Cutting-edge: Consumers design their own chairs

London – Consumers can design and customise their own chair with design studio Diatom’s open-source software tool, SketchChair.

Launched on funding platform Kickstarter, the project represents a step towards advances in digital fabrication available to the public. With a simple 2D drawing interface, users can simulate sitting on a chair, using a customisable figure of themselves, in order to test and refine it.

The software then generates cutting profiles, which the user can print using a CNC router, laser cutter or paper cutter. Until the consumer can print their own furniture, this end process could be done by a cutting service such as Ponoko, or alternatively a local community workshop or a Fab Lab. Users will also be able to upload chairs they have created to an online gallery, and these can be edited by the next person.

The recession has forced individuals and brands to reconsider how they consume or engage with consumers. For more on this, read our DIY Inspire.