Second Year Portfolio

BRONWEN REES.

Furniture Maker.

Product Designer.

Nottingham Trent.

ABOUT ME My practice revolves around sustainability, simplicity and hands on making.

Longevity and environmental consideration play a big part in my design process; I believe we have a responsibility as designers to think about how the things we create impact our surroundings.

Some main interests of mine include photography, graphic design (in particular looking at layout and composition) and tackling climate change.

CONTENTS 01 DRESSING HORSE A clothes stand to drape your clothes on when getting changed, inspired by the carpenter’s shave horse.

02 STAIR CUBBY An open access staircase storage compartment that comes flatpacked, and can be assembled using no tools.

03 ZEER CABINETS A freestanding cabinet to store and cool veg in, based on an ancient african design that uses no electricity.

04 CRADLE TO CUSHION A set of ergonomic cushions that are made from second hand materials, highlighting waste and the many ways it can be repurposed.

05 STRAPPED INTO LOCKDOWN A manual designed to show the endless possibilites of a set of tension straps in lockdown living. Designed to promote creative thinking and mental wellbeing.

THE DRESSING HORSE For SCP. Brief: Create a wooden piece for SCP’s Boxed Collection, that can be carried home under someone’s arm as an impluse buy.

Outcome: A ‘dressing horse’ to drape your clothes over when getting changed; with bag holding ‘ears’, and a pocket contents ‘saddle’.

INSPIRATION The piece was inspired by the carpenter’s shave horse, with a few key features carried through to the final design: The splayed legs, the two piece main body and the asymmetric design.

DEVELOPMENT The final design was developed through extensive 1:5 model making, looking at scale and proportions.

The height and proportions were finalised through making several full scale models (see title page),looking at how clothes and bags fitted onto the piece.

MANUFACTURE The main frame is joined together using dominoes. This hides the joints, so the focus is not detracted from the thumb nuts, which are the main feature.

The saddle was made using wood glue and clamps, and dominoed for extra strength.

ASSEMBLY The piece is assembled using thumb nut screws that are easy and pleasant to use, while also hinting at the industrial screws used in many shave horse designs.

The top of the horizontal planks are chamfered using a router to encourage clothes to be draped over them.

THE STAIR CUBBY For John Lewis, with Umbra.

Brief: With a peer, design a product for Umbra’s John Lewis range, aimed at young professionals living in small, rented homes. Consider mass manufacture, packaging and Umbra’s style.

Outcome: An open access cubby, that fits over two steps for everyday storage. It can hold up to five pairs of shoes, books or other nic nacs, and comes flatpacked.

DETAILS It has been designed to be assembled at home using no tools, and can be bought flatpacked, making transporation easier for the user.

It’s put together using a slot and peg system made from the same plywood, making assembly more enjoyable and simpler for the user than using common allen key home assembly.

It can be fitted to any stair size, using the adjustable panel on the back, which can be slid up and down to any height, and is fastened using knurled thumb nut screws, another pleasant feature to use.

DEVELOPMENT The product was prototyped throughout, to fine tune the design and make sure we had noticed all faults and alterations that needed changing, resulting in a more refined final piece.

PACKAGING The piece can be flatpacked into a 240x240x45mm box for efficient transportation.

The packaging was redesigned, so it still reflects Umbra’s brand, but also highlights the aesthetics and features of the product.

MANUFACTURE All the components (bar the knurled thumb screws) can be cut on a 3 axis CNC machine. The product was deisgned like this intentionally to make mass production easier and cheaper for the manufacturer.

The tessalation sketch (right) shows all of the components fitted onto 1/3 of a 8x4 sheet of plywood, so 3 cubbies can be manufactured from one sheet of 8 by 4 plywood.

COLOUR WAYS The shelves are white on one side to fit Umbra’s colour sheme and add an element of customisation.

During developement we experimented with several different variations of John Lewis’s AW20 colour sheme, but decided the wood worked best with a simple white.

THE ZEER CABINETS For Vitsoe, with Pearson Lloyd.

Brief: Design a system that works on the same premise as Vitsoe’s 606 Shelving System and upholds their company ethos.

Outcome: A set of cabinets optimised for storing and preserving vegetables, based on an old traditional Nigerian “zeer pot” and wooden crate storage.

INSPIRATION Based on the ancient Nigerian “zeer pot�: a terrecotta pot placed inside a larger pot. The double-wall is filled with sand which acts as a wick for water that is poured into it.

The water then seeps through the outer pot and evaporates slowly (essentially sweating), cooling the inside pot.

The modernised version has a metal inside, which still efficiently tranfers cold into the chamber, but is also more hygenic and stops veg from getting damp.

The wooden frame was inspired by scandinavian dressers, and is designed to let the veg inside breathe while keeping it out of direct sunlight: prolonging it’s life span.

DESIGN The cabinets are designed for open space living, and made to work as ambiguous stand alone pieces rather than specifically kitchen furniture, so they can be put anywhere in the house.

The legs are taller than an average kitchen counter to make the pieces feel more visually light.

MATERIALS Maple was used as it’s scratch resistant, and the closed grained makes it very good at blocking bacteria, moisture, and stains.

Black terrecotta was chosen over orange as it’s less vibrant, and therefore is more versatile in different environments, not going “out of fashion”.

DIMENSIONS The height is standard countertop height (900mm) for easy food prep, and the lid doubles as a chopping board, with a food waste bin underneath the board that offcuts can be scraped straight into from the chopping board.

CRADLE TO CUSHION Material Exploration.

Brief: Explore and experiment with a material of your choice, discovering innovative ways of creating an everyday object.

Outcome: A set of pillows made entirely from second hand materials. The visual aesthetic was inspired by the contrasting materials and neutral colours found on many old buildings, and the pull string was incorporated to make the piece more tactile and ergonomic.

INITIAL RESEARCH 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year.

Every hour, enough unwanted clothes are collected in the US to fill three Olympic swimming pools.

Due to these facts, all the materials used for this project are secondhand clothes charity shops can’t sell due to damage that are otherwise headed for landfill.

INSPIRATION The initial inspiration for this piece came from looking at buildings nearby where I live and looking at what aspects appealed to me: Vertical lines, contrasting textures, neutral colours, structure with defects and variation.

I wanted my main influence to me something unrelated to fabric so it would push me to use the material in ways that wouldn’t normally occur to me.

RESEARCH I researched innovative ways of using fabric, espeically looking at runway fashion and patchworking techniques. These helped inspire the way I sewed together the fabric.

I also did some primary research into what makes a pillow “good”. I identified that each of my pillows had a different USP that I liked about them: The sequin one is interactive and tactile, the velvet one is soft and subtly eye catching, and my bunny is surpringly ergonomic due to it’s shape.

EXPERIMENTATION This project was the outcome of several weeks of experimentation (see top left a few examples of prototypes).

This was to further my own understanding of the material, but also look at it with fresh eyes, especially in terms of how to reuse material we often simply throw away.

STRAPPED INTO LOCKDOWN Catering for emotional wellbeing during the covid-19 lockdown.

Brief: Explore the emotional needs of different people during the isolation period of a pandemic. Create a product that assists and improves their mental wellbeing.

Outcome: A pair of tension straps with an accompanying manual that offers 28 different alternative ways to use them, helping people with areas they may be struggling with during lockdown. It promotes healthy mental wellbeing through creative thinking, learning new skills and doing exercise (with the assistance of the straps).

MARKETING The wrap round the packaging is designed so lots of different versions of ‘this is a...’ can be printed onto it, to highlight the endless uses of the product.

RESEARCH The project was based on the multiple emotional needs and wants of people, inspired by Viktor Papnek’s ‘needs vs wants’ diagram (above).

It was also heavily influecned by ad hoc home design, in particular the comical inventions of Heath Robinson (below).

INSPIRATION My inspiration for the style of the manual came from multiple sources, but overall the themes were simplicity, minimalism and neutral tones with a splash of colour (both right).

The idea for the box came the growing letterbox packaging trend.

MANUAL DESIGN The instructions are a mixture of photos and illutrations to help make them clear.

They are arranged in a continuous flow that merge the ideas together, encouraging readers to combine and think up their own ideas.

The whole manual is handwritten with pencil, to make it feel less digital and more tangible; something that is becoming ever less common in this exclusively online lockdown world.

ACCESS The finished manual has been designed as an open online source PDF, with the option to buy a physical copy alongside the straps, depending on what people prefer.

This aims to give all people access to it, and promotes at-vhome making with no purchasing required.

It takes into account the fact that some people may be less inclined to buy products due to worry of contamination.

EXPERIENCE. GRACE & GROWTH, 2019.

Summer job helping to assemble Pickler wooden children’s play sets. I was responsible for cutting, sanding, assembling, and finishing the pieces.

ARCHITYPE, 2019.

Work experience for the UK’s leading passiv haus architecture firm. I handcut and assembled a 1:50 scale model of a wooden passiv haus extention to an old Victorian school.

SARAH ECO DESIGN, 2018.

I helped to run a craft workshop making decorations from recycled bottles and cans.

I gained experience leading a group and teaching skills to others, both adults and children.

ACHIEVEMENTS. SILVER ARTS AWARD, 2017.

An award for furthering creative knowledge through 95 hours of combined guided and independant learning.

DESIGN SOCIETY PRESIDENT, 2019.

I am president of NTU design society.. We organise and host regular creative socials and workshops, as well as helping promote a cross course community.

SUSTAINABILITY IN PRACTICE AWARD (shortlisted), 2019.

For encorporate sustainability into my area of study, through research and a project proposition.

HEREFORD COLLEGE OF ARTS, 2018 I gained a distinction for my Foundation Diplomain Art and Design.

PERSONAL SKILLS I’m hard working, organised, and learn new skills quickly. I am social, so work well in a team, and I am happy to take on leadership roles when necessary (I am currently president for NTU’s Design Society).

SOFTWARE SKILLS My software skills include Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, Solidworks, and Final Cut Pro.

CONTACT

EMAIL : bronnieann.rees@gmail.com MOBILE : 07714651166 INTAGRAM : @rbonwen