Toval
2024
Toval is a 3 piece collection of walnut and maple that is apart of a form family. They share oval shaped curves and tapered ends.
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Vessel, Table, Mirror with ledge.
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this project was to create a design family, three objects that have relations. Not cousins, but parent and child or three siblings.
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My goals and considerations:
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Have a family resemblance
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Avoid triplets, not too identical
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Functional in my own space
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Translates in both a large and small space.
IDEATION
The three objects I wanted to make was a vessel, a table, and a mirror. These three objects tie together as home goods while not sharing an obvious resemblance. I initially wanted to create a collection of objects based off gesture but ended up inspiring the later ideation.
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Gesture was a fun idea for a collection but my professor Annalee Koehn guided me to focus my design. I started with very basic shapes that needed to be defined to give identity to the family.
From this...
To this...
I enjoyed the vessel design the most so I made it the main parent to inform the family resemblance.
I started with a playful approach but I didn't want to try and force ideas together. The initial play with shape inspired the objects, then I edited down the iterations towards a minimal and contained set of designs. ​
I decided to work with the oval shape, pairing tapered edges with soft fillets. Cutting the top and of the oval gave a stronger identity to the arch shape. I wanted the work to visually translate stability and warmth so I added weight to the bottom of each object and tapered the top to avoid a floating illusion. ​
FABRICATION AND MATERIAL
The wood shop had maple planks with amazing marbling in the grain. I was already working with what I'd consider simple forms so I used walnut.​The tone of walnut felt like a mature contrast to the bright maple.
FINAL RESULT
Toval is a word combining oval and taper. The family resemblance is both the Toval concept and the combination of maple and walnut. Both woods have incredible marbling which warms up a space when light comes in. ​
Table
