I heart Chairs -- by guest Micah Heiselt

Whenever I am feeling particularly confident in my creative abilities or am having an especially dreadful day at work I revisit one of my most cherished dreams in life. I want to grow up to be a furniture designer and craftsman. Don’t get me wrong, I love working as a graphic designer. I love kerning, tweaking, hue shifting and control “z”ing just as much as anyone, but I can’t deny that part of me that wants to throw my computer out the window, find a nice piece of walnut and make something beautiful.

I think that when all of my stars fall into left justified alignment I will start with building chairs. To get ready for that day, I have on my computer desktop a folder called, “Design & Ideas to Steal.” When I am surfing around the Interweb and I come across a really great chair (or anything for that matter) I grab the image and throw it into the folder. Here are a few of my favorites. I apologize that not all of them have links to the original source. My approach to inspiration gathering is grab first, research later.

1. I love the simplicity of the shapes and materials on this chair. It would look great sitting in a fashion magazine company’s lobby or on the patio of a ranch house.

2. I am a sucker for bent ply and this is wonderful. Sorry, I couldn’t track down it’s source.

3. I think this chair is brilliant. It saves trees and shipping cost; it uses no glues, nails or screws; and it’s not too bad on the eyes.

4. This might just be my favorite out of the bunch. If I had a whole stack of these to pull out when extra seating is needed, I would be one happy guy. (sadly, no link)