Initial Workspace

I have started making preliminary CAD models of the Corner Entertainment Center.  I first created an assembly in Alibre Design, and then added a part called Workspace to the assembly.

In this workspace part, I drew the area of the room in which the entertainment center was going to sit.  Basically I drew a corner of a room.  Nothing dramatic here, just two walls and a floor.  I did this to help visualize the area in which the piece was going to live.

I then created a new part called TV.  Using dimensions given on the stores website, I drew the television as best as I could.  As long as the overall sizes are close it will serve its purpose.  I really just needed a visual representation so that I can get a sense of scale.

Components

I also made parts for the different components that needed to fit into the entertainment center itself.  These were basically just “boxes” drawn to scale.  Again, I found the dimensions for each component either on the website where the component was purchased, or the manufacturers website.  All of these components, including the TV, were placed into the assembly and moved “roughly” into position.  Of course, now they are just floating in the air in the corner of the room.

At this point, I really needed to start roughing in the entertainment center itself.  First I drew the top and angled the ends in order to see how this was going to fit into the corner.  I started out making the top the maximum length that would fit in this particular space.  I didn’t want to get too detailed in drawing the main carcass for the entertainment center quite yet, so I started out by just drawing a box and then just sketched in some details in order to visualize the end product.  Until I get the overall shape and size  to look right, I am not going to start drawing any individual parts.

Finished Workspace

Shown to the right is what I have come up with for a concept design.  What I have decided to do is to make the entertainment center “reversible”.  Because of the angled ends, I think it will look better up against a flat wall if the back becomes the front.  This will present some design challenges when I get down to the details, but for now that is the plan.

Also, I decided to do a few renderings of the entertainment center for a couple of reasons.  First, to help get a better sense of what the final product might look like, both front and back.  This will help me get a better sense of what it will look like if I turn it around and put it up against a wall.  Secondly, well, because it was just a lot of fun. 

Shown below are some of the different renderings that I did. Rendering 4 shows what the entertainment center will look like when it is turned around.

As with any of the images on the site, click on them to enlarge them for a better view.

Rendering 1

Rendering 2

Rendering 3

Rendering 4

Quilted Maple

I love the grain lines of a figured wood and, when finished properly, how they draw you in and almost mesmerize you.  Quilted maple is one of my favorite woods to see in a piece.  It forms a pattern and yet at the same time is completely random.  It is but one of the ways God shows his artistic hand in nature.   Its beauty can evoke a sense of awe and wonder.

The style of a piece can also induce an emotional response.  Sometimes, the response is favorable,  and sometimes not so favorable.  Everyone has their own interpretation of what good style is.  Some people admire the artistic curves of a contemporary piece, while others prefer the the straight lines of a mission or arts & crafts piece.

The workmanship of a piece can certainly add to or detract from the beauty of a piece.  Great workmanship is at the same time visible and invisible.  It is visible in the sense that you can tell that it took someone with great skill in order to create something as beautiful as this.  It is invisible in the sense that you can see very few, if any, flaws upon close inspection.

I often find myself paying careful attention to all three with style and wood grain being the first things that I look at.  Even if I do not care for the style or the wood selection, I will still check out the workmanship involved.  When it comes to looking at the workmanship, I try to discern whether it was made by a person or on an assembly line.  The way that the wood grain is running can be a sign of good workmanship.  I look for slight imperfections in dovetails or a piece of inlay that doesn’t quite fit perfectly.  I look for these things not to criticize, but to admire the hard work that went into it.

So, how does all of this help me design a beautiful woodworking project?  What I try to do is to learn something from the woodworking pieces that I see.  I ask myself questions like; “Does the grain of the wood add to or detract from the design?”  “Is the style of the piece pleasing and is it right for the setting that it is in?”  “How would I have gone about making this piece so that my workmanship would be both visible and invisible?”  All of these things will directly and indirectly affect how I design and build a project.

End Table

Rendered End Table

Wood grain will be in the back of my mind while designing something.  Once I have a CAD model of my piece, I will sometimes do some photo renderings to get an idea of how different grains or woods will look.   Renderings allow me to experiment with the look of a project in a very short amount of time and help me to select the best woods for it.

Style, of course, will directly affect a design that I am working on.  When deciding on the style of a piece there are several things to consider.  The style always has to be pleasing to not only my eye, but also the clients eye.  It also needs to look right in the setting that it will be in.  A contemporary styled chair would look out of place in a setting where all of the rest of the furniture is mission styled.

“How” I am going to build something will also affect my design to some extent.  I certainly would not want to design something that was impossible for me to build.  Knowing my own capabilities and “potential” capabilities helps prevent this.  By “potential” capabilities, I mean that I might sometimes have to make a new jig or template in order to accomplish something.

As you can see, there are several things to think about when you start designing a piece that you want to be eye catching.

The first step will be to list all of the design requirements, and the first requirement is going to be about the space in which the piece will be  sitting.  The piece will be sitting in a corner of a room, rather than directly up against the wall, hence the name “Corner Entertainment Center”.  The unique design challenge here is that eventually it will be placed up against a wall and not in the corner.

What this means is that this cannot be a “built in” cabinet, it will need to be a movable piece of furniture.  My initial thought is to make a credenza style entertainment center.  The problem is that a credenza doesn’t really look good in a corner of a room.  However, if I were to angle the ends of the credenza it would be a better fit in the corner.

But, what would this look like up against a wall?  This might look a bit odd because now the ends would angle inwards toward the wall.  I am not sure if this would be aesthetically acceptable or not.  I will have to do some sketches and some mock up CAD work and see what it looks like.

The next requirement is that there will be a 55″ HDTV sitting on top of the entertainment center.  The TV is about 52″ wide so the top of the entertainment center has to be at least that long.  The diagonal measurement across the corner is 81″, so the length can be between 52″ and 81″.

The next requirement is going to relate to storage capacity.  It needs to be  able to house several components such as a DVD player, Stereo, DVR, and a Wii gaming system.  It also needs storage for DVD’s, CD’s, Wii games and controllers.

So, here is the list of requirements that I have so far for the corner entertainment center.

• Movable piece of furniture (not built in)
• It needs to look good in a corner as well as up against a flat wall
• The length needs to be between 52″ and 81″
• Lots of storage capacity

Now, off to the drawing board! Or should I say the computer.  Hmmm.  I am already there.  I guess I better get to work.

Other times, however, there are “gaps” in the image I want and I can’t quite seem to fill them in.  My brain gets locked into an “it must be this way” attitude where I refuse to come up with a better solution to fill in the gaps.  My creativity at this point gets blocked by my own gray matter.

At times like these, there are several solutions that I have tried in the past.  some of them seem straight forward and others seem kind of crazy, but at least one of them usually helps to get the creative design juices flowing again.

1 – Start over

No, seriously, get a clean piece of paper and start over.  I was once having a hard time designing the legs that I wanted for a coffee table.  I had the top figured out the way that I wanted it, but I couldn’t get the legs to look right with the top.  It was at this point that I grabbed several clean pieces of 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of paper and taped them together.  I did this so that I could create a sketch of a leg in full scale.  I then proceeded to draw some free hand curves of a leg.  I made a few modifications here and there and eventually wound up with a shapely leg that was pleasing to the eye.  Next, I redesigned the tabletop to match.

2 – Look for inspiration outside of your brain

Sometimes you need to look elsewhere for inspiration.  Start looking through woodworking magazines, or furniture catalogs, or look for images online that might stimulate your creativity.  I am not saying that you should copy what you find, but you might see something that sparks your interest and gets you going again.

I have a box full of pages that I have ripped out of old catalogs.  Whenever I am looking through a catalog and I find something unique, or just something I like, then I rip the page out and put it in the box.  Sometimes when I am stuck on a design, I will flip through these pages and find something that will work in my particular situation.

3 – Forget about the “how” and focus on the “what”

Sometimes I get too focused on how I am going to make something, and it stifles my imagination.  It is at this point that I need to forget about “how” to build it, and figure out “what” I want to build first.  Once I figure out the “what” then I can focus on the “how”.

Of course, at this point the “how” can take on some creativity of its own.  For instance, look at the rocking chairs that Sam Maloof built.  If he had tried to figure out the “how” before the”what” he may never have come up with such a creative design.

4 – Forget about tradition – add a fifth leg!

Get a little crazy.  Throw something completely crazy and off the wall at your design.  If your trying to design a chair, add a 5th leg to it, or something equally crazy.   Your design may or may not end up with a 5th, but adding it in may kickstart your creativity.

5 – Forget about it – go have some fun

Sometimes you just need to step away from the design.  Go outside and throw a ball around with your kids, or take your spouse on a date, or go jogging.  Leave the design behind and think about something different for a while.

I am sure there are other ways to get your creativity kick started, and I would love to hear about them.  Go to my contact page and let me know how you get past your Design Block.