How do you approach designing?

[Ron Fritz]

For me, a good percentage of the fun in creating something lies in the design phase. I find the challenge of taking an idea or a project concept and “building” it in a scale drawing just as challenging as the actual construction phase. Although the skills that I need for computer drafting are different than the skills required to cut, plane, or mill a piece of wood into shape, I still need to apply my knowledge in joinery and construction techniques to both drafting and the actual construction phase. If I can’t build it on paper first, then the chances are that I can build it at all.

So far most of the pieces that I build fall within what I call the “rectangle paradigm”. (Cabinets, desks, benches, dressers and the like) If you know how to cut a rectangle piece of wood and know some joinery and construction techniques you can build a cabinet. (Please, don’t flame me, I’m not trying to understate the skill required to build a cabinet. In fact there is a lot of skill required. I’m just trying to relay my view of creating things that look like plain old rectangles)

What I am most interested in knowing is how the rest of you approach designing so that your creation doesn’t look like it just stepped out of the “rectangle paradigm”. I have seen some fabulous examples of cabinetry that were obviously constructed via rectangle carpentry, but your eye is drawn to other aspects with in the cabinet design first.

Does this all make sense or am I just stuck in my own private paradigm? Have you seen this before or even considered this in your designs? Thanks for your help.
Ron

[Mark Singer]

Ron,
I think your questions are excellent! Designing a well detailed , well proportioned rectangular cabinet still requires design skill....we see many not so great examples. The woodworking skills are still challenging even if the surfaces are planner and simple. Coopered doors and curved or organic forms are more challenging to both design and construct. The well designed and carefully chosen materials in a Krenov cabinet are sophisticated and his details are not easily mastered....
This Forum has members who have built both simple and elegant cabinets and also furniture , chairs , lamps, tables and cabinets that are more challenging... Design for me is always the beggining...the inspiration that drives me to take on a new challenge , learn a new skill, sketch until I find a new form, break out of the norm, transend the box and just replicating the past and finding new ground....making something for today that has longevity and will look as well in time....why not ?

[Paul Comi]

Unless you're making laminated cabinetry like the curvaceous cabinetry I've seen made for small airplanes and such, I think that projects that are essentially based on box shapes lose their boxiness through either mouldings or by carving/routing the surface and edges to lose some of the obvious boxiness. The style of the doors and the feet also contribute, but at the heart of it, most structures like that are still basically some form of a box/carcase. I'm just making a general point so please don't dog pile on me over this generalization.

I also think that you'd be surprised at how often even things like chairs start off during joinery as blocky structures that later get shaped and sculpted into objects without square corners. What I'm learning is to see things in their construction state before they were shaped into their finished state. I'm going to take a tour of Sam Maloof's workshop on Saturday and it will be interesting to me to see how my perception of that reality changes.

[John Hart]

Leonardo DaVinci's magnificent work of the human form nearly always started out as a Stick Figure.

[Ron Fritz]

Mark; thanks for your reply. I have seen several of your threads in the past and have studied your designs. You have presented some very interesting concepts in design. Although I think my roots lean more towards traditional design your photos illustrate some excellent craftsmanship. I would say that none of your designs fall within the rectangle paradigm. You mentioned Krenov who I was not familiar with so I did a search on him and found some of his articles in Fine Woodworking. Thanks. I'm always interested in learning how others approach design or what is it that brings a craftsman to a particle design or concept. Thanks again. Ron

[Jim Becker]

Rectangles are important as they directly relate to proportion. But there is no rule that says the components or final result has to be an actual rectangle with square corners. If you take that one-legged table that Mark shows and look at it from the side dead-on, you'd be able to mentally draw a rectangle that encases the piece and observe how the height and width relate to each other as a baseline. Even though we normally only "see" the curves, our brain still processes the other information. The bottom line is that all design STARTS with rectangles but progresses from there only using the rectangles as bounding boxes as you move through the steps to your final form.

[Mark Singer]

Rectangles are important as they directly relate to proportion. But there is no rule that says the components or final result has to be an actual rectangle with square corners. If you take that one-legged table that Mark shows and look at it from the side dead-on, you'd be able to mentally draw a rectangle that encases the piece and observe how the height and width relate to each other as a baseline. Even though we normally only "see" the curves, our brain still processes the other information. The bottom line is that all design STARTS with rectangles but progresses from there only using the rectangles as bounding boxes as you move through the steps to your final form.

Jim that is very true ...most sketches start with "block outs " of forms as rectangles and then within the blocks the notion of curves can be considered...maybe angles...Rectangles is a great starting point and even in life drawing classes the human figure is often first sketched as a blocked form to correct proportions

[John Stevens]

What I am most interested in knowing is how the rest of you approach designing so that your creation doesn’t look like it just stepped out of the “rectangle paradigm”. I have seen some fabulous examples of cabinetry that were obviously constructed via rectangle carpentry, but your eye is drawn to other aspects with in the cabinet design first.

Ron, if I understand the problem you're trying to solve, its something like, "how do I make a rectangular piece of furniture that doesn't look like the cardboard boxes that Ikea furniture comes in."
Or maybe I'm projecting my own "design issues" onto you.

I'm a beginner at design and woodworking in general, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt:

1. Add color, such as a modest amount of wood with a contrasting color.
2. Add texture, such as a modest amount of figured wood, or beading or grooving or beveled edges. End grain can give a contrasting texture, so you may want to think about exposing joinery such as dovetails, through-tenons or pinned tenons.
3. Add an inlay, either an abstract shape or otherwise
4. Add legs
5. Add molding to the top, bottom and/or middle
6. Use repetition of proportions in the sub-components, such as doors, drawers, or upper and lower cases.
7. Use progressively-changing proportions, such as graduated drawer heights.
8. Add shadow-lines in classical proportions to create a field within a slab-side of a carcase. By "classical proportions," I'm talking about stuff like the golden ratio, the golden ratio raised to a positive or negative integer exponent (e.g. squared, cubed, square root, cube root, etc.); and the square root of five.

Finally, you can add superfluous design details--stuff that is completely unrelated to the structure or function of the piece. Here's one example:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost...65&postcount=1

EDIT: as to your question, "how do you approach designing," you might want to check out a book called "The Woodworkers' Guide to Furniture Design" by Garth Graves. Even if you're already using the principles in his book, at least it will confirm that you're on the right track.
Second edit: I'm surprised no one corrected my mistake about roots being integer exponents. But you get the idea, I hope.

Hope this helps.

[Don Baer]

I also think that you'd be surprised at how often even things like chairs start off during joinery as blocky structures that later get shaped and sculpted into objects without square corners. What I'm learning is to see things in their construction state before they were shaped into their finished state. I'm going to take a tour of Sam Maloof's workshop on Saturday and it will be interesting to me to see how my perception of that reality changes.

Paul;
Since I have been studying Sam style I can honestly say that I have rethought my approach to making furniture. The most significant thing I learned was that a lot of his style come from nature. The style of his table legs are fashioned to resemble tree roots. his joinery in his chairs is inspired from three branches. In the book "Sam Maloof Woodworker" he talks about this.

[Dale Thompson]

Ron,
When Willie Nelson wrote the song, "Crazy", he originally named it, "Stupid".
. Realizing that the original name was not "euphonically acceptable" to the media, he changed it to, "Crazy" and the rest is music history!

What, actually, is design? Is it a word, an angle, an inspiration, a mistake or a purposeful act? There is no wrong answer!

Dale T.

[Joe Unni]

Ron,

I've been doing a lot more in the design world of recent.

My approach...

I just start sketching - by hand - and when something catches my eye I'll either continue with the same sketch or take the "eye catcher" and start a new sketch with it. This continues until the design is complete.

Sometimes I'll redraw the final design in 2D (Visio) or 3D (Sketchup).

Since adopting this approach, my designs have just worked.

When the design is "right" you'll know it.

That's my 2 cents.

Good luck,
-joe

[Paul Zonneveld]

I will often take about 10 times longer to do a complete 2D layout drawing set including details and joining methods included. I often take the extra step to create a 3D model as I have access to the software to make the models.

I will create complete cut drawings as well laying out sheet stock and then the real wood stock. I actually have a lot of fun doing the detailed layouts and agonize over the details for hours to make sure every detail is covered.

The last step I take prior to beginning to make any lumber purchases, especially with complexe projects, is to make a steps list. The steps list is a complete layout of which parts should be cut in what order to ensure the intermediate assembly can be accomplished without any missing parts. Sounds complicated, but it forces you to step through the entire project in great detail so that problems are ironed out well before making any cuts.

I think that thinking through the details helps the project when it comes time to cut. I dont have to think much about cutting I just measure (several times) and then cut away.

[Ron Fritz]

Thanks all for your input. It's good to hear other's views. I need to seek out some more books on design to get more inspiration. The one reason I keep coming back to Sawmill Creek is there is a lot of talented people here. I love to see what others have done via picture posting. More inspiration. Ron

[Nathan Hoffman]

I love the design part of a project, and with 2 little ones at home, it seems that design and thinking about design is all I have time to do!
Most of my projects right now are trim work and built-ins for our home, and I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from magazines and the Idea Book series from Taunton. I also like looking at high end furniture makers on the web and in catalogs, etc. When I’m creating a design for a project I often design it in my head about 400 times before putting it on paper, because, as I tell my wife, dreaming about doing a project is free! I am a mechanical engineer by trade, so thinking and picturing things in 3-D is something I have to do every day. If I could afford it, I would have Sketchup, as after running the demo it looks like an excellent tool for the woodworker.
As a follow up question to this thread (I hope I am not changing the subject from your original intent, Ron) – When constructing the box shape, do any of you in SMC land start with, say, the golden rectangle and go from there, or just go with what pleases the eye as you move along? Or do you start from some know dimensions and change as you go? When designing a cabinet, for instance, are there guidelines for the relationship of the drawers/doors and the overall size of the piece?

Thanks for letting me ramble.

[tod evans]

in the end if an object doesn`t please the eye it is a failure. any method used to achieve balance and porportion whether a full scale drawing,computer rendition in 3-d or toothpicks and styrofoam is acceptable. most of my sketches are done on scrap lumber so they don`t get blown off the bench when cleaning if i like an idea the following day i`ll proceed with a more detailed drawing or a mock-up to help me visualize where i`m going. don`t know if this is any help or not? it`s just how i work tod