relax me

relax me! exploring ways of regenerating the body and soul during a busy working day.

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researchideationcoloursprocessproductimprint

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once upon a time stress saved our lifes. picture yourself walking barefood through a deep forrest and suddenly the most frigh-tening enemy stands right in front of you. a huge wild cat ready to bite. fight or escape! the body has a perfect system running to prepare yourself. it activates the breathing and the offers you energy.we need stress to survive but the relaxation afterwards is necessary to create the right balance for our bodies and minds.

nowadays there are numerous reasons for stress at work. often we are confronted with an overextension of workload and less abilities to manage the task. deadlines and hierarchy make us feel being under constant pressure. how can we tranform distress (negative) to eustress (positive) and generate a good working flow?

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research

flow theory

1 activity with obvious goals2 ability to concentrate on our activity3 demand and skill are balanced 4 the task creates an immediate feedback5 feeling of control6 easiness ► worries disappear7 sense of time changes

► fusion of acting and consciousness

overextension

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mental underload

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if one just thinks about work, several problems will immediatley pop up to think about. already the way to work can be stressfull depending on the metro or traffic.but if you are once at work it really starts. causes like air or light condition are as important as enough space for your tasks. a monotone sitting position at the office table is a well known problem.

what about lifting up our table and switching positions between perching and sitting? more flexibility and movement for our body will reduce stress and create a good working rhythm.

ideation

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a perching chair allows us to switch positions more easily and reminds us on using our whole body to work. our course programm also offered ways of creating more conceptual solutions to reduce stress. in my opinion there are too many gadgets and applications conrtolling our daily behaviour and making decisions for us.

instead i wanted to focus more on a physical product. something that activates our body and shed light on our awareness for a new way of working. it should turn out to become a stool made to sit, touch, perch, rotate, enjoy. a stool with visual and tactile quality through the right choice of material.

ideation

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the program of our course allowed us to focus on colours, moods and enviroments that either give us a feeling of relax-ation or stress to get sensitive for our semester project.

colours

the following pages showcollages and colour studies of the last semester

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abstract progression:what is the real cause of our problem?

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and you may find yourself living in a shotgun shackand you may find yourself in another part of the worldand you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large auto mobileand you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wifeand you may ask yourselfwell...how did i get here?

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the course task was to find a solution made to relax our body and mind during a busy working day. regarding to the creative method of abstract progression the question for our problem could also be:is the way of working in our western society going towards the right direction?

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and you may ask yourselfwhat is that beautiful house?and you may ask yourselfwhere does that highway go?and you may ask yourselfam i right?... am i wrong?and you may tell yourselfmy god!... what have i done?

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what are we working on?what is the new slow?how could work be defined in a more abstract way?

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letting the days go bylet the water hold me downletting the days go bywater flowing undergroundinto the blue againinto the silent waterunder the rocks and stonesthere is water underground same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...

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inspiration for colour experiments are all over the place. keep your eyes open. i love to look at nature, skateparks, food, road works or even trash. let‘s celebrate the everyday life. it is so beautyful!

colours

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in earlier projects i could find a lot of visual qualities during experimenting with ply-wood. especially the coloured layers of used skateboards always fascinated me.

the curved shape of the skateboard see-med inviting to create an ergonomic plate to sit on, as well as a long leg construction for perching. the difficulty of assembling the material lead to new solutions and unexpected ideas.

process

p e r c h i n g

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concav

the concav perching stool invites to lean and sit on it. the ergonomic shape offers comfort and a kinaesthetic pleasure. a very light construction and a handle complete the functional office chair.

used skateboards compose the entire object and can be seen as an urban re-source that should be transformed more efficiently under the aspect of sustainable design.

the coloured plywood comes from canadianmaple trees which goes on long distance ways over mexican manufactures to the european market. most skateboarders use their decks for 1 to 6 months. therefore a city like berlin produces a very high amount of „trashed“ boards which still can be seen as a high quality material.

the ecological backpack of a skateboard is quite heavy. therefore it is worth to try transforming them into something new.a longlasting second life through upcycling.

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product

the warm and colourful appearence of the chair makes are as friendly as the function of the rotating top with its handle.

the stool creates a playful and dynamic workflow. one can easily slide down to find an alternative working position. it really activates you before you find yourself being lost in a monotone position.

work.don‘t think,relax.

product

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imprintthanks everyone for helping out to realize the perching stool and the booklet. i especially want to thank my family and closest friends, as well as my teachers and fellow students to make it all happen.without your help and advices i would not gotten that far.

office scenario page 14-21sunst studio berlin

office model page 14-22dennis pohl

photo assistent page 14-21patrick kleiner

process photos page 12johan katzenberger

font nitti grotesk bold

relax me! exploring ways of regeneratingthe body and soul during a busy working day.

summersemester 2014 htw berlin / industrial designdocent: adrian peach, dipl. designer

i hereby certify that I have drafted the in hand work on my own and did not use any other means and sources than those declared.

tobias thomas berlin 2014