Designing and Prototyping Your First Chair

A course by Muka Design Lab , Industrial design studio

Industrial design studio. Bilbao, Spain.
Joined December 2011

Learn slow design techniques to build a wooden chair for artisanal production

98% positive reviews (45)
1,241 students
Audio: Spanish
Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch

Learn slow design techniques to build a wooden chair for artisanal production

Award-winning studio Muka Design Lab, Lucas and Laxmi design furniture and mass consumption products that are thought and created for their end-user. They believe in slow design and collaborate on artisanal projects with local craftsmen and workshops. Their work has been highlighted in AD Architectural Design, Fast Company, Archi Expo, Deezen, and El País.

In this course, Muka Design Lab teach you how to design your first ergonomic wooden chair, from start to finish: from the first ideas to the creation of your first prototype in human scale. Learn slow design techniques to apply to your fully functional and sustainable design.

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What will you learn in this online course?

15 lessons & 25 downloads

The History of the Chair
2 minutes, 56 seconds
About Chairs
3 minutes, 51 seconds
Materials
4 minutes, 49 seconds
Free idea sketching
6 minutes, 35 seconds
Developing the idea
16 minutes, 15 seconds
  • 98% positive reviews (45)
  • 1,241 students
  • 15 lessons (1h 57m)
  • 25 additional resources (12 files)
  • Online and at your own pace
  • Available on the app
  • Audio: Spanish
  • Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
  • Level: Beginner
  • Unlimited access forever

What is this course's project?

Design a wooden chair, create a prototype with a 1:1 scale, along with the technical plans for its production with an artisan.

Who is this online course for?

This course is for creatives with a love for furniture design, interior design, architecture, and handmade objects.

Requirements and materials

Previous industrial design knowledge is not required to take the course, but it is necessary to have some experience in freehand drawing, drawing of plan, and perspective, and be quite skilled with your hands.

The course can be done in an analog way, with pencil, paper, a meter, a ruler, scissors or cutter, cardboard or foam board, fabrics, glue, tape and a cutting mat.

If you want to take your project to another level, you can use a computer with specialized software of your choice: to draw plans (Autocad, Qcad, Freecad...), to draw and color (Illustrator, Photoshop...), for 3D and creation of perspectives (Solidworks, Rhino, 3D Max...), and to render in 3D you can use a program like KeyShot, Corona or V-Ray.


Reviews

1,241 Students
45 Reviews
98% Positive ratings

Muka Design Lab

A course by Muka Design Lab

Teacher Plus
Industrial design studio

Founded by Lucas and Laxmi, Muka Design Lab is an award-winning industrial design studio specializing in furniture and consumer product design. Under the premise of slow design, the studio creates furniture and spaces with unique identity and character, working with local workshops and artisans to design everyday objects that reach people.

Their work has been featured in AD Architectural Design, Fast Company, Archi Expo, Dezeen, and El País. The studio’s projects have won international awards at exhibitions in Milan and Los Angeles, as well as a German Design Award and a RedDot Award for Design Concept.


Content

  • U1

    Introduction

    • Presentation
    • Influences
    • What Will We Do in this Course?
  • U2

    The chair, the great icon of furniture

    • The History of the Chair
    • About Chairs
    • Materials
  • U3

    Sketches and concepts

    • Free idea sketching
    • Developing the idea
    • Scaling and making the blueprint
  • U4

    Models and Prototypes

    • 1:10 Scale Model
    • 1: 1 Full Scale Model (Part 1)
    • 1: 1 Full Scale Model (Part 2)
    • Final Prototype with Artisans
  • U5

    Show Your Design to the World

    • Product Photography and Art Direction
    • Present Your Design to the World
  • FP

    Final project

    • Design and prototyping of your first chair

What to expect from a Domestika course

  • Learn at your own pace

    Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.

  • Learn from the best professionals

    Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.

  • Meet expert teachers

    Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.

  • Certificates
    Plus

    If you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.

  • Get front-row seats

    Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.

  • Share knowledge and ideas

    Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.

  • Connect with a global creative community

    The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.

  • Watch professionally produced courses

    Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.


FAQs

Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.

All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.

The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.

You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.

If you're a Plus member, when you complete a course you've purchased, you'll instantly get your personalized certificate. You can see all your certificates in the Certificates section of your profile. You can download your certificates as PDFs and share the link online. Learn more about certificates.
Designing and Prototyping Your First Chair . Design course by Muka Design Lab

Designing and Prototyping Your First Chair

A course by Muka Design Lab
Industrial design studio. Bilbao, Spain.
Joined December 2011
  • 98% positive reviews (45)
  • 1,241 students