Project Overview
This is a client brief I worked on during my placement year with Hans Thyge & Co. in Denmark. The brief was for a 90" modern, Scandinavian sofa which could also work as a sectional.
In total, the runtime for this project was around 2 months.

My Contributions
I worked closely with other designers in the initial ideation and brainstorming phase. We presented a total of six sofas to the client, who were very pleased and accepted two for further development. This sofa is one that I worked on from the start.
'Rest' Stand-alone Sofa
The 'Rest' Sofa is a cool blend of Scandinavian simplicity and a touch of midcentury vibes. Featuring clean lines, plush comfort, and just the right mix of old-school charm and modern flair.
It's architectural structure adds an intriguing sense of style to any room.
With the option of wood or metal legs, and fabric or leather upholstery, the customer can customise their sofa to suit their own preferences.
This individual sofa was the first sofa I had ever designed, so there was a very steep learning curve. In particular, making objects that appear soft and 'pillowy' in Solidworks was a very frustrating but ultimately rewarding process.
I wanted to keep some of the exterior edges sharp, however, as I think that this adds to the architectural, high - end appearance. I designed the interior edges to be curved and padded, providing extra comfort for the users.
These are some of the working sketches and initial ideation of the Rest sofa. Drawing quick, rough sketches to illustrate to my coworkers the concept of the sofa was really beneficial in getting advice. Recommendations from fellow designers with more expertise and skills really helped me with my internal design and the functional structure of the sofa.
'Rest' Modular Sofa
Allowing even further customisation than the original 'Rest' sofa, the customer can choose from a range of different upholstery, leg materials, and the whole layout of their sofa. Developed from the original stand-alone 'Rest' sofa from this brief, the modular sofa extends the design narrative.
Offering flexibility and adaptability to suit any space, this is a centrepiece that can be rearranged, mixed and matched to create a personalised seating arrangement. It is easily assembled using panels beneath the deck, allowing for endless configurations.
The 'floating' backrest effect is created by these metal brackets which hold it up. The brackets are attached from the undersides of the seat panel to the backrest. These can only be seen from an angle lower than eye level, providing the 'floating' effect.
This modular sofa was designed after the stand-alone sofa, meaning that we had to adapt the concept and fundamentals of the original sofa. This was more of a challenge than expected, given the 'floating backrest', which now needed to become modular.
Due to the architectural design of the original sofa and the main concept being the elevated arm and backrest, the entire 'underneath' of the sofa needed to be redesigned to adapt this into a modular sofa.
This was a difficult challenge and I was grateful for the advice of senior designers who helped me with the 'bracket' solution. After many tweaks and changes, the final modular sofa is something I am really proud of.
The challenges of this project have made me into a much better and more skilled designer than I was previously.

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