Forgot to mention.

I previously forgot to mention, I am n contact with regards to this project with a lady who is involved in a Campaign For Better Seats. The campaign looks into better seating to reduce the damage on our backs.

Jane, is an Alexander Technique ( the teaching of maintining the correct posture ) teacher.

I sent screens shots of all of my concepts to her, and this was her reply;

"I've just had a quick look, and am pretty impressed! Two of them appear not to have legs, is this correct? How many design do you have to submit, does anything get built, how much technical info do you have to supply?

I will have a longer look and get back to you; answers to above questions would be helpful. Well done"

That's right, two of my designs have no legs, no base, they just float, there futuristic floating chairs. Only kidding (though it would be fun), when designing them i just didn't know what to do as a base so i left it, I will over come this when i get to evaluating my ideas. Which coincidentally is now. :-s

Any ways, I will continue to post my chairs and look forward to some feedback.

Concept D

This design has been commented on as looking like an airplane chair. I have never flown so would not know, The idea is that the individual sections of the body are all supported b a separate cushion shaped to suit there position. The hole in the base could be used to store magazines, but again this design does not seem to be very relaxing. Maybe with the addition of some arms it would suit the brief more.

Concept C

I feel that this design, with the correct base unit, and some upholstery on the arms would create a good chair for an ergonomic need. At the moment I am not quite sure about it being a chair to relax in, although it would hold the shape of the users spine correctly.

Concept B

This design is more suited to fitting the curves of the spine with its individual back cushion design, although the overall look of the chair does not feel like something to relax in. Personally I feel that the back rest is a good design but the rest of the seat needs some work.
In this design the cushions are leather covered and the base is bent aluminium.

Concept A

The bent plywood base would add spring in the chair and the lumbar support would be adjustable to suit the users needs. The cushions at the head of the chair would support the neck and head.

It's been a while!

Since my first post it has been a while, I am fully aware of this, but before Christmas I was mainly looking at research into current market designs, published medical literature about the negative effects of many things on the back, and how to maintain a more suitable posture, which didn't seem interesting to blog about. I will admit, whilst reading all of this medical information it started to sink in just how much we damage our backs with the way that we sit, and for a time it did make me think then and there about the way I was sitting. Now, as I sit slouched into my rather uncomfortable chair, which is so kindly provided by the university in every room, trying to make it more comfortable, I notice that all I have learnt is still in my mind, but, I feel comfortable.

Anyway, over the Christmas holiday I finalised my specification, so the general dimensions of the final design are set, and other criteria are restricting my boundaries but, further on from that and now on this day I am the proud owner of 15 wonderful chair concepts. Some of which I have had feed back on, but any additional feedback is so very welcome.

So I shall stop babbling and post some screen shots for your perusal. I shall post them individually so that any comments left will only apply to the chair you leave it with.

Start of Final Project

A brief description of my final project, and then an explanation as to the rather cool chair.

Final Project:

I am designing an ergonomic based easy chair, for relaxing, which will support the spine in a neutral position to reduce the risk of injury.

The 'rather cool chair'.

Believe it or not this chair is an ergonomic design, and once the shape of the spine, and principles of an ergonomic chair are explained it is quite simple to see how this chair is ergonomic.
Personally I also really like the edgy, contemporary design.