Sam Johnson | Product & Furniture

sam johnson

product and furniture

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contact email: samjohnson.design@outlook.com instagram: @samjohnson.design phone: 07816903070

education 2020-2021

Kingston University MA Product & Furniture Design

2016-2020

Northumbria University BA Design for Industry 2.1 honours Internship at Sebastian Bergne Internship at FullBlown

2009-2016

Birkenhead School A - Design and Technology B - English Literature B - Economics 10 GCSE’s A*- B

experience Assisting in the curation and delivery of the MA Product & Furniture Design 2021 exhibition at Herman Miller, London.

A recent postgraduate live design project with Camden Town Brewery, involving significant product conceptualisations and client feedback.

Digital and physical modelling, industrial site visitation and confidence liaising with both domestic and international clients during my two internships in 2018 and 2019.

Undergraduate live design projects with clients such as Mars, Kenwood, Innermost; as well as RSA competition briefs.

digital skills

contents

a table for living

01-18

branching out

19-34

camden town brewery

35-46

internships

47-54

studies in planishing

55-64

screwdriver

65-74

non-literal form

75-82

a table for living My major project for MA Product & Furniture design at Kingston University, focused around increasing flexibility in our domestic environments.

01

The core concept of this project was to explore the potential of making living room spaces more dynamic in usage, highlighting the immobility of typical furniture formats.

Process Journal available upon request.

02

Taking reference from the work of Charlotte Perriand in particular, I designed around the idea of creating furniture that was adaptive in its given environment.

As proven by the recent global pandemic, we require more functionality from our domestic spaces than solely relaxation, and contemporary furniture should reflect this.

03

a table for living

The average living room has seen a reduction in size by around 31% since the 1970s - Buy Association (Harvey, 2018)

04

a ta for

Fabricated using three different species of hardwoods, the coffee table challenges the stationary and weighted nature of typical high-end furniture, allowing users to swiftly disassemble the table without the need of tools or fixings.

05

a table for living

able living

Designed to be stored in narrow sections of space, such as underneath a sofa, the table ideally responds to the need for dynamic solutions in eversmaller contemporary residencies.

06

Informed by the action of a wheelbarrow, the table can be transferred from a horizontal to vertical position with ease to aid disassembly.

This means the table can be repositioned by one person, rather than two lifting from either end.

07

a table for living

08

The front legs slide onto the table through semi-circular holes on either side. This rail system provides good stability, whilst making the action of assembly extremely intuitive.

09

a table for living

Turned from a post of African Sapele wood, the pivot of the table acts as a counterweight when in a vertical orientation.

10

The visual quality of each timber used is highlighted and enhanced by the tonal contrast of the neighbouring timber.

Married by their similarly warm undertones, the Oak, Maple and Sapele woods provide a pleasing visual palette, whilst subtly indicating the different points of interest in the table as a whole.

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a table for living

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The Sapele pivot of the table can be disconnected and stored nearflat, held in place using neodymium magnets. The main Oak rails feature highlights of brushed brass, acting as buffers when the front legs reach the correct position.

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a table for living

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a table for living

Exhibiting at the MA Product & Furniture design degree show 2021, A Table for Living is a conceptual piece of furniture that aims to provide and encourage a greater degree of flexibility in our domestic spaces.

Watch the demo on Vimeo via the QR code above.

16

A Table for Living, exhibiting at the MA Product & Furniture design show at Herman Miller in Holborn,

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a table for living

18

branching out My response to a 2019 RSA brief that asked ‘how we might harness broad-leaved woodlands & their resources to increase their local economic, social and environmental value?’

19

faunus

Several pests and diseases are threatening the survival of our native woodlands; one in particular being Ash Dieback or Chalara Fraxinea. The disease has spread at an alarming rate, and there are simply not enough volunteers willing to help track and combat such outbreaks.

20

ash dieback 74%

agreed that ‘Everyone should take action when visiting woodlands to help prevent the spread of diseases’

65%

‘would be willing to look out for and report sightings of pests and diseases on trees, if appropriate information and advice was available to me’

Figures from a survey conducted by the Forestry Commission in 2019

21

branching out

£15bn

is the estimated cost to British society due to Ash Dieback (Chalara Fraxinea). with

95%

of British Ash trees estimated to succumb to the disease.

22

Friends of Chopwell Wood 2nd & 4th wednesday volunteer group ‘There’s all sorts of diseases we have to deal with, including Ash Dieback; we just need more volunteers’

Rodney Lomas Designer Maker at Lomas furniture and former tree surgeon ‘Better management of British Woodlands is crucial - I used the surplus of ash felled as a result of Dieback to raise awareness of the crisis’

23

branching out

One of the most obvious symptoms of the Ash Dieback disease is a distinctive diamond-shaped lesion that will form where the branch meets the trunk.

24

Faunus allows woodlan visitors to becom impromptu volunteer identifying and reportin possible sightings of th ash dieback disease.

The engraved symbo signify the ma symptoms of th disease, such as th typical diamond-shape lesions. Once a case ha been identified, the use can log the report in the TreeAlert website fo closer inspection by professional.

25

branching out

nd me rs; ng he

a

b

c

d

e

ols ain he he ed as er nto or a

a

diamond-shaped lesions on bark

b

brown/dead inner bark

c

dark blotches on leaf

d

dieback of leaves at crown of tree

e

funghal growth on ground near tree

26

A magnifying glass and scrape tool are used for tree inspection, whilst the brush is for decontamination purposes to help prevent the accidental transfer of infectious material on shoes.

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branching out

Manufactured using sustainably felled Ash, faunus would be relatively inexpensive to produce and could provide business to local craftsmen, enchancing the socioenvironmental impact of the project.

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1

4

29

examine symptoms

2

5

identif

decontaminate

branching out

3

fy symptoms

e infectious material

6

utilise tools

report via tree alert

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Once integr into forestry vis centres, faunus c become an intri element of visita helping create ethos of comm participation enhancing overall level of pu knowledge on British natural wo

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branching out

Used by everyday woodland visitors, faunus would not only increase public awareness and engagement with forestry health, but also ease the pressure on demand for volunteer groups.

rated sitor could insic ation; an munal and the ublic the orld.

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branching out

faunus x

As the faunus project could have a hugely positive socio-environmental impact on UK deciduous woodlands, a portion of the cost of manufacture and distribution could be subsidised by the Forestry Commission.

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camden town brewery My response to a live brief set by the Camden Town Brewery, challenging us to design a new beer font for the flagship Camden Hells lager.

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The broader premise of the brief was to redesign the font for Camden Town Brewery’s Hells Lager to reflect the current positioning of the brand, and to compete with other premier lager brands more effectively.

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Freshness Quality

Interest

In my initial research, I found that in regards to Quality and Freshness, fonts with curvaceous and elegant forms best conveyed these attributes to customers However, in regards to a sense of interest, I found that fonts with an illustrative nature were more effective.

Using these insights, I sketched around forms to try and combine these three fundamental elements.

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camden town brewery

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camden town brewery

The fundamental concept of the font I designed is built around the removable front plate/ branding area. This element of interchangeability of the front plate means the font can be updated and adapted to different environments at low cost.

40

Bold colours can be too loud and obtrusive for more up-market bars and restaurants that follow a certain tonal theme. The cool aluminium or copper tones allow the font to adapt to suit a more premium style environment.

41

camden town brewery

42

Limited edition plate be designed as allversions by local ar particular events, be manufactured recycled marbled p promote sustainabil

This would add a sense of authentic character to the fo help to communic ideals behind the Town Brewery brand

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camden town brewery

The projected manufacture of graphic elements on the front plate would be either acid etching though vector patterns, or dyesublimation for solid decals.

Graphic for St Patrick’s Day edition plate designed by Elliott Harosh Graphic Design

es could -graphic rtists for or even using plastic to lity.

a strong city and ont, and cate the Camden d.

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camden town brewery

This concept was presented online to Camden Town Brewery on 19/03/21.

46

Summer 2018 Samples of work from the internship I undertook at Fullblown Studios in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

47

“Sam has good communication skills and was a key member on a thermodynamics research project in 2018, proving himself to be a valuable member of a team consisting of academics, project managers, and researchers.

He is also capable of adapting well to a range of practical tasks. He has shown a willingness to learn and assist with any task, small or large that was required and has taken ideas from concept through to realisation.”

Steve Newby Managing Director

48

One of my main roles at Fullblown was designing the layout of the inner sheet for a prototype air-regulatory system the company was working on at the time.

The spirals cut into the aluminium sheet were designed to accordion when the sheet was spot-welded in-between two outer sheets.

49

internships

I used an algebraic equation on Solidworks to create a perfect logarithmic spiral, which I then copied into Illustrator to format the layout for the system. I also used Solidworks to create 3D models of all the components, which were later used in a presentation about the concept.

50

Summer 2019 Samples of work from the internship I undertook at Sebastian Bergne Industrial Design in London.

51

Sebastian Bergne Industrial Design & Editions is a design studio based in South-west London. British Industrial designer Sebastian Bergne founded the studio in 1990. The studio has completed work for a prestigious list of clients, including the Tefal, OTHR, the European Games, Tolix, Sassoon and LEGO. The studio also engages a range of independent projects and personal editions.

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internships

During my time at the studio, I got to work on the development of two castiron products, Lost link (bottom right) and Logdog (top left). I used Solidworks to create the STL file for the parts, which were then 3D printed and used as the male mould in a sand-casting process.

As part of this ongoing project, we had the chance to visit Maybrey Reliance, a foundry in East London specialising in high-precision casting.

54

studies in planishing Following a brief asking students to explore and to identify the essential quality of an object, and produce a set of objects in response.

55

The object I used as reference was a Pewter hip flask, manufactured in Sheffield, England.

Process Journal available upon request.

56

Using a concave hardy tool, I shaped aluminium blanks into bowl shapes, following a spiral pattern during the planishing. The process is done by eye, forming the bowl through correcting each bump in the metal until you achieve a smooth curvaceous surface.

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studies in planishing

58

Annealing and quenching the aluminium was necessary during the hammering process to restore the metal’s natural malleability once work-hardened.

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studies in planishing

60

The series of responses I made demonstrate a combination of all the skills I learned and developed over the course of this project, including forming, raising, annealling, quenching and texturising.

61

studies in planishing

Although I had planned to fabricate another conical form, I decided to respect the natural movement of the metal and exaggerate the floral-like appearance of the bowl.

62

As a physical response to the original object, the bowl juxtaposes the flask appropriately. Where the flask is machined, precise and repeatable, the bowl is more organic. Whilst both sharing the same fundamental texture, the detailing on the bowl reflects the labour of handhammering, honouring the intentional imperfection of the process.

63

studies in planishing

64

screwdriver My response to a brief from 2017 challenging us to design a cordless screwdriver for the domestic environment.

65

Approaching this brief, the concept was to reject the rugged aesthetics of typical screwdrivers and create an alternative that would blend seamlessly into the modern household.

I used sleek, minimal products as reference to create foremost a form that was entirely approachable, and yet held a sense of sophistication.

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67

screwdriver

Pantone Silver Glamorous, High tech, Graceful, Sleek

Pantone Gray Security, Reliability, Intelligence, Solid

I sketched a variety of forms based on a wide range of existing cordless screwdrivers, and generally found that those with primarily cylindrical forms would be the most aesthetically pleasing, whilst providing appropriate space to house the necessary components in.

68

I found that the best style of screwdriver to develop would be one that offered an adjustable position. This allows the user to switch between a standard and pistol-grip format, making the product far more ergonomically satisfying.

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screwdriver

To further aid ease of use, I also designed a base that would house the screwdriver and six different screw-tips.

The addition of a base component allows the screwdriver to charge without the use of an exposed wire, and helped give the product a greater sense of family.

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The screwdriver is largely influenced by the idea of blending the product into a more domestic setting, rather than heavy duty.

A drastically simple design, whereby the products function is immediately obvious to the user.

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screwdriver

1

3

remove from cradle

2

select and attach screw-head

use dial to increase/ decrease torque

4

return to charging cradle

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e b

a

c

d

f

g

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a

(3.7v) 1500mAh lithium-ion cell

b

Switch component

c

Switch button

d

(3.6v) Motor & gearbox components

e

Injection-moulded ABS upper casing

f

Injection-moulded ABS lower casing

g

Injection-moulded ABS dial casing

screwdriver

74

non-literal form My response to a brief in 2018 that challenged us to design an electronic product solely based on form, with no prescribed function.

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brutalism

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non-literal form

To follow the theme of brutalism, I sketched and modelled forms with an emphasis on clean, bold surfaces and edges.

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The final form I arrived at portrayed the brutalist aesthetic fairly accurately; using sharp, bold grooves and edges to give the sense of strict spatial organisation.

The features are completely stripped back and bare, with a single button on the rear edge and a grill on the front face. This helps to emphasise the cold and calculated nature of the form.

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non-literal form

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non-literal form

My final form not only conveyed the relation to brutalism that I modelled around, but also had obvious elements of sci-fi/futurism. This is easily explained upon evaluation, as there are various dystopian sci-fi films that have largely taken inspiration from brutalist architecture when formulating their relatively totalitarian aesthetic.

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thanks for reading. email: samjohnson.design@outlook.com instagram: @samjohnson.design phone: 07816903070