Brief
To redesign and manufacture to a high quality prototype stage, a specific furniture typology - the portable free-standing storage form - as typified by the Penguin Donkey. The design had to be able to be produced using the technology of CNC routing, although we could choose to make our donkey using gigs, and hand routing machines.
Design
The oriental inspired donkey four was designed for use within bedrooms and living rooms with a large enough top surface to fit a laptop, vertical storage for your paperbacks and laminate flick able to hold your book open at your saved page.
Key inspiration came from the designs of the Japanese temples and shrine gates. The top sweeping feature of the donkey being aesthetically similar to the roofing and architecture in these Temples. I designed the donkey to be slightly smaller than the existing range for ease of use fitting in a modern day home taking up less space. Being smaller meant the Donkey could well be used as furnishing in Japanese households.
Process
Designs started with sketches experimenting with shape and form, I quickly moved onto creating 1:10 scale models to get a more accurate idea of how they’d look. Modelling became a crucial part of the project. The models generated quick ideas which then developed into the full scale card model.
Key inspiration came from Japanese culture, research also explored the existing three donkeys by Isokon.
