5-6 Weeks. Fall 2024.
For students and backpack-wearers searching for
an easy, secure, and stylish way to transport items
one might not want to shove inside of their backpack.
1. How does it work?
Similar to a director’s chair, the legs are propped on top of the table in its folded position. In this position you can use the table for storage. To employ, unfold the legs and rotate them until they are flush to the bottom of the table’s surface. Then wrap the fabric around each side and snap into place.
2. Design Considerations
FUNCTIONALITY:
1. Hands-free-transport, outside of your backpack.
2. Can wear on backpack or on shoulder.
3. Close-able, semi-insulated, waterproof interior.
4. Reliably sturdy for stress-free handling.
5. Can stand up on its own when packed.
MATERIAL:
1. Machine-washable.
2. Durable, sustainable, weighted.
3. Variable across different iterations.
AESTHETICS:
1. Stylish and visually appealing.
2. Can be tweaked depending on user’s style and desire for a gendered or androgynous appearance.
3. Visually unique with a signature form and stitch system.
It’s not just a bag:
Physical full-fidelity, high-quality, hand-fabricated prototypes
2. Custom Sewing Pattern
Full instruction guide on how to construct the Hitch Bag so that others can create it themselves. View the full guide.
I relied on both drawings and rapid physical prototyping to determine the form that best fit my functional, material, and aesthetic goals.
I also made an extra full, final-fidelity model to adequately learn more about the design and pattern I had created before designating it as completed.
This taught me that my pattern and steps could be hard to replicate and follow precisely, and some steps had been overcomplicated. I was then able to adjust my guide to improve these issues.
SKILLS
Construction
Woodworking
Textile Fabrication
Pattern Making
Furniture
Drawing / Ideating
Physical Prototyping
Research
Brand Identity
Documentation
TOOLS
Machine Fabrication (Wood)
Chopsaw, Jointer, Planar
Tablesaw
Drill Press
Table Router
Hand Shop Tools
Machine Sewing
Sewing Handtools
Fasteners and Hinges
Waxes and Finishes
If you want to look right into my brain, check out my UNEDITED CONSTRUCTION GUIDE.
Haha... This is very vulnerable of me. You’re welcome? Unless you hate it, then I’m sorry?
A wooden folding floor table designed with inspiration/in accordance to Carhartt’s brand. A product born from a work-wear brand that, for better or worse depending on one’s perspective, has expanded into street wear and hipster culture.
DETAILS
Skills: Construction, Woodworking, Soft-Goods Fabrication, Shop Tools, Brand Identity
Delivery: Products Studio III
Duration: 5-6 weeks (Fall/Winter 2024)
How does it work?
Similar to a director’s chair, the legs are propped on top of the table in its folded position. You can store things on top of it whilst it is set aside like this. Then, unfold the legs to the bottom and wrap the fabric around each side. Snap into place.
With very limited time, I committed myself to this furniture project by being very organized and creating a schedule and timeline early on.
With my severely limited time frame and new-ness to woodworking (and almost zero experience making furniture), I knew I had to be incredibly organized. I did this by creating a very rigorous, thorough timeline for myself. It worked out incredibly well.
Decide which brand & product I am designing (for).
Sketch and make physical prototypes for my design ideas.
Finish up physical prototypes for ideas. Make a 1:1 scale model from cardboard, then a 1:4 scale balsa doll house model. Over weekend before week 4, go to Mars lumber to purchase wood.
Create construction and fabrication guide and re-make it until there are ideally zero gaps in my plan. Cut wood with chopsaw into pieces so it has time to warp.
Thanksgiving Break, I went home to see my family. I was strategic and planned accordingly so that I could use this break to my advantage by having my wood cut already and allow it to warp.
Fabricate entire table. I broke this down day by day based on my construction guide. I worked almost 8 hours a day each day for this week on fabrication. Finish for presentation at start of next week.
PROJECT PROMPT:
Create a product that is an extension of a brand’s existing product line or that acts as a new, independent product while still adopting the brand’s identity.
In this first stage of the project, I came up with the idea for the wooden floor table and chose the brand Carhartt. With this brand, I knew a few things that I would have to achieve with my table:
1. It had to fold.
2. It had to look like ‘Carhartt’ (in its classic utilitarian-ness and maybe even its new annoying ‘hipster-ness’ too).
3. I must use canvas duck fabric.
Why?
It folds because I couldn’t make a table that doesn’t fold when the brand’s clothing is meant for working. It just makes sense. The use of fabric was deeper than its contribution to the association of the color and material with the brand. It felt logical for the fabric to play a role in the product when Carhartt’s usual products mainly consist of clothing.
In order to ensure my success in an area I lacked experience, I made my construction plan as thoughtfully as I could. I wanted to try to tackle as many problems that I could before starting fabrication.
I also had to use this construction plan to get permission in the 3D lab for this more ambitious project.
Thanks to my earlier dedication to the timeline and construction plan, fabrication was potentially the easiest part of this entire project.