The Miami garden lounge set is the latest addition to the Out and Out original garden furniture collection. Many of our products are designed in house or by one of our talented design partners but to give you an insight into what goes into making a new piece of designer furniture, we thought we'd give you a glimpse of the process!
Firstly, before we get into it we need to outline our manufacturing philosophy that we impress on all our suppliers. Good design in furniture is not only about aesthetics and comfort but also about minimising waste in production and being intelligent with constructions. Good design is also about understanding the materials you work with and what purpose they will be used for. A perfect example is the use of hardwood for outdoors, many times if designers adopt an "indoor" furniture design and apply it to an outdoor product, the construction often fails as it's not designed to handle the elements.
Where did the design come from?
The inspiration behind the set was to bring a "resort" feel to a garden furniture lounge set. We wanted to create an extemely comfortable and flexible seating experience without the formal sofa and armchairs that most are used to. We started with a 3D representation and made several tweaks and versions until we were absolutely happy to make the first prototype. We started with a simple corner design but found that it not only lacked elegance but it lacked the "resort" feel. So, we tapered the backrests and designed the top slat of the backrest to sit flush with the support bars to give a clean and elegant design. After that, we decided to continue the seat "outwards" to create an integrated side table that formed part of the two seater sofa unit.
What did the final 3D Representation look like?
Once we had made all the changes we felt aesthetically necessary, we finalised the 3D graphic and made a full production drawing of the unit in order to make a prototype. This is always the most exciting moment in product development as its the first time the idea becomes real in the form of a physical product!
What happened next?
No matter how much you tweak and adjust a 3D, it will never be perfect first time around so it's really important to make a prototype for review before moving ahead with production - so that's what we did and we found quite a few points we weren't perfectly happy with!
We weren't happy about a number of constructional points which we wanted to change to improve the strength of the backrest yet still retaining the elegance. We also found the initial unit a little too small so we supersized it and increased the thickness of the slats to make them more durable for outdoor use!
How did the final product turn out?
After almost 9 months of development and adjustments, we are proud to launch our Miami lounge set as a truly one off Out and Out Original designer piece.
