Wooden Display Stand – Design Preview

For my main project for this class, I plan on creating a wooden staircase shaped display stand to show off numerous trinkets that I’ve collected across the years. Right now a large amount of the random baubles that I own are collecting dust in drawers, and the ones that I do have displayed are difficult to appreciate on the flat surface of my desk. This problem inspired me to create a way to show off all these different items in a way that allowed each item shine in its own way without taking away from the items behind it. Another major source of inspiration for this design came in the form of Lego Minifigure display stands, similar to the design pictured below from Tricked Out Bricks. I’ve been a big Lego fan my entire life, as well as being a fan of Lego content creation on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Many of these creators that I’ve been watching for years use these staircase style stands to display large amounts of Lego characters without obstructing the view of the characters behind them, which is a great solution for the problem I’m trying to solve.

While I appreciate the clean acrylic look of the Lego display stand as I think it puts a lot of focus on the figures, the aesthetic that I’m going to try to emulate for this project is less minimalist and more rustic. I would describe my personal favorite aesthetic as cabin/cottage core. Both of these aesthetics romanticize the idea of getting away from bustling city and living in a cabin in the woods surrounded by nature. To evoke those feelings of escaping modern life and returning to a more natural and rural setting cabin core uses lots of natural and earthy colors, while employing natural materials like wood, cloth/fabric, stone, and leather. All of this comes together most prominently in home decor, but clothing is great way to channel this aesthetic through the use of things like wool sweaters, dark trench coats, and large boots as all of these things make you feel warm and cozy, similar to a roaring fire in a cabin. Those feeling of warmth and comfort are essential to the cabin core aesthetic, and through the use of natural colors and materials any room can be made to feel like its a remote snowy cabin where the only concerns are if you have enough blankets. Below I’ve include a few examples of rooms that exemplify cabin core, with the greens, browns, and beige colors that are commonly associated with our natural world, as well as plenty of natural materials like wood, cloth, and plenty of floral decor.

Below is a rough sketch of my design I made for the alternate aesthetic post. I made this sketch with the rustic cabin core aesthetic in mind. I really want to emphasize the natural brown color of wood with my design, but I also realize that I’ll have large blank sections on the side and back of the project that could look boring if I stick to only wood. Thats why I want to try and paint flowers, trees, and other natural features to break up the boring brown while still evoking those feelings of being connected with nature.

Some alternate aesthetics I explored while brainstorming techniques and looks were the modern and maximalist aesthetics, with those sketches pictured below. Minimalistic design reinforces function over form, and one way that could be seen in my project is with sharp edges, minimal use of material, and stark colors that take the focus away from the display stand and puts on the items being displayed. Interestingly, it’s very close to the Lego stands I drew inspiration from since those also try to emphasize the figures being displayed. With the maximalist design, the staircase shaped uniform rows of the first two designs are gone and all the focus has shifted much more from whats on the stand to the stand itself. The different stands are all at staggered heights to keep the eye moving and to make sure no one point gets a lot of attention. The decorations are wild and sporadic, and I imagine that a finished version of this design would be extremely colorful thanks to varying materials and paints.

I got a lot of inspiration from exploring these alternate techniques by going outside my comfort zone and seeing what my project could be. Finding a nice balance between focussing on the display stand itself and the things that are being displayed is tough, but as long as I keep it between the two extremes I investigated I think the project will turn out well. By taking my initial design and borrowing concepts from the two aesthetics I explored, I came up with my final design below. I really enjoyed the way that the staggered maximalist design broke up the boring standard staircase design, so I decided to break my project into sections with one main long display area, and the staggered ones below. The minimalist aesthetic showed me that the things on the display stand should be the focus, so I removed the decorations I had planned to put on display area. I did enjoy what the decorative flourishes added so I decided to keep the ones adorning the side and front of the stand. Overall I really enjoy how the combination of the alternate aesthetics helped complete my design, while keeping and highlighting the main cabin core motif.

The functional and interactive element that I plan on incorporating in this project is a hidden drawer in the back of the display stand that I can use to store any items that I’m not actively displaying. I noticed that in the lego stands that I took inspiration from there was a ton of negative space below that stand itself. By creating a sloped drawer out of the same wooden panels and having it slide snugly into the back of the stand, I’ll create a functional storage compartment that allows for easy access and creates the possibility of rotating different items in and out of the lineup. I also want to add a small piece of wood that hangs down from the top to prevent the drawer from being fully removed if not desired.

For the fabrication of my design, I plan on using a technique that I have very little experience with, laser cutting. I plan on doing this instead of sawing or milling the wooden panels since I want really precise clean lines, and I think the dark marks that are left over add some interest and contribute to the rustic feel I’m trying to achieve. I want each part to fit together with each other after being cut out, so tight tolerances are important. I plan on using wood glue to fasten the different panels together, I had considered using wood joining or hidden fasteners but decided on glue for its simplicity. As for the aesthetic elements I want to stain the wood a nice dark color, I think paint would cover up too much of the wood grain pattern that I’m really trying to emphasize. The tricky part about stain is I might have to paint the decorative elements on first to make sure they adhere to the wood correctly, but that might take some experimenting to see what looks nice. The drawer might take slightly more engineering and I plan on using guiding pieces of wood to ensure the drawer fits snugly and functionally. Below I’ve included a timeline that I’d like to try and follow for the rest of the semester to ensure my project gets finished before critiques and expo.

References:

(1, 2) – Tricked Out Bricks – https://trickedoutbricks.com/product/80-figure-podium-stand-for-lego-minifigures/

(3) – Stacy Ling Bricks n’ Blooms – https://stacyling.com/painting-the-piano/

(4) – My Domaine – https://www.mydomaine.com/cottagecore-decor-ideas-5270411

(5) – The Cottagecore House – https://cottagecorehouse.com/cottagecore-house-decor/