Our first third year project in 2015 was to design and create a seating design, either being a normal chair, a stool or a bar stool for the BOS Ice Tea brand. The themes that we had to follow was to design for upcycling and recycling while incorporating the BOS colour and logo. This was to teach us the basics of designing as a designer maker

In order to get inspiration and an understanding of chairs and seating I did a bit of research on various current designs. I sorted what I found in to modern and contemporary styles classic and rustic designs.

Because our overall theme was to use recycled products I had to do research on what the capabilities of recycling and upcycling are and display this in a board. I also showed the materials that I was keen to use in my design. For me the main product would be reusing a tyre in some way.

An ergonomic study was conducted to find how the human body interacts with various standard chair heights.

Three pages of concept sketches were drawn to express my ideas.

The design on refinement page 2 was eventually chosen because of its elegant form that utilises the tyre in a unique way as it would not only be there for aesthetics but it would act as a spring to prevent the legs from seperating. 

The design was taken into CAD and rendered to understand the required size and proportions.

This is the final stool after it has been constructected and assembled but before the logo has been sunken and prior to the polywax finish being applied

I then created a final prototype. The legs are connect with a mortise and tennon joint and was held together by mechanical fasteners. The wood, tyre, and door hinges have all been reclaimed and the logo was laser cut and recessed into the wood. The wood then recieved a polywax finish and was sanded with 1500 grit sand paper for a smooth and shiny surface.