The Mural chair (adapted from the Robert Van Embriqs chair) has some key features that need to be applied in order for it to properly function. I also have my own constraints witch will make it more difficult to produce these specifications. See below for my top five specifications and top five constraints with the mural chair project:

Specifications:

1. Comfortable form for one person to sit: This has been taken care of with my design already. Hopefully the physical piece will be comfortable. If not I don’t think its too big of a problem (it is also an art piece), but making or buying a cushion is a possibility for it.
2. Working overall mechanism which folds from a chair to flat: This is also taken care of mostly with the design. I will have to tweak, sand, and refine my chair to get it to operate in a way I want to.
3. Graphic Design able to evoke the same aesthetic in both chair and flat form: I still need to develop my design in Illustrator, but the general Idea is there. I think an abstract design will work best as it will maintain its abstractness even when divided up into pieces.
4. Structurally sturdy construction: Again, this is mostly taken care of in the design, but I have spoken with Josh at the Idea force to source a wood which will be strong enough (both where it interfaces with hardware and when it is sat on).
5. Carefully sanded edges to minimize pinching: Will be carefully done and I anticipate it to be a lot of work.

Constraints:

1. Time: The dateline is the 26th (really the 23rd) and I anticipate with my timeline I can get this done, but balancing this with other projects and classes that I have will a challenge.
2. Material sourcing: I’m leveraging Josh’s connections for wood sourcing and we currently have the stock material in (Baltic Birch Plywood).
3. Fabrication of parts: Again, I’m using Josh at the Idea Forge mostly for this, but I will most likely be doing final finishing and possibly some drilling of hardware.
4. Transferring digital art to a physical form: This is somewhat of a difficult constraint. I don’t think that laser engraving is possible given that my chair is to large for the laser cutters. I could print out segments of the design, or project the design onto the wood and trace, but that might be overkill, and I could just free hand it (especially if I’m going for abstract).
5. Access to tools (wood burner, drills, hammers, etc.): This isn’t too big of an issue as I can rent from the Idea Forge, but having to rent instead of just being able to go in and use tools is somewhat of a pain.

I think that I am on track to finish the chair although the next two weeks will be difficult with a lot of work and time management (with other projects classes).