Umbrella stand

Umbrella Stand

Concept

Design should be concise there should be no unnecessary part such as a flower in the garden. I would like to follow Steve Jobs’s word “Each element has to be true to itself.” Also, Design should be succinct and intuitive. Users must be able to recognise what is that and how to use without detailed information.

I found a functional similarity between the phenomenon of water gathering in umbrella stand and in flowerpot. Moreover, I decided that combine the flowerpot and an umbrella to create form of umbrella stand initially. To achieve morphological similarity, I chose basic shape as a cylinder, a hexahedron and a triangular pyramid.

Making

idea sketches:

Final design sketch

I did not ignore functional part.

The upper part with circle for long umbrellas, the body part with triangular pyramid for collapsible umbrellas

Making Prototype

Before making model using metal plate, I made a prototype utilising paper to see how it works and to find the best proportion.

After cutting aluminium plate, I glued wood sticks each side using glue gun, but the finish on the edges of the glue were not neat ( left side photo). I made a new one form the beginning. This time I excluded wood sticks. After trying this for several hours, finally achieved decent finish (right side).

The triangle plays role to sustain body and metal bars tightly. It made by woods. Grooves in the edges are water holes ( red circle) The hexahedron is water container. It also made by woods. I applied glue on the cracks to remove them. To get smooth surfaces I sanded them using various sand paper( 180p, 600p, 800p).

I planned to build it bending a metal bar. However, there was not equipment to bend it at that time. This I made it using form board.

To make a decent proportion, measurement is necessary. First I measured thickness and centre line. Second, sanded form board to make a circle. Third, drew inner circle and lines along the centre. Forth, sanded it again.

I planned to build it bending a metal bar. However, there was not equipment to bend it at that time. This I made it using form board.

To make a decent proportion, measurement is necessary. First I measured thickness and centre line. Second, sanded form board to make a circle. Third, drew inner circle and lines along the centre. Forth, sanded it again.

For separating space to prevent the umbrellas from mixing, I made the triangle by bending a metal wire. Based on my observation normally, the umbrella stands do not have space separation by type of umbrella, and I often observed when people pulled his or her umbrella out other umbrellas came out with it unintentionally. This simple triangle can solve this problem. There were many attempts about shape (the first picture), finally I found the most succinct and sensuous form. (the second picture).