Packing Boxes Double as Furniture

This example is perfect for emphasising the flat pack style, as well as having two functions! This intriguing design can function as a cardboard box, making it perfect for moving and transporting large quantities, as well as turning into chairs and bedside tables.
“Move is a packing box which can be folded and reused as furniture once it is unpacked,” says designer Janine Perkuhn. “Re-usage and eco-material make Move sustainable and inexpensive at the same time. Corrugated cardboard is bio-degradable, 100% recyclable and yet extremely stable.”

Again, with simple instructions, they are easy to assemble and can be made into different shapes and sizes, making them both functional in a variety of ways, and perfect for emphasising our space saving concept.

Urbanist (2014). 15 Flat-Pack Furniture Designs & Ideas for Saving Space. Retrieved from http://weburbanist.com/2010/04/26/15-more-flat-pack-furniture-designs-ideas/.

Flat-Pack Pizza Box 'Modular' Furniture

This example is once again, a very clever product. With all the pieces able to fit inside a pizza box, which is also great for delivering the furniture, it is a great example to demonstrate how easy furniture can be space saving, decorative and functional all at the same time.

This desk is perfect for storing everything you need within a working day, and can all be taken down at the end. It includes different compartments for every possible storage space needed, and also includes a vast amount of actual desk space. "Each set contains 5 slotted board modules that can be connected with other sets to create all manner of storage space, tables, benches and more." This can also be made into different shapes, can connect with other pieces and sets, all creating completely brand new desks in a variety of sizes and shapes. 

Urbanist (2014). 15 Flat-Pack Furniture Designs & Ideas for Saving Space. Retrieved from http://weburbanist.com/2010/04/26/15-more-flat-pack-furniture-designs-ideas/.

Typography Inspired 'Chair' Chair

This example of a flat pack chair is again, decorative and functional, but is also decorative in its flat pack state, spelling out the word 'Chair'. This is an extremely clever way to produce flat pack furniture, and adds a quirky aspect to something which has clearly been produced many times before, making it different and stand out in the market.

The A is used as the back of the chair, the C is the seat and the R and H are the legs which are stabilised by the I. Not only is it easier to assemble, with all the letters produced in the shapes, it is then also easy to deconstruct, saving space within the home, living space or working space.

Urbanist (2014). 15 Flat-Pack Furniture Designs & Ideas for Saving Space. Retrieved from http://weburbanist.com/2010/04/26/15-more-flat-pack-furniture-designs-ideas/.

Conductive Electric Paint

When sampling, it is important to experiment with a number of different materials so that we are able to confidently develop our speaker products. With the fixed main material as paper, it would be the conductive materials used when producing the coil that we would sample.

 

BARE conductive electric paint is a “non-toxic, solvent free” paint that once applied and left to completely dry for around “5-10 minutes” becomes “conductive”.

Similarly to some projects looked at, the paint is therefore a liquid wire and enables us to draw coils for our speaker circuit. The paint, however only comes in the colour black and as a result limits how far we are able to push the aesthetics of the product. In addition, the paint is “water soluble”. This may suggest that it would not be the most suitable material to use for a speaker product in our chosen market of camping and travelling. These activities are predominantly outside where many liquids may come into contact with the developed products. As a result we will need to consider possible waterproofing or protective coatings if the BARE conductive paint was something we wanted to use.

Bare Conductive (2014). BARE Conductive. Retrieved from http://www.bareconductive.com.

YShield High Frequency Shielding Paint

This is a “water-based paint” that is “based on a high quality pure acrylic binder”. The “shielding paint” is suitable to be used for “walls, ceilings, doors and other interior or exterior surfaces”. It has a “high water resistance” and “good adhesion on many surfaces”. The paint is also “frost-resistant” and is effective when just a single layer is used. Similarly to BARE conductive paint, the liquid dries very quickly.

The paint has a “carbon structure, without fibres or meshes” and therefore gives a good “consistent attenuation” which would give an undistorted sound electronic signal. Again, the colour of the paint is only presented as black, however, the weather resistance qualities of the paint suggests that it is a more appropriate liquid over the BARE Conductive paint for our speaker concepts. In contrast, the cost of the YShield paint at “$89.95 per litre” would also need to be considered. The supplier of the paint is in the US, which may result in problems with the accessibility of the paint.

Less EMF (n.d). Less EMF. Retrieved from http://lessemf.com/paint.html.

SPI Supplies^® Brand Conductive Carbon Paint

The paint is made from “micrographite particles” which are “uniformly dispersed in isopropanol”. The paint and has also has a “small amount” of “polymer” in the recipe to give “extra adhesive” qualities. The liquid air-dries at “room temperature” making it easy to use for a range of applications.

SPI (n.d). SPI. Retrieved from http://www.2spi.com/catalog/spec_prep/cond_paints3.php.

Making Speakers

The tutorial found explained the process of making three-dimensional paper speakers yet the technology explained is the same as for a flat speaker. Slight changes would be made to the instructions given to give the speaker that we would want.

1.     “Make a copper wire coil a little bit bigger than the diameter of your magnet.”

2.     Position the magnet above the coil. “The magnet must be placed in the center of the wire coil.”

3.     Attach “the 2 coil wires to the audio jack wires. It does not matter which way they are connected.”

An important factor identified when reading the tutorial was the need for the magnet to remain still in the same place. In the making of the speaker, a “bracket” was created to “hold the magnet” in a constant position. A paper clip was pulled straight and taped onto card. The magnet was then taped to the back of this bracket. The bracket is the part of the speaker that “resists the vibrations” from the magnet.

The tutorial presented an understandable method that we will refer to when sampling the speaker technology. It is clear that we need to consider the placement of the magnet in our design and how this will effect both the aesthetic created and our pop-up structures.

Guchiwoochi, . (n.d). Instructables. Retrieved from http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Paper-Speakers-From-Scratch/?ALLSTEPS.

How to Dye Paper Naturally With Natural Dyes Amy Davidson

Instructions

·      Select colourful flowers from your garden or purchase a bouquet.


·      Remove the petals from the blossoms. Use a knife to chop the petals to yield one cup. Do not chop them too finely, as they will be harder to remove from the water after boiling.


·      Boil two cups of water for five minutes and add the chopped petals to the water. Turn the heat to low, cover and allow the flowers to steep in the simmering water for an hour.


·      Place a coffee filter in a sieve or colander and set it over a large casserole dish or bowl. Remove the water and flower liquid from the stove and pour it through the coffee filter to remove bits of flower and leave only the dye solution in the bowl.


·      Place paper in the dye solution and allow it to sit for one minute. Remove and allow it to dry flat. If you would like paper a darker colour, submerse it in the solution for another few minutes and allow it dry again. You may need to make another solution and add an extra half a cup of petals to the mix to yield a darker dye if the paper is not dyed to your liking after two tries.

Important information to know and understand when using natural resources: When you have chosen the colour which you want to create you gather up 2/3 of the natural material and chop in into fine pieces, weigh the chosen material and place into a large pan. Place in the pan double the quantity of the natural material in water and boil, allow the solution to boil for around an hour. The longer the water boils for the more concentrated the colour would be. When you’re happy with the solution you need to drain out the natural materials and keep the solution to dye the intended paper.