Michael Deimen Portfolio Sample.General.07.6

M i c h a e l D e i m e n m d e i m e n @ y a h o o . c o m 8 1 2 - 6 3 0 - 2 1 6 5 C P
Contents of this document are CONFIDENTIAL and the exclusive property of Michael Deimen, all rights reserved.
“Train” - Training Table
Overview
Train is a table system that
overcomes the static approach to
training environments by allowing
fluid movement, ease of
reconfiguration, a simple statement
of line, and modular power and data
support.
Aesthetics
My goal was to communicate the
product’s ability to respond quickly
and easily to the changing demands
of the classroom environment. To
this end the table was given a lively
stance imparting a sense of motion.
Product Features
The form of the leg is offset from
front to back to facilitate in-line
nesting for storage. To put the
tabletop “at rest” two spring loaded
support arms fold away to allow the
top to pivot into the vertical position.
Each arm has its own release
independent of the other to prevent
accidental lowering of the top.
To put the top back into “use mode,”
the front edge of the top is lifted to
horizontal. As this happens the
arms swing out to greet the user
and are then rotated manually until
each snaps into its respective
release mechanism.
Connection
Each leg has a ganging feature
analogous to the coupling
mechanism on a real train. With this
mechanism deployed tables are
simply bumped into each other and
a mechanical connection is made.

Sylph
Objective
The goal of this project was to
develop a product capable of
establishing the customer as a
credible competitor in the high-
end ergonomic office seating
market. Research revealed
competitive products shared an
equivalent and known set of
functions; approached ergonomic
support with a unique and
proprietary solution; and
employed highly contemporary
aesthetics with cutting edge
material technologies
Ergonomic Research
Ergonomic research revealed two
key insights. First, the best way to
prevent back pain is to prevent
lumbar loss by opening the
included angle between the torso
and the thigh and allowing the
lumbar curve to establish itself
naturally. Second, even when the
lumbar curve is allowed to
establish itself naturally
maintaining the torso in an upright
posture without aid of back
support involves muscle groups
that fatigue easily. The backrest
is important as a passive, self-
adjusting supplemental support to
the torso and lumbar region.
The Solution
The solution combines ergonomic
insight, innovative mechanics,
cutting edge materials, and
contemporary aesthetics to in a
chair with few adjustments and
superior comfort.

Articulating Keyboard
Support – Version 1
Product Features and Design
Considerations
My goals on this product were
maximization of recyclability. To that
end components were designed to
be made of the same material
wherever possible to snap or
interlock together.
Solution
The solution combines rigid and
semi-rigid ABS snap-together
components with a self-skinning
urethane foam palm rest, a spring
steel retainer clip for the ball joint,
and a steel ball and fastening nut.
The keyboard tray is adjusted for
depth via interlocking slides. To
insert the keyboard, a release bar
on the underside of the tray is
depressed. This disengages a catch
on either side of the board from a
rack of interlocks situated directly
above. The tray can then be slid all
the way open and the keyboard put
in place. Finally, the tray is
squeezed together. The arched
shape of the tray creates a natural
spring effect putting pressure on the
front and back edges of the
keyboard. An arm, held in an infinite
number of positions by a gas
cylinder, supports the tray. This
configuration forms a modified four-
bar linkage. The mounting bracket
to which the arm and cylinder attach
pivots horizontally and is mounted
to a slide track to enable its
concealment beneath a work
surface when not in use.

Articulating Keyboard
Support – Version 2
Product Features and
Design Considerations
On this project aesthetics and
mechanics were combined to
discourage inappropriate use. As
difficult as it may be to believe,
keyboard supports are sometimes
used as stepladders.
Solution
The minimalist, almost skeletal
framework combined with the ball
joint pivot proposed by
engineering helps communicate
that the product supports only the
weight of the keyboard and
normal data entry impact.
Excessive pressure causes the
support to deflect dramatically.
The keyboard tray operates on a
torsion bar premise. The front
edge of the keyboard is placed
against the palm rest bar at the
front edge of the tray. As the back
edge of the keyboard is lowered
into the tray, springs within the
palm rest allow it to rise up
slightly over the front edge of the
keyboard to capture it. A soft
foam block at the rear of the tray
captures the back edge of the
keyboard. The supporting arm,
held in a variety of positions by a
gas cylinder, supports the tray.
The mounting bracket to which
the arm and cylinder attach pivots
around a vertical axis and is
mounted to a slide track to enable
its concealment beneath a work
surface when not in use.

Salt & Pepper Shaker Set
Concept 1
Description
This project was conceived as a
metaphor for joining and union. The
form of each peace revolves around
a shared axis. As a result they nest
alongside each other. When
separated the forms seem to beg to
be joined as if neither is complete
without the other. Because the axis
for the twist is between the shakers
and not centered within either one,
each is handed and will nest with
the other in only one configuration.
Together, the two pieces make a
strong metaphorical statement
about shared values, mutual
support, and ultimately, love.
The concept is intended to be
fabricated as investment cast
aluminum, pewter, or possibly even
stainless steel. Each shaker is
made from three pieces. The upper
shell, a base, and a threaded filler
plug. The base and filler plug would
be common to both shakers.
Depending on the material of the
upper shell it may require a plastic
coating on the inner surface to
prevent corrosion.

Origami Lounge
This lounge is targeted at the need
for a more cost effective
manufacturing approach to a cutting
edge contemporary swivel lounge.
The solution eliminates the expense
of injection mold dies or even
stamping dies. The outer shells of
the seat, back, and arms are brake
formed sheet steel. A secondary
reinforcing gusset would be bonded
or spot welded below the seat foam
at the bend between the backrest
and the seat pan. This, combined
with the general form of the bent
panels and the gauge of the steel,
provide rigidity for the back, seat
and arms. My initial intent was to
use 16 to 20 gauge steel.
The base shown could be powder
coated cast zinc or aluminum, or
glass reinforced plastic.
Pictured at right the chair can be
seen with and without arms and
ottoman.

Pi
Pi is a table/seating concept that
draws on the tension between the
warmth of natural materials and
the utility of man-made materials.
The concept is simple and
elegant. The structure capturing
the horizontal wooden deck is a
loop of powder coated ¼” thick
bent aluminum alloy. The tapered
legs rely on a similar premise and
can be filled with a wood core
matching the deck, or left hollow.
The band wrapping the deck is 4”
wide and can be slipped along
the deck to any position, allowing
unlimited deck lengths while
leveraging flexibility of application
and design for the A&D
community. The 4” width allows
sufficient overlap at the joint
between successive decks to
provide a shared leg with secure
mechanical connection.
The minimal number of structural
elements leverage economies of
scale and limit cost of inventory,
while the shared legs eliminate
redundant structure and optimize
costs for the customer. Hollow Leg
Powered Leg
Power & Data
Outlet - Deployed

Context Office Furniture
Description
Context is a system of modular
freestanding core units. Each
module is designed to provide its
own light duty privacy/space division
and structure supporting work
surfaces and overhead storage.
Bolting each unit to an adjacent unit
facilitates creation of larger
workstations or workstation clusters.
Each unit is shipped assembled to
lower installation cost.
When first introduced, the product
aesthetic was faintly post-modern,
relying on simple forms and large
fields of color. Over the course of its
lifecycle the product line has been
updated and extended ensuring its
functional and aesthetic relevance.
Contribution
My primary contributions included:
- Quarter round structural column
for overhead cabinets and
related trim cap
- Power & data distribution
channels, raceways, storage
reels, and feed columns
- Glazed & solid Privacy Screen
detailing
- Space division panel detailing
- Drawer and door pulls
- Freestanding tables
- Ambient and task lighting
- Work surface edge detailing
- Personal work tools and
accessories

PC Lounge Seating
The images on this page and the
pages that follow illustrate a seating
system and two table systems
intended for teaming, reception, and
other collaborative areas where
laptop PC’s are likely to be used.
These systems route power, and
potentially data, to corner access
points not typically seen in tables
and seating. These points are
chosen because they are easily
shared by adjacent occupants and
thus provide unusual convenience
and utility in collaborative
applications.

Elective Elements
Systems Furniture
Description
Elective Elements is modular
systems furniture with a wood
expression targeted primarily and
legal and financial markets. It’s rich
array of finish options communicate
status, competence,
professionalism, and authority with
a contemporary flair. It lives well in
free-standing open plan or private
office application.
While employed at Steelcase I
spent some time making
contributions to this case good
system.
Contribution
My primary contributions at the time
involved the following component
areas:
- Overhead and freestanding
cabinet detailing
- Space division panel detailing
- Locking systems

ConTra Lounge System
This concept seems to me a sort of
hybrid between contemporary and
transitional which, depending on the
materials applied, could work well in
either type of setting. The
supporting platform and back frame
create a simple, powerful line that
speaks of stability and support. The
seat, arms, and backrest appear
plush and full suggesting comfort for
extended sitting.
Trim components can be specified
in a variety of wood species and
stains. Arms, backrest, and seat can
be upholstered in a broad array of
complementary or contrasting fabric
combinations. Legs for both the
lounge and table would be offered in
either aluminum or wood. This
range of options should make the
line extremely flexible, appropriate
to a broad range of applications.
Wow Factors
The big Wow factors in this lounge
design are:
1)Simple, clean, sophisticated
contemporary aesthetic (appeals
to A&D)
2)Flexibility in material options
make it robust and adaptable in
its application relative to both
contemporary and transitional
environments (appealing to
Facilities Management and A&D
alike)
3)Seat Cushions are reversible,
extending usable life of product
and limiting frequency of repair
or replacement (appealing to
Facilities Management)
4)Low investment in tooling
(appealing to manufacturing)
5)Deep plush cushions
communicate long term comfort
(appealing to the end user)
6)Potential ability to ship KD and
save money on shipping costs.
(appealing to operations)

Canoe – Utility Post
Aesthetics
The Canoe Utility Post is a
product designed to facilitate the
convenient transfer of power and
data termination from the floor to
the work surface. My aesthetic
goals were to take a product
associated with utility support and
give it a character completely
consistent with the most beautiful
of contemporary furniture. The
product needed to be simple and
elegant while still highly
functional. The solution is an
obelisk. On the seminar table
version, a single corner sweeps
away to allow routing of wires
inside for access to termination.
On the larger conference table
version, all four corners are swept
away to allow access on four
sides. The outer skin uses dark
tones to contribute a sense of
mystery regarding what lies within
the column. The bright yellow
inner surface peeks out at the
corner, suggesting the power
contained within.
The product is used in
conjunction with thin, raised
flooring, which allows horizontal
routing of power and data, and a
mobile table with a top contoured
to nest around it. It is constructed
of a series of aluminum
extrusions that slide together in
an interlocking fashion.

Canoe – Information
Management Cart
Aesthetics
My aesthetic goals in this line
were to create a series of products
that were a bit playful while still
fully compatible with most office
interiors. The gentle curves and
bright yellow colors of the carrier
brackets are employed as a
whimsical visual thread
connecting one accessory to the
next. The cart acts as a muted
backdrop allowing the accessories
to draw the eye.
The products needed to be
lightweight and easy to use while
still being strong enough to
support considerable weight in
paper, magazines, books and the
like. Accessory construction is
stamped aluminum plate snapped
to an injection molded plastic
carrier. Cart construction is a
welded steel frame with cast
aluminum feet, all of which are
powder coated.

Wine
General Description
Wine is a metaphorical seating
study using the form of a wine
glass as the basis for thematic
seating targeted at the hospitality
market. The chair pivots at the
base of the stem to allow the
occupant to turn as desired.
Material would be an engineering
plastic reinforced with a steel
substructure.
Upholstery can be complete or
partial. Partial upholstery in
particular extends the metaphor if
the fabric is coordinated with a
custom carpet as shown.

Healthy Armrest
Aesthetics
This project required the
development of a set of armrests
to work with two lines of
Steelcase seating. Aesthetics
were driven by the need for
compatibility with the visual
characteristics of both seating
lines.
The arm was to be offered in
three levels: Fixed Height, Height
Adjustable, and Height and Width
Adjustable. Cost efficiency was a
prime consideration, so it was
important to share as many parts
as possible between levels
regardless of the chair to which it
was mounted. The solution allows
the top cap and the structural
support tube to be used on all
three models. The Height
Adjustable and the Height and
Width Adjustable models share
the top cap, structural support
tube, telebell and the height
adjustment mechanism.
Height adjustment is achieved by
depressing the lever on the front
of the telebell and raising or
lowering the armrest. To adjust
width, the user grasps the
armrest and slides it from side to
side. The armrest is held in
position by a series of rubber ball
bearings that apply internal
friction.

Reno - Lounge Seating
Project Description
Reno is a line of lounge seating
developed for “National”, Kimball
International’s mid-price brand of
office furniture.
Project Goal
The goal of this project was to
develop a
transitional/contemporary look
and feel in a line of lounge
seating intended to work well in a
range of applications from
reception and teaming areas to
private office break-out/sitting
areas. In recognition of the
increasing presence of
technology in most venues and
the growing importance of
teaming as an operational
necessity, the product line offers
optional pivoting laptop support
surfaces, casters, and handles
mounted to the back to aid in
repositioning the chairs.
The line also offers ottoman and
two seat models designed with
generous proportions to ensure
comfort for users of all statures.
This makes it particularly well
adapted to waiting areas in
medical venues.

Lounge Concept 11
This concept combines several
themes. The backrest recalls the
classicism of traditional wing-back
designs while the armrests draw on
the generous proportions of an
Adirondack chair.
The weight of the seat, arms, back,
and seat are balanced by the
lightness of the legs, which can be
either metal or wood. The contrast
of mass and materials lend a
contemporary feel to the whole.
This statement of line for this design
could include three seat versions
(couches) as well as an ottoman
and associated occasional table
offerings.
Opportunities:
Excellence in craftsmanship and
judicious material selection will
combine to allow this design to
achieve a high degree of
contemporary elegance.
Taper lock leg mount allows the
chair to ship in semi disassembled
state. Legs would be mounted to the
chair on-site without tools. This
provides the following benefits:
- More chairs shipped per trailer
- Lower material cost in cartons
- Lower manufacturing labor
costs
- Easy replacement of legs
damaged in the field
- Reduction in replacement costs
associated with legs damaged
in shipping

Neo Guest Seating
Neo is a line of guest seating with a
French Moderne flavor. The frame
is simple and strong, providing a
powerful visual foundation for the
clean lines of the side, seat, and
back cushions.
The line is intended to include
single, double, and triple seat units
along with accompanying end and
coffee tables.
The images on the following pages
document the chair and a range of
table aesthetics that might work in
combination with the chair.

Modular Lounge
Challenge
Develop a contemporary modular
lounge collection with high-end
aesthetics and a very low cost to
allow extreme price flexibility
Solution
The collection shown here uses a
simple foam cushion over a plywood
deck as platform architecture and
visual backdrop. Against this a
variety of aesthetics can be
showcased, expressed through a
range of leg and back options,
(some shown at right), attached via
common fasteners components.
The seat cushion employs a slot cut
completely through the foam near
its rear edge and upholstered to
allow back options to pass through.
The red cushions shown are
coupled with a backrest shell slit
vertically to create a contemporary
take on traditional slat-back
construction. The back could be
fabricated as molded plywood or
plastic. The legs could be cast
aluminum or, bent aluminum or
plywood. Tables are simply a thin
layer of Corian fixed to the top of a
standard seat cushion.

Club Moderne Lounge
This lounge is intended to provide a
crisp, edgy, contemporary aesthetic
with a bit of French Moderne
influence.
The wooden structure emerges from
the corners to draw the eye and
function as a transition from one
side to the next. At the front of the
chair the arms flare gently outward
creating a more inviting stance.
The statement of line currently
consists of single and two-seat units
but could include a three-seat and
an accompanying table line. Time
will tell.

Ballet Chair
Description
This stool height chair was designed
as a show piece to be used by the
receptionist at the entry to the
Steelcase showroom during
Neocon, an annual industry trade
show. During conceptualization I
drew on my knowledge of dance
and human form. My goal was to
communicate a connection between
the artifact and the occupant.

Leap Task Seating
Description
Leap is a cutting edge line of
ergonomic task seating providing a
broad range of adjustability and
ergonomic support second to none.
At the time of introduction it truly
delivered on the promise inherent in
its name. The chair provided a
major leap forward in the state of
the art of ergonomic task seating.
Central to the range of innovations
is a synchrotilt mechanism that
slides the seat forward as the
occupant reclines.
Also key is a feature called the “Live
Back” that provides a dynamically
flexing lumbar support. Tension or
pressure from this feature can be
adjusted to the user’s preference via
a rotating knob prominently featured
on the side of the back’s support
structure.
Finally, armrests provide generous
ranges of adjustability via arm
height, width, and angular
adjustment. .
Contribution
This project took 5 years to
complete and my involvement with it
took place early in its development
process. My principal contribution is
the three point mounting premise for
supporting the backrest and the
associated structural arch shown
prominently in polished aluminum in
the image at right.

Koi Pond
General Description
Koi Pond is a metaphorical
exploration for a bathroom vanity.
The idea was to develop a
contemporary basin and faucet
set that evoked natural forms
found in or near bodies of water
such as river washed stones and
intersecting depressions that form
small ponds.
Solution
In this case the faucet uses
simple forms to suggest a
collection of stones adjacent to a
pond. A larger stone forms the
base while two smaller stones
form the spigot and faucet
handle. Two spigot concepts are
shown, the first employing a
channel that allows the water to
emerge from a spring-like
opening and flow uncovered until
it creates a small waterfall into the
basin. Both spigots pivot between
the basins. Drain closure is
engaged by picking up the small
“pebble” situated near the larger
collection of stones.
Two overlapping basins appear
cut from a slab of synthetic stone.
Its crisp edges create an
appealing tension with the natural
forms of the basins and faucet.
The smaller basin can be used for
tasks that take less water like
brushing teeth. The smaller basin
also overflows into the larger
basin reinforcing the pond and
waterfall metaphor.

Iron Work
General Description
This page highlights my work as a
blacksmith/sculptor. This is an
interest I have been nurturing for
several years and ideas I explore
here often inform the products I
develop for industry.

Michael Deimen Portfolio Sample.General.07.6

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