Research: Zachary, A. designs
Completing research on finding artists that are involved with the stone age was quite challenging. However, I have found multiple artists that create products using stones and make them resemble the stone age, even though it is not directly related to it. One of these design companies is called Zachary A. designs.
At my project sign off, we talked about using stone age as an inspiration and then adding a twist of modern day design in order to make it more appealing to my audience.
History:
Their furniture is 100% handcrafter in Chicago, Illinois. The team includes of Zachary A., Nick Puglisi, Harrison Parkes and Kelan Gill.
Zachary A. was the founder of this company in 2009. He mainly focused on fibreglass and stone to create his works. He studied furniture design at the Savannah college of art and design.
Nick Puglisi is the specialist regarding pricing, order details, production and collaboration. He has been included in this company since 2016. He has a degree in mechanical engineering which helps in the design, business, marketing and production side of the company.
Harrison Parkes joined this company in 2017. He was first introduced to the team as a sculptor, but proceeded on pursuing product development, project management, marketing and design.
Lastly, Kelan Gill is responsible for the two dimensional framework of the company. He specialises in painting and mixed media so he always looks out for the specific colour scheme that will be used.
These are some of their designs:
This was the first design that I looked at from this company. It stood out to me a lot and I found the design very visually pleasing. As seen from the image, the chairs are made out of rock, specifically, white stone that has texture. I really like the texture of the material as it makes it more intricate and it looks more unprocessed (which is my main aim for stone era furniture).
I like how bulky it is without a lot of detail or weird shapes. It is a block of stone that is carved to form the seating area.
I also like how they added a modern touch to this by smoothing out the surface. In the previous examples I looked at ('Cavemen furniture' blog), they had rough surfaces that were not sanded down to resemble the era better.
However, this looks more aesthetically pleasing and can be considered a safety precaution as people will not have any chance of injuring themselves. In my initial ideas, I will make sure that I explore both sanded and rough surfaces to see which one suits the theme the most.
Lastly, these chairs are placed outdoors as the stone is very durable. I think it is a good idea to explore the outdoor theme and possibly design a collection that could be placed outside to resemble nature, indirectly hinting towards the stone era where people were very connected to nature.
This is a table that the company produced using stone again. It is an ongoing theme that this specific company makes everything out of stone. Unlike the previous design, this is a more delicate and intricate design with a higher level of detail.
I really like the texture that was engraved on the stone as it makes it more magical and unique. I believe that it may be a good idea to introduce patterns to my design as I find stone sculpting very interesting.
However, this is a design that would not resemble the stone era. It is not very bulky nor raw enough to be produced at that era.
I think texture or sculpting can be a very tricky segment as it may take me onto a tangent that would not resemble this era. Even though that could be a possibility, I want my designs to resemble that era with a bit of a modern twist.
This is another side table I stumbled across. I really like the designs of these side tables as they come in different sizes which can also be used as stools. I like the simplicity of the design and the minimalistic outcome.
I like the idea of using a simple shape like a barrel as an inspiration to create something like this. In contrast to the previous design, this one resembles the stone era more. It is bulky without any detail, which is primarily what I am aiming for.
I can definitely look at different aspects of the cavemen (eg. paintings or fingerprints) and produce something inspired by it.
I like how all of their shapes are simple yet very effective. Their simplicity stands out to me a lot.
Additionally, another thought that came to mind was to create 5 variations of one product. As seen from the image, there are 4 tables of the same shape but different size. This inspired me to consider designing a collection of 5 same products that differ in aesthetics. This is definitely something to consider developing in my initial ideas.
In the previous terms, I would always create different products. However, this term I mentioned that I would focus on aesthetics. Therefore, I can design 5 same products with different aesthetics.
Similarly to the previous design, this is almost identical. The only difference is the asymmetry created that the previous one does not have. This table has a texture created which makes the surface of the table more rough. Whereas the previous one has a sanded surface to make it smooth. The previous one, in my opinion, is considered more modern.
I believe that asymmetrical design makes it resemble the stone era more as it looks more raw and unprocessed. It has a rough surface which still looks beautiful as they adapted a nice texture to it.
This is one of their multiple bench designs. I picked this one out cause it does not have a backrest. I believe that the missing backrest makes it resemble the stone era more as it is just a block of rock that could be easily created using the skills of the cavemen.
I would consider creating more rough edges for the bench to make it more archaic. However, I think that the shape suits the design a lot and makes it look bulky and strong.
A concern using stone is that they cannot easily move it from place to place as it is heavy, however, this is a risk I am willing to take as I am certain that the outcome would really look great with stone.
Macrolithe Bench (n.d)
The simplicity of this design is what again stands out to me the most. The lack of detail such as the creation of armrests is what makes this piece resemble an older era.
I like that for every design I looked at, they leave the natural colour of the stone to shine through without the addition of extra paint. This is definitely something that interests me a lot too as they did not have any form of paint in the stone era.
What I found extremely interesting about this company is the choice the user has. Below every item, there was a selection of the above materials. The user was provided with the option to choose what material they wanted to make their furniture from. As seen, each material has drastic differences between them, primarily in colour. This allows room to expand the target market as they are provided with more choice for their preferences.
This was very helpful as I can also look at these materials in greater detail and see if any fit my design specifications in later stages.
Additionally, I can also think about adding a selection of materials. I could add 5-6 good choices like the above for the user to choose from. This will increase my target market and also allow people to choose for their desired purposes or colour scheme. I think that this is a good idea and I did not do something like this in the past so I think that it is worth considering this.
Conclusion: I really enjoy looking at other companies and artists as it generates multiple ideas. I brainstormed a lot in the blog for future ideas. Some of these include: The materials, possibly creating an outdoor collection, possibly creating 5 variations of 1 product and I also looked at aesthetics such as texture and how rough or smooth surfaces affect how modern each furniture looks.
It was definitely very helpful to further generate more ideas.
References:
Zachary, A. (n.d) About. Available at: https://zacharyadesign.squarespace.com/about [Accessed: 21/04/21]
Excellent examples of uses of stone here and good ongoing reflection on your research gauging how you might use it in your project, particularly in terms of the choice you are giving to your target market. Well done.
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