How to incorporate design and proportions into projects

[Jason Buresh]

Now that I have a few more projects under my belt that have been mostly cordless, I realize I have a terrible sense of design and proportions. It feels like my projects always turn out blocky looking or are too thick. Is there any books I should read or rules of thumb to follow for traditional design? I was trying to think of a simple and functional project for my next project. Something that won't take a huge time commitment. I have decided I want to try the 5 board bench.I have looked at several examples online and some look like projects from a high school shop class and some look like a more refined piece of furniture while still remaining simple. I am looking for the latter example. I want to maintain simplicity but yet have it look like it was made by a Craftsman and not an amateur project. Some have a long curve in the center boards or the seat or a simple design in the legs. I guess where do you guys start when designing a new project?

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Measure Twice, Cut Once by Jim Tolpin. Readily available at most local libraries.

[Scott Winners]

Go look at furniture. Lots of it. Every piece you have time to glance at. What grabs you? What are you still thinking about when your head hits the pillow?

I find (YMMV) that I like the lines of tapered straight leg Federal and Art Deco stuff, but not the surface treatments. And I might like some other thing more later.

For basic tables look at leg shapes, visual weight of the various components, the chamfer on the underside of table tops. You can't cover up those three with any amount of surface treatment. There are some excellent pieces in both the design and projects subforums here further down from the top of the home page.

[Jim Koepke]

I have decided I want to try the 5 board bench.I have looked at several examples online and some look like projects from a high school shop class and some look like a more refined piece of furniture while still remaining simple.

Here is my six board bench > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?214308 < it is the same as a five board bench except the top is on hinges to make a storage space.

460649

There is a link to a video of the making of a five board bench.

For proportion you might look up > golden ratio < also > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?223546

jtk

[Tom M King]

By Hand & Eye is another good book, also with Jim Tolpin as one of the Authors. It's pretty long winded, in my opinion, but very good on proportions. I do use dividers, and start with relative proportions at 1:5, 1:6, 3:4, 4:5, and such, to see how a rough drawing suits the eye. It always surprises me that some random ratio just doesn't look right.

https://lostartpress.com/products/by-hand-eye-1

[William Fretwell]

Leonardo DaVinci was great at proportions and ratios, he did some maths to try and quantify it. Good advice given here, look at furniture. Go to museums, the pinnacle of craftsmanship and design just sitting around.
Look at ratios that just don’t work and don’t be afraid to say so. “Yea it looks clumpy and heavy”. A well made piece of furniture will be around 100 years+, worth the effort to make it look light, flow, grounded, whatever suits it.
You will gain an appreciation, make pieces, be critical, you will only get better!

[scott lipscomb]

Drawings are great for judging proportions. Simple elevations are usually fine. Mess around with the proportions until it looks right. If the proportions look right in a scaled drawing, they'll look right at full scale.

[Jim Koepke]

Leonardo DaVinci was great at proportions and ratios, he did some maths to try and quantify it.
[edited]

He also illustrated a book on mathematics written by Luca Pacioli, Divina proportione. First printing circa 1509.

jtk

[Oskar Sedell]

I draw before, without regard to what dimensions the wood have. I have a feeling the clumsiness and too thick parts often come from the predimensioned wood. Not all parts have to be 3/4 inch thick. For a smaller cabinet shelves and dividers can be a lot thinner and still strong.

[William Fretwell]

Very true Oskar, I dimension my own wood to match my drawings. Hard woods are plenty strong. Soft wood drawer bottoms with tapered edges work well. Tapered edges on tops of furniture give it a light look while leaving you enough wood to work with.

[Howard Pollack]

I had the same problem, especially with table legs. I eventually made a whole series of dummies of different proportions and sizes to find out what I liked and didn't like. They now fill a drawer and are useful when planning a new piece. -Howard

[glenn bradley]

There are proportions that have been around for so long we grow up with some variations on them our whole life. This life experience is what makes you think to yourself, "this counter is too low" or "this table is too high" or "that door is too wide". The golden ration is certainly one place to start. Look at furniture articles that talk about the Fibonacci curve or proportions.

[steven c newman]

isn't there a device floating around, that sets out the Golden Ratios? usually used at a draughting table, to draw up a plan.....

Just gets to the point, after a while, the brain gets used to those ratios, and how they are supposed to look...trying to remember the exact "numbers" in the Ratio.....

[Jason Buresh]

Thank you everyone for the advice so far.

460687

Here is an example of what I mean. I finished this cabinet for my mother earlier in the year. I feel like the top has too much of an overhang, but I'm afraid to cut it down for fear of making it worse.

My mother is happy with it, which I guess is what matters, but I don't have the sense of pride I usually get after accomplishing a project.

And honestly this has pretty much been the last project I worked on. I kinda lost a little motivation

[Jim Koepke]

isn't there a device floating around, that sets out the Golden Ratios? usually used at a draughting table, to draw up a plan.....

Just gets to the point, after a while, the brain gets used to those ratios, and how they are supposed to look...trying to remember the exact "numbers" in the Ratio.....

Yes, something like this was mentioned in my first reply in this thread/string. It is easy to make:

460709

If you play around with the math a little it is easy to see how other gauges could be made for finding other ratios.

It is so simple to find whole number ratios with a standard pair of dividers it isn't practicle to make such a gauge for even division uses.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Another device was remembered:

460710

At the bottom right of the image (touching the slide rule) is a pair of proportional dividers. The pivot point can be moved to adjust the ratio between the points at either end.

That is more of a draughting instrument than a shop tool, but it comes in handy when planning a project.

jtk

[William Fretwell]

Jason, looking at that piece two things leap out; it does not look ‘grounded’ just floating, the flow from the ground is not there, four stepped corner feet could fix that. The top also looks floating, not connected to the body. Is the overhang needed for something? If so then the bottom could have been bigger.

[Edwin Santos]

I usually start with a drawing.

Then progress to a mock-up model. This is the only way I have been able to evaluate a three dimensional project. The model can be 1/4 scale if it is a larger project. Or 1/2 or full scale. Just tack it together out of MDF or even hot glue and cardboard or foam core.

Once you like your mock-up, then move on to the final project with confidence.

[Mike Allen1010]

By Hand & Eye is another good book, also with Jim Tolpin as one of the Authors. It's pretty long winded, in my opinion, but very good on proportions. I do use dividers, and start with relative proportions at 1:5, 1:6, 3:4, 4:5, and such, to see how a rough drawing suits the eye. It always surprises me that some random ratio just doesn't look right.

https://lostartpress.com/products/by-hand-eye-1

+1 whole number ratios are a great fundamental rule of thumb to fall back on in design. I also like large, actual size drawings on the flipchart/butcherr paper. For me trial and error super helpful. Finally I find a lot of design inspiration in the classic Museum pieces available in books and online references. "Furniture treasury" by Wallace Nutting and "American furniture the federal Period. 1788 – 1825" by Charles Montgomery are two of my favorites

[Mike Allen1010]

Thank you everyone for the advice so far.

460687

Here is an example of what I mean. I finished this cabinet for my mother earlier in the year. I feel like the top has too much of an overhang, but I'm afraid to cut it down for fear of making it worse.

My mother is happy with it, which I guess is what matters, but I don't have the sense of pride I usually get after accomplishing a project.

And honestly this has pretty much been the last project I worked on. I kinda lost a little motivation

Jason I feel your pain and you're not alone. The vast majority of the furniture I built (by my own design) early in my woodworking career never made it out of the shop. My wife would say "an interesting proportions I think I know somebody who could really use something like this" and off it would go to an unsuspecting friend.

The design of your chest has the feel of a "blanket chest" – rectangular box with a lid. There are billions of designs of blanket chest and I'm sure looking over a few of those might give you some ideas of the proportion/dimensions that appeal to your eye. A Tauton Press publication "blanket chest" by Gibson and Turner has some of my very favorite variations on the theme – lots of great design ideas. If you can't find a copy, let me know and you can borrow mine.

[Phil Mueller]

I make full size drawings and cut it out, tape it up to a wall and stare at it for awhile. Make adjustments and stare some more. For a table, I make the top first, prop it up to actual height and put cardboard leg cut outs under it to see what I like.