We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Xiaoyan Wei about their original and creative Chair design work. Xiaoyan Wei is an award-winning industrial designer, that makes our world a better place with their original chair works.
Xiaoyan Wei ("XW") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work H Chair. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
XW : The h chair is a piece of the “interval” furniture series. The design was inspired by the beauty of free flowing curves and forms in a neutral space. It was meant to bring a comforting and “breathable" experience to users.
XW : Balancing the structure and texture. A sense of contradiction was created by a combination of hard wood and soft texture. The set of brass metal rods help stabilizing the body structure and bring dramatic visual diversity to the design, in the meantime highlight a very “breathable” negative space made by two flowing curves with different linearity. The entire design full of contradictions and balance.
XW : This award made me think about many social problems. In the future, I hope to make more environmentally friendly design and make the design sustainable.
XW : It took me three months to design, and a year to continuously deepen the design, make samples and adjust the size. Since the chair is made up of two curved surfaces, I have been adjusting the shape of the curve to fit the human body.
XW : The furniture series “interval” concentrates on the expressive beauty that can be created in a room through the dynamic expression of form. By utilizing the negative space in the room my design process creates furniture which captures a sense of surprise and punctuation in an otherwise neutral space. In this colorful world, we really require such a space for breath and balance.
XW : No, it isn't. I would consider any kind of cooperation.
XW : My design style is influenced by the background of my architectural and spatial design. before I start design I will consider the overall sense and form.
XW : There are a lot designers I respect, in the spirit of design has a great impact on me. However, my design works are inspired by nature, and I pursue to explore my own design style and design language.
XW : The first creative challenge was to capture the spirit of 18th century neoclassic furniture design and interpret that in a unique but modern way. A good amount of field research was conducted to set the tone of the design. A list of keywords was built at the very beginning to be used as guidelines for design ideation and exploration through the end to the final proposal. Trying to create an interesting way to express “breathability” in design was another challenge. One has to be simple but dramatic and achieves visual harmony in the design hierarchy. Iterations in scaled 3D models were built to help exploring different possibilities. Finding the balance between functionality and design was a lengthy journey. After all the sculpting and adjustments, it must be able to perform as a stable chair that brings joy and comfort experience to the consumers. Full size rough prototypes were created once the general framework was lock-in to make sure it is structurally functional. A series tests were conducted in order to find the exact position where the connector should be installed.
XW : The name “h chair”is coming from the shape. I think h is a very abstract chair shape, which represents a minimalist concept.
XW : The visual language of the "h chair" expresses the designer's unique interpretation of 18 century neoclassic design. A sense of contradiction was created by a combination of hard wood and soft texture. It was meant to bring a comforting and “breathable" experience to users.
XW : Carpenter and blacksmith
XW : The first creative challenge was to capture the spirit of 18th century neoclassic furniture design and interpret that in a unique but modern way. A good amount of field research was conducted to set the tone of the design. A list of keywords was built at the very beginning to be used as guidelines for design ideation and exploration through the end to the final proposal. Trying to create an interesting way to express “breathability” in design was another challenge. One has to be simple but dramatic and achieves visual harmony in the design hierarchy. Iterations in scaled 3D models were built to help exploring different possibilities. Finding the balance between functionality and design was a lengthy journey. After all the sculpting and adjustments, it must be able to perform as a stable chair that brings joy and comfort experience to the consumers. Full size rough prototypes were created once the general framework was lock-in to make sure it is structurally functional. A series tests were conducted in order to find the exact position where the connector should be installed.
XW : I want to communicate my design concept to more people. And during the competition, I can focus more on improving the overall quality of my work.
