Carnegie Museum of Art Seating Program

A FURNITURE SYSTEM THAT CAN BE USED THROUGHOUT THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART'S SCAIFE GALLERIES.

jump to impact ↓

ROLE

Design Intern

Iterated over 100+ seating elements
Incorporated museum stakeholder feedback
Created colour themes based on existing branding.

TOOLS/SKILLS

3D Modeling
Rendering
Physical Modeling
Furniture design

TEAM

Tei Carpenter (Designer & Director)
Jake Rosenwald (Designer)

TIMELINE

January - April 2024

(My involvement in the project.)

**Please note that the technical shop drawings and completion of the fabrication of the chairs were completed after I finished my time working on the project. The visuals featured on this page were completed by myself and the other team members.**

OVERVIEW

My Internship at Agency - Agency.

While interning at the award-winning architectural design studio, I aided in the finalization of the design development for a 13-piece interchangeable furniture system for the Carnegie Museum of Art's Scaife 07 gallery with the potential to be used in other ways throughout the rest of the Scaife Galleries.

WHAT I WORKED ON

Iterating, iterating, iterating!

While helping in developing the design for the project, I created over 100+ iterations of the different furniture pieces and combinations that the modular family could be comprised of and combine into.

Here are some of the sketches that I made! ↓ (Try moving them around ^₊˚⊹♡)

There were many, many more... ପ(๑•ᴗ•๑)ଓ ♡

Designing systematically.

Tktktk

Working within existing brand guidelines.

I developed visual strategies for the furniture to fit within existing branding guidelines, be exciting, but not distract from the exhibitions on hand.

I did this by referencing CMOA's visual guide and coordinating with 3 material vendors to ground the strategy in what could be physically built.

CMOA's Colourful Branding Based on Andrea Geyer's Manifest Mural ↓

Colour tests I created from CMOA's branding guide and on the base chair model↓

IMPACT

The design strategy and system were finalized to be built!

Under tight time constraints, in collaboration with my team, the design strategy was given approval from the client to move on to the fabrication phase of the project.

Final design development renders that I created and collaborated on ↓

The final pieces of furniture in the Charles “Teenie” Harris Archive.

While the furniture was built after my internship, the design strategy that was finalized during my internship carried through to the opening of the exhibit later that year.

Photos of the final exhibit below ↓^⋆.˚

REFLECTION

How I Grew as a Designer.

My experience at Agency - Agency, working on the CMOA Seating Program with Tei and Jake, was an incredible work opportunity that greatly shaped how I design.

Design Quickly but Systematically

While iterating, I learned not to be overly attached to my designs and how to test them quickly to identify the best options.

Designing swiftly also required determining which factors needed exploration and iteration. With guidance from my supervisors, I developed design systems to facilitate rapid iteration.

Polish when Presenting

Initially, the presentation of my iterations was not organized in a way that facilitated quick and effective comparisons.

As I created more presentations, I learned to articulate my designs clearly both visually and verbally, which helped us move towards the final design product.

Incorporating Stakeholder Feedback

Throughout the project, we presented to and received feedback from the museum team.

I learned how to work with my team, incorporating stakeholder feedback, to help produce a project that we were all proud of!

Photos from my time living in New York City while working at Agency - Agency! ↓ ^{* ੈ♡‧₊˚}