tree co.

DECLUTTABLE

product code: DCTB3

material: pine wood/ plywood trees
manu. date: 07-11-2018 n’
price: US$ 200
made in malaysia
eggs
DECLU ABLE
TABLE OF CONTENTS

4 INTRODUCTION
5 THE DECLUTTABLE
7 PRE PRODUCTION
10 PRODUCTION
16 CONCLUSION
17 PICTURES
 INTRODUCTION
This document is a compilation of the processes in the production of my
Major Project 1 & 2. As per my report and product proposal in Major Project 1, I
am looking into the issue of clutter and I have designed a coffee (lounge) table with
compartments for sorting different items you would find in a living room.

Over the project timeline I have done quite a number of changes to the original
design. I will give a description of the changes I have made and the reasons behind
the alterations. I have also discovered a lot of improvements that could have been
made in terms of the design of the table that, unfortunately, were too late to apply in
this project. I will, however, mention those improvements and seek to apply them
in my future projects.

Other than the changes and improvements regarding my table, I will provide
a description of my pre-production and production process experiences I have
gained in doing this project. I have learned a lot in this project (huge appreciation
to Mr. Harsha and Mr. Zaidi for guidance and technique) and I enjoyed the one

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month duration of building my first product, despite the amount of stress and
dilemmas it has generously given me.
 THE DECLUTTABLE
The Decluttable started out as an idea to solve study table clutter by providing
the neccesary compartments to store books, pens and different stationary. I was
inspired by an Instagram post where there was a storage unit for stationary and
work materials.

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Figure 1: My Instagram inspiration.
I am facing the issue of study table clutter as well and by making myself be
the target market of my product, I thought I could get a better grasp on how I
would want the product to work and the features I wanted it to include. Alas, if only
showing empathy to our users were that easy.

The Decluttable has evolved from that idea into a simple lounge table, small
enough so as to not take up space and large enough to play board and card games
and have everyone communicate around the table easily. The compartment is just
right for placing magazines and comics while the drawer can be used to store TV
remotes, AC remotes, coasters, etc.
 Figure 2: Top view. Figure 3: 3-point view.

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Figure 4: Table being used. Figure 5: Drawer in action.
 PRE-PRODUCTION
The pre-production process of this table was filled with sketches. I realised
my proposed design earlier was really complex. It had the different sizes of boxes
and one long drawer. I felt that it was too much for the user and that they would
be overwhelmed by the boxes. Furthermore, adding different sizes to the boxes
might prove to be counter-productive. According to my survey in MP1, people find
shelves and drawers a place to chuck things and forget about them. After all, clutter
unseen is not clutter.

Figure 6: The original Decluttable.

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I had to cut down the distracting items. I first got rid of the sliding box (in
the middle). It was an extra feature and while it may help sort out the items on the
table, it made the table weird because there would just be an indent without the
box. I also got rid of one block (reducing it to two) so it would be a square table.
Based on my inspiration, this was turning out to be nothing like it.

There was a special hinge that moved the top of the table at the same time
keeping it horizontally flat. This was when I decided that my table wasn’t only going
to be limited to studying purposes and it could be applied in other scenarios as well.
 Figure 7: The box that died first. Figure 8: The hinge mechanism.

Working on my new sub-issue (a table unrestrained by location), I thought of

the usage of the table in different scenarios such as the kitchen, the living room, as
a kid’s play table, etc. The mini compartments would work great in the kitchen and
as a kid’s table but the living room doesn’t contain items so small so it doesn’t need
the small ones. In the end, the table isn’t target at multiple locations but it can be

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used for multiple purposes.
As you can see, the table hinge
provides an elevated table for working in
your living room on the comforts of the
couch. I had ideas of making the hinge
out of wood (and it was actually doable)
but alas, the hinge never happened. The
hinge contains small parts that needed to
be intricately designed such that they all
fit together and I did not have the skill for
it. Maybe it was a good thing too, because
a hinge out of wood just spells out trouble
for sustainability.

Figure 9: Showing how the hinge works.

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Figure 10: Sketch of the Decluttable.
Instead of the extremely complex (not really) hinges, I used door hinges. The
compartment opened like a cabinet that’s lying on its back. It did its job of hiding
paper, magazines, etc. The drawers are a good size for remotes and personal items
like wallets and phones. It could also be used to keep pens and stationary if you’re
a fan of working on minimal tables.

As I have said earlier, I took a huge detour from my actual plan and ended
up in a very different destination. However, I realised the amount of table clutter
in living rooms and the lack of effort in trying to solve it because it isn’t the place
ranked highest on clutter.
 PRODUCTION
I consulted Mr. Zaidi on my designs. I was going to buy my materials from
NetsEco, a company offering wood alternatives made from cardboard, but I decided
against it because I was unsure about the sturdiness. Mr. Zaidi suggested that I get
my wood from ACE Hardware but I calculated the price and it went up to 240 for
the wood alone.

I then Googled and found a wood factory in Shah Alam and got my wood
there for RM 50. They cut it up in the dimensions I wanted as well so much of the
heavy workload was completed for me. (Now it just sounds like I’m paying others
to do my assignments.)

I had the wood for the basic structure

of the table now. I had to get extra wood
from ArtFriend for my drawers and a pallet I
found in my store room at home. The wood
from ArtFriend totalled up to RM 24 for 2
A3 pieces of plywood.

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I did a quick check on the wood to
make sure they fit together in my design
before assemblying them.

Figure 11: Cutting up the wood.

Figure 12: The wood pieces laid out.

 Figure 13: Testing the fit. Figure 14: It fits!

TOTAL PURCHASES:

Pine Wood (Papan Pine Wood Shah Alam) 50

Plywood (ArtFriend) 24
Glue (ArtFriend) 11

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Hinges (Fly Eagle Enterprise Serdang) 3
Varnish (Fly Eagle Enterprise Serdang) 8
___________________________________________________________
Total Expense RM 96.00
 Figure 15: Sanding. Figure 16: Measuring cuts.

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Figure 17: Using the band saw to cut. Figure 18: Gluing and clamping.
 Figure 19: Drawers made. Figure 20: Fitting the drawers.

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Figure 21: Begin varnishing. Figure 22: Drawers varnished.
Figure 23: Filing space for the hinge. Figure 24: Hinge fixed and vacuuming
the dust.

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Figure 25: Final fit. Figure 26: Clamping the final piece.
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Figure 27: Table done!
 CONCLUSION
Personally, I view this project as a failure. I couldn’t stick to the original idea
of solving study table clutter. Regardless, in my reflection of the process, I feel a
tinge of happiness knowing that my table has a multipurpose feature and still can
be used as a study table.

The problems I faced was minor: bad time management, unproper sanding
and sawing, the drawer doesn’t fit, etc. I really procrastinated a lot in this project
and struggled with the hinge pieces because of that.

There are a couple of lessons I learned along the way, like how the table could
be more of a lounge table by being circle (or hexagonal, something that doesn’t
create the separation that a 90 degree corner would) because the shape promotes
communication and interaction with the users. The legs were left out of the project
because I realised that this table can also be used as a tabletop elevation block. I also
learned techniques of promoting my table from Mr. Harsha by using pictures and
camera angles.

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I loved this assignment and I look forward to doing something like this again,
maybe as a past time project. I have learned a lot and I am eager to put them to
practice in the future.
PICTURES

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 DECLU ABLE

product code: DCTB3 ||||||||||||||||||||

acknowledgements: God, parents, teachers, friends, ||||||||||||||||||||
wood work guys, Starbucks, John, Spotify, InDesign, ||||||||||||||||||||
Photoshop, APIIT, ArtFriend. ||||||||||||||||||||
blessings upon all. RM 2,500.00