution and options of making materials lightweight we discovered that by adding circles in equal amounts with equal spacing we could remove material without threatening the structural integrity of the product. This option was also suggested and explained to us by people in the workshop. This realisation allowed us to also implement a strategy that would aesthetically tie all three designs together. With the consistency and accuracy of the patterned circles, achieved by a 5mm drill press fitting, we were able to remove a significant amount of weight from the design whilst maintaining the strength of a regular block of wood.
FINAL AESTHETIC EFFECT The circles create an idiosyncratic and effective pattern that doubles as a functional aspect.
FINISHES/ M E T A L E D G I N G / HINGES
The metal hinges a n d fi n i s h e s were explored in t h e fi r s t f e w weeks as p o t e n t i a l fasteners for our final designs as they provided the opportunity to incorporate interchangeabilit y into our design. The hinges allow a personalization and user preference. Through the explorative prototypes we established that hinges were suitable for one of our designs despite advice from many different parties. We discovered that the hinges were strongly fastened when they were pre drilled and then drilled. This was suggested to us by staff at workshop.
We decided to employ the m a i n l y aesthetic feature of edging with perforated metal on one of our designs. This process was extremely experimental but worked out quite well This technique looks quite effective and fi n i s h e s t h e edges quite nicely. We achieved this by cutting strips of the perforated metal and nailing them in place at either end and in the centers. We also fastened it by hammering the edges down which avoided the sharp edges.
FINAL DESIGN MOCK UP #1
FINAL DESIGN MOCK UP #2
FINAL DESIGN MOCK UP #3
DESIGNS AS A COLLECTIVE UNIT
Reflective Analysis I n i t i a l l y, b e i n g a n d e a s i l y D u r i n g o u r fi r s t assigned the ‘cafe’ m a i n t a i n e d i n i t i a l m o d e l group, I product. From this m a k i n g and
We also encountered problems with
From this project I can bring away a sense of
approached this assessment with composure, assuring myself that it were one of
feedback we deduced that the incorporation of interchangeability would be suitable
prototyping we encountered small problems as a group that were brushed away
sourcing materials and effective time management which led to the group purchasing the
understanding in relation to how other designers may work. Ofcoarse as
the less difficult groups to design for as it would be easier to identify a design problem
and potentially fun to execute especially as the project was group based.
including small bickering from individuals who were not happy with certain design
materials from the workshop s i g n i fi c a n t l y increasing the overall outlay of the
human beings we are all different but as designers I genuinely now believe that to be
and therefore a solution. Originally we identified that local cafes were repeatedly low on
features and implications. As these problems were not ever fully resolved I feel this
project. On a positive note, I think as a collective we all learned some
able to work in a design group situation you have to be quite strong willed and willing to
space and wanted a versatile inexpensive
led to further disagreement later in the final stages.
important lessons, as cliche as it might sound.
take risks otherwise there can be no reward.
CONTEXT