Let’s talk about the Design Process:

The biggest fallacy that goes unaddressed until now, is the proper use of the term “design”. Somewhere the term “Design” has been abused into a generic umbrella that leaks. Let’s get it right, here and now. All Rough Cutter’s from this point forward should know and be tuned into, “Design Speak”.

So here we go:

When used, the planning terms "Design", "the design process" "the creative process" are distinct and separate from the completed “object”, "build", “project” or "piece" depending on your preferred identifying word.

There is one point in the "subjective" process of designing, where you move to a tangible project. That project is not your design; it is the outcome of your "creative process". This is where the term, “design process” is misused. T-Chizz’s Bombe is his build, his piece, the object of his desire (if we don’t include Rachel), his design process in essence was completed when he began laying out boards and goes as far back as measuring the original in the museum.

To work your “design process” effectively, it is important to establish this separation. You will find that by staying only in the “design process” your creativity will be stimulated because you are only doing mental gymnastics within one vein. Once you begin your build, the process begins a dichotomy, where the main branch now is the one "implementing” your design process. What was once the main branch, morphs to a smaller vein and becomes "the design process" which should continue in the form of minor changes to your earlier thought. It's possible that as you are building, a prior approach may not work or now in the building process could be easily implemented another way. You just tweak the build, with minor alterations to your “design process”.

As T’s forum moves forward, and we post a piece of furniture, a knowing Rough Cutter of “Design Speak” will say, "that's a beautiful piece of furniture, what was your design process?” Higher level pieces of woodworking will immediately show a superior understanding of "the Design Process". The work is cleaner, it will flow together, and most importantly, it will not have to be defended and rationalized. The final look of your object will determine your depth of knowledge to the Design Process.

And finally, don’t try to intellectualize design, the smart money knows each individual creates his own "design process" for each "build" and the final presentation of the object reflects each craftsmans level of that knowledge.

This is important, are we clear on this?????

wow..i see what you saying about how the design changes a bit when i go to do the work....like this linen press i am "designing" i have had this image in my head for like 3 years now...the lines of my project are very simple...for me this is a great challenge ..."how can i make something very elegant with simple lines" and for me once i decide what box of conformity i want to stay within i find my self limited ..and for me thats a good thing...it keeps the focus on my design ...instead of hitting a wall and changing direction...i keep within my boundaries.....on this...my first original projects...i am concentrating on the natural beauty of the median..WOOD!! i am building out of heavily figured cherry...this stuff is the toughest i have come accross .....thats why i chose it...not only is it great looking..... but from a mechanics point of view ...if you know what your looking at ..you will know how tough it is....so its been fun ...but challenging in so many different ways than what i am use too....but i love it...another growth spurt for myself.....and another thing that is very different for me this bedroom set has 7 separate creations ....so making it all blend well .....without a ton of color...will be most challenging....thankfully i bought a ton of board footage from irion lumber...sequential boards all from 3 trees .....i hope you guys like it and once i get some pictures i will put them up for discussion.....and dont worry i wont take it to personally when you give me your hard honest opinions of my designs....that is what this thread is intended for.....hopefully through this process of breaking each others work down we all will become better DESIGNERS!!....thanks again neil..

I'm excited to see your original designs T...

I've worked in the software industry for 9 years now, the process or development methodologies are the biggest key to successfully building world class software applications with any sort of repeatability. Most of the well tuned development methodologies map pretty close to building fine furniture in many aspects. I've started to incorporate this sort of process into my own woodworking with an emphasis on the "design" aspect.

Project Lifecycle:
1. Inception Phase - requirements gathering, designing, documentation
2. Elaboration Phase - work thought difficult issues, last opportunity to revisit design if necessary
3. Construction Phase - implementation of final "design"
4. Transition Phase - testing, revisit construction phase if necessary, lessons learned: adjust/make correction in design process for next project.

Finishing your piece would follow the fourth phase.

The reason for a sound process is the ensure "repeatability" and the inception "design" phase is the most important due to the fact that is where the creativity and the artists vision comes to life.

I was darting around the forum and got really excited about stuff like this:

Rheinhart said under the step stool:

"I'd suggest you not over analyze drawings, part of the woodworking is to experience the art."


This post here from Swedishiron brings in software developement and the phases of a "Projects Lifecycle".


Now in Woodworking Q&A.......Eli's got us "thinking" about his current process with some "how to" visualizing. Very important exercises to do just to kick start the think mode. Of course everyone would love a post, but just the idea of reading and visualizing even for 5 minutes gets us going in the right direction.

Guys........DESIGNING isn't something that is to be contained in this Topic area.....it should be on-going and weaved in and out of Big-T's forum.

Really excited about what's going on here..............lets keep raising the Bar.

You know Neil, I couldn't agree more. As I am reading your last post I am thinking about how this forum is moving along and the way it is evolving. Its more of a mind set it seems to me here. No woodworks telling you how to do something but more ways things can be done and what might happen if done a certin way. This is turning into a really cool place for serious woodworks.