"Narrative Design" Uses Emotional Appeal to Add Value to Furniture

By MICHELLE HSU

Dutch designer Florentijn Hofman's Big Yellow Duck became a hot attraction in all of the three Taiwanese harbor cities where it was displayed, and it aroused heated discussion in the cultural/creative industry. What, people asked, gives a simple-looking duck such a much-see appeal?

Some designers in the industry said that it was the so-called “creation text” that drew crowds of people to view the duck. When Hofman created the Big Yellow Duck in 2007, he said that its purpose was to recall everyone's childhood memories; since then he arranged a global tour of the duck to "spread joy around the world.”

The Big Yellow Duck floated in the harbors of Kaohsiung, Taoyuan, and Keelung from last September till early February this year. During its stay in Taiwan, the duck indeed brought back many people's memories of their childhood. Some viewers noted that it looked very like the small bathtub ducks of which children are so fond.

The Big Yellow Duck was unique in size but not in appearance, and it did indeed remind many viewers of their childhood years. This appeal to memory is an example of the “creation text” that an increasing number of today's designers are using to boost the attraction of their creations.

Lifestyle Claim

Using a “creation text” to generate appeal has become fashionable in Taiwan's furniture industry in recent years, especially since furniture has become a vital part of the cultural/creative industry. Designers believe that an emotional appeal can add value to furniture beyond that generated by production techniques and primary functionality.

This trend is evidenced in the growing number of cooperative projects between construction companies and furniture suppliers, with the builders selecting furniture items of distinguished appeal for their sample houses. In these cases the furniture is used to represent a lifestyle, living ambiance, or special feel that appeals to potential buyers and adds value to a construction project.

This so-called “narrative design” is on a “creation text” that makes a lifestyle claim. Such design flourishes along with the growing diversity of today's lifestyles.

Mother-and-son Stools

The Mother-and-son Stools made by Yeong Jin Furniture Factory Corp., for example, are designed to present an intimate relationship between parents and children,. The two stools—one bigger and one smaller--were originally designed to save space, and the smaller one can be placed under the bigger one when not being used. Yeong Jin gave the products the name "Mother-and-son Stools" for the purpose of adding value beyond functionality.

Established in 1952 and one of the oldest furniture companies in Taiwan, Yeong Jin was once engaged in the production and export of wooden furniture. It successfully developed the solid wood bending techniques in 1976, and has since exploited considerable business opportunities in Japan.

Yeong Jin is a Taiwan pioneer in the use of “creation text” to enhance the value of its furniture. The brand name that the company introduced for its new spatial design business, “Affactional Gate,” reflects its aim of generating a warm living ambiance with its furniture and related services. Its “creation text” is focused on home life.

Squarectabinet

Homer Concept is a new furniture company that also makes a strong appeal to home value. It emphasizes that the real significance of “home” is found in the relationship between home, people, and movable property, and strives to use the inherent characteristics of its materials to enhance that significance.

The company espouses a new lifestyle concept--high quality, low quantity, and varied range of styles with local characteristics--that, it hopes, will boost industrial development while preserving traditional crafts. Under this concept consumers have a diverse and unique range of choice while producers do not need to engage in the wanton exploitation of resources. Brand director Elvis Chang calls this approach “ArtEco.”

 Homer develops healthy, creative, and durable furniture, with a focus on the quality of raw materials that are used to express the primal creative spirit of mankind.  A closer look at the design of the firm's products reveals that they are all produced of superior quality wood. The firm's insistence on environmental protection is also evident at a glance, and the flexibility and freedom of its designs also allows its furniture to be adapted to any kind of space.

The Squarectabinet is a good example. Shaped like an magical storage cabinet, the Squarectabinet is far more than an open-style wooden cabinet; it can accommodate drawers in a variety of directions, and can be assembled as a square-shaped cabinet, a horizontal or vertical rectangular cabinet, or cabinets of other shapes according to space availability and purpose of use.

This product is suitable for home or commercial space and can be used as a bookcase, shelving, TV cabinet, display case, or other type of cabinet. Alone, it can provide the user a reading or resting place. Put together with the traditional wood mortise and tenon method, the Squarectabinet is a practical piece of furniture that also exhibits a sense of design.

The Cross Chair, made of ash wood, is also designed for multiple functions. It can be used as a high chair (bar stool) or reclining chair and is suitable for use by a bar or a pool, or other places, in the home or in commercial establishments. After having a drink at the bar, the user can convert the Cross Chair into a recliner.

Additionally, the recliner provides a vertical-space saving of 70% when positioned erect. Its back comes with a magnetic-type circular headrest, which can be used on either side and adjusted for height--and saves space as well.

Homer Concept's furniture uses simple and precise designs that incorporate the modern concept of environmental regeneration and create a new style which not only meets the needs of users but also adds more color and possibilities to furniture.

Tenon-jointed Table

Furniture designer Lu Yuan-hua, who is well known for the innovative mortise-and tenon structure of his furniture, is working on two chairs that will allow users to adjust the height of the chairs to fit their bodies throughout their lifetimes. He aims to make chairs that are life-long partners of their users.

These “life-long” chairs will not only be eco-friendly but are designed to have an intimate relationship with the people who use them every day. Furniture, Lu believes, is the primary interface between humans and space; and so, while being functional and practical, his chairs will also be intimate companions that can accompany a user throughout his or her life.

 Innovative ideas, however, cannot be realized without intricate design work and mature techniques. Using the mortise-and-tenon method, Lu says, the two chairs, scheduled to be formally introduced this year, will be similar to the Tenon-jointed Table that he previously launched. The table has won a number of awards and patents for its innovative structure and shape. Lu believes that the new shape and structure not only strengthen the functionality of the furniture, but also present a novel appearance that inspires fresh vitality. (MH, Jan. 2014)