UNIVERSITY     2013

This project was a challenge for myself to create something beautiful from an artistic movement I personally find garish, and which contradicted my personal design 'style' up to this point: Memphis. Along with this challenge, I wanted the form of the cart to subtly mimic the form of a martini glass itself, reinforcing the intended function of my design. 

Drawing from the geometric forms of the Memphis style, I created two divergent sets of sketch models, one rectilinear and the other curvilinear. After developing these sets independently and narrowing them down to the strongest of each, the final two models were combined into a 'mash-up' sketch model containing the best qualities of each concept. 

The final sketch model was then developed into many variations, each one more complete than the last, and translated into larger and larger scales in order to decide on the most pleasant proportions. It was in this stage that more detail was added and form development was finalized. 

From the physical model, the final design was translated into SolidWorks in order to enter the fabrication process and communicate with manufacturers. The core construction was water-jet cut cold-rolled steel sheet, which was bent, welded, & painted with automobile lacquer. The frame was bent and welded from stainless steel rod and then chrome-plated along with several detail pieces. Accent pieces were water-jet cut and fabricated from aluminum sheet before being counter-bored for screws and sand blasted.   

Finally, all parts were ready for assembly, which consisted of fitting screws in the necessary holes and slotting the large back wheel through, so it was held in place by the back axle.