Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Lounge Furniture
At my time with the Michael Graves College Design Studio, I assisted in designing
two accent furniture pieces for Kean University's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
The team I collaborated with was comprised of interior design and graphic design students.
Planned Office Space
The spaces we were tasked to design for was the lounge at the end of the office and the reception area. These sections of
the office were designated for students to gather and give individuals an area to complete work in an inclusive space.
My focus in the lounge space was the design and creation of a coffee table and bookcase to be frequently used.
Early Sketching
Bookcase
Placing the focus of a physical representation
of the office's principles, I experimented with
the use of shapes and sizes.
I experimented with the concept of a city skyline.
This inspiration was discovered from driving past the
New York City skyline and noticing how each building
plays its own part. Without each of them the skyline
would appear incomplete.
Coffee Table
Another concept I moved towards was subtle imagery,
creating a puzzle piece in the center of the table with the
imagery of this piece being the figures embracing each other.
I wanted to return to a simple shaped table surface as a
complex designed top compromises the utility of the table.
Using a simplified design allows for the creativity
of materials to be explored.
The primary use of a natural finished wood along
with a synthetic material demonstrates a melding
of raw materials placed together in a refined piece.
This approach is the aesthetic I would
choose to move forward with for the table.
Focused on incorporating a simplified shape, I decided to
create diversity within the individual materials by adding
a range of wood species to create contrast.
The striped appearance mimics the design later proposed
by the interior design and graphic design team.
Creating a range of wood species within the table
presents a sense of subtle imagery without feeling
overbearing to the rest of the design.
Our team decided this design best complimented
the other designs they planned to propose.
Early Modeling
Bookcase
After consulting with the interior design team,
I attempted expanding designs into a 3D platform
creating mockups based on my sketching experimentation.
This concept incorporated basic geometric shapes that
appear to be different sizes but contain the same volume.
I returned to a missing concept in prior designs and
focused on a sense of community within individuality.
The honeycomb appearance and hexagonal shelves
called back to the design found in the coffee table.
Final Furniture Design
Coffee Table
This design focuses on the importance of individuality and
community as the table is able to separate or join together.
Wood found in each section of the table is placed in
different orders and can be aligned with any side of the table.
An illusion is created where the surface appears as an intertwined knot.
This option contained the most expensive choices of wood,
sourced from all livable continents around the world.
Each selection was chosen based on color and grain
to create the widest range of diversity when combined.
This was the desired option from the design team.
As a budget friendly version, this option primarily sourced
from a single continent in order to keep diversity across a range
of local wood species. Higher price woods found in the previous
option were switched for commonly used comparable woods.
Bookcase
The continued honeycomb design is created with a
larger internal hexagonal pattern and varying shelf widths.
A backless design presents equality of shapes until viewed
from an angle where the diversity of the shelves can be seen.
The wood choices in this option reflects the widest range
of diversity while remaining in a reasonable price.
Since the bookcase requires more wood to make,
primarily continental sourced wood still emulated diversity.
This was the desired option from the design team.
This option was a budget friendly version that used stains
to create the diversified look of the of the wood pieces.
Using continentally sourced Ash, different stains would
be applied to replicate the look of other wood species.
However, the authenticity of what the wood represented
would be lost.
Interior Design Proposal
Option 1 (Provided by the interior design team)
Option 2 (Provided by the interior design team)
Furniture In Office
Final Office Proposal
Our final proposal unfortunately did not move forward
after consulting with the office's management.
However, I found this to be an incredible learning experience
collaborating with a talented team from different disciplines.
All images in the final proposal provided by interior and graphic design team
