Replies

1. 
   RANGERP75R | Dec 17, 2003 05:47am | #1

   Norse

      I don't have Auto-Cad nor have I ever studied design. I have never read much about design. I do have good photo-memory and have designed my own for just over 30 years. Not gallery pieces, but very acceptable.

     About 160 or so pieces latter, how do I explain my approach? I don't know. I just have an inner feel for balance and effect and put it on a note-pad with a pencil. Once the blue-print is drawn and dementioned, I trust the eye to get it to the finish line.

     I can't use technical terms as I don't know any. My mind, hands and eyes just blend together and the flow happens.

   Regards...

   sarge..jt

   Proud member of the :  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   UncleDunc | Dec 17, 2003 06:14am | #2

   If you just gotta design because you're bursting with designs and have to get them out before you burst, go for it. :) The way I see it, I don't have to design because there are all already thousands of highly evolved designs out there, way more than I'll ever get a chance to build.

3. 
   BG | Dec 17, 2003 02:50pm | #3

   Norse,

   About 30 years ago I started to get involved with antique furniture. In addition to everything else, I really wanted to know how to judge fine furniture and differentiate it from the not so well designed...in other words, I wanted to understand the subtlies (sp?) within the piece of furniture.

   The books I read on the subject said to go and stair at a high quality antique....and when you can't stand it anymore stair for another 15 minutes...and then another...and another.  

   Not too long after that I bought some fairly plain chippendale chairs for the dining room.  These chairs had very little, if anything, to distinguish them...except they were quite lite (weight wise) and particularly strong.  The cross stretcher on the bottom had a stopped sliding dovetail attaching it to the other stretchers ...that seemed rather different....but that was it. 

   Our home was positioned in such a way that I could see the chairs as I watched TV at night from the family room....and during commericals my eyes would wander to the chairs.  After about 6-9 months I was watching TV one night and all of a sudden I started to notice new things about my chairs....the curvatures, angels, tapers, etc.  As I discovered more things, I also found that my eye had been trained to look for these things in other pieces of fine furniture.  Since then my 'eye' has continued to develop and I very much enjoy looking at fine antiques.

   I have no idea if any of this technique (stairing) is applicable to other than antique furniture...but I have been looking for an excuse to tell this story...and you stumbled into it....lol
1. 
   Steinmetz | Dec 17, 2003 10:29pm | #7

   BG, assuming you're of the male persuasion,I suspect you have subconsciously confessed your (and my) fascination with and for the lovely gems amongst us guys.

   Fine lines, curves, slim tapered bodies, sporty exteriors and 'Cushy' seats. (Not to mention eye appeal,  reaction and response.

   That's the reaction we guys get when the new models come out in Motor Magazine.

   Oh, I forgot, that New Car Smell is a feast for the nose.

   I'm 73, but I still appreciate great hood ornaments too.  Stein. 

   Edited 12/17/2003 2:31:32 PM ET by steinmetz

   Edited 12/17/2003 2:33:29 PM ET by steinmetz

4. 
   DaveMartins | Dec 17, 2003 06:07pm | #4

   There is a formula that was printed in a small article in FWW within the last year but I can't find it.  I'm completing a cabinet to house my surround sound/video equipment after just purchasing a big screen TV and wish I would have spent a little more time looking for the formula.  Drawing to scale in two dimensions doesn't always show what the piece will look like when in three dimensions.  In my case the cabinet is too tall for its width.  I've added a bottom skirt and oversized top to attempt to fill out the width and it's looking more proportional.  I can't tell you how I felt after mortise and tendening the front and side panels and then finally putting it all to gather to find I just built a refrigerator!. 

    

   Dave

1. 
   BG | Dec 17, 2003 07:10pm | #5

   Davem,

   Ha,ha,ha...I know the felling all to well.  When we were building our house in Indiana I asked the guy who built our Kitchen cabinets to make me two corner cabinets for the family room...one for the TV, stero, etc...and the other (matching) for a computer center....enormous and now that we have moved won't fit anywhere in our current house.....sigh

5. 
   hitai | Dec 17, 2003 08:14pm | #6

   I would repeat the advice from BG .  Look at furniture untill yu can really see what the maker was thinking.  I would offer a strong caution against relying heavily on CAD programs.  I say this after seeing a LOT of contemporary work and being familiar with the programs myself.  The problem seems to come from solving limitations imposed by the software itself, resulting in a less than free hand when it comes to design.  People seem to walk a line between what is possible to do with the program, and what the piece wants to be and the results are an obvious compomise.

   They say that good design is in the eye of the beholder but I would beg to differ with that also.  It is also said that " There's no accounting for taste" which is more like it. good design always sets itself apart from the crowd and it's very cool that you are seeking this .

   I start with a quick drawing and head into 3-d full scale models as soon as possible. Occasionally I will have a job that is so complex that full drawings are required just to bid the thing,  but when that happens I often feel locked in too early. because as you noted, 2-d can never catch the dynamic of the whole piece. I would recommend  that you continue with your mock-ups. Problems that arise because of grain or color are minor compared to overall proportion and harmony..

   Sounds like you are on the right track!!

   Aloha Tai

6. 
   bobpowers | Dec 18, 2003 03:40am | #8

   My favorite source of basic design information is Graham Blackburn's FURNITURE BY DESIGN.  It's a course in  woodworking and design combined.

7. 
   Norse | Dec 20, 2003 12:57am | #9

   Thanks for all the replies. I have the book on my shopping list.

   I use the AutoCad for scaling things out when freehanding starts getting sloppy. But like Hitai writes, it has its limits for the bigger picture. I know some Architects who do beautiful rendering but it takes hours and hours to get it right. AutoCad is also helpful for doing the math around the Golden Mean that Davem referred to which helps avoid those “refrigerators” albeit with well made joinery.

   The staring technique BG mentions is something I’ve seen Architects do (I worked in a architectural firm a few years back as a Contract Administrator and didn’t have too much contact with the designers). I like the idea of concentrating on a piece long enough to appreciate what the builder was trying to say.

   Steinmetz, you’re a man among men!

   Again, thanks for all your tips. Sometimes I feel like I’m losing my focus without someone to talk to – you folks are so generous in sharing your knowledge.

   Peace isn’t just a season,

   Norse