Work desk - critique please

[Guest stotion]

Hello, I hope I'm posting in the right area to receive a critique. Anyways, I've seen some great work in this forum and I'm hoping to receive some helpful critiques on my work desk design I'm making for myself. Currently, this desk is 44 inches high (it is meant to be a standing desk) and 80" wide. It will be made of Alderwood. Please critique what you think should change to make it look better. Colors are not finalized. This image is not meant to be photo-realistic, just representative.

 

The stronger and more critical the critique the more I will appreciate it. I am trying to improve my design skills and I know one of the ways that I grow the best is to learn from people who aren't afraid to tell you how bad something looks.

 

Thanks in advance.

-Seth Taylor

[Guest abhinav]

I think the corners and edges are too sharp to work around. Its good to have a standing work desk with different levels in order to cater to various activities and functions, but it would be better if you have the increased height between top workplanes just to keep ur stuff.

[Guest stotion]

Excellent, thank-you for your suggestion; the top flips up to reveal the inside contents. I too think the increased space could look and function nice. The space between top and second planes is three inches. Also, the greyish area is actually an area that is cut out for a glass light table area.

[Guest neha]

your attempt seems to keep this simple and easy to manufacture but when i looked at it it gave me strange edgy feeling as if sombody is ready to charge and win over me.

my suggesion is please look in to the psycological aspect also the feel it generates.

maybe the top surface needs some tilting also.

all the best

[Guest retrokitsch]

I find the design a bit too complicated, and it looks very heavy, like a big castle.

But it may be functionnal with all the possibilitys to arrange things.

The render doesnt "favour" your idea.

[Guest allard]

To put things in perspective, you could add a person next to the desk, so you can see how big it is compared to a human body. this can be a very simple drawing.

Just a few lines and circles suggest a human being. Right now, without reading your intro you could think it is a building, or something else.....

[parel 2]

have to agree with the observation of knife edges on the table. Even a little fillet around the edges might help 2-3 mm could soften it up. It does look a little too harsh to me.

 

As for the render perhaps a floor might help to ground it. Looks a little harsh. Flattenning the perspective might help the appearance of immense size.

[Guest stotion]

Excellent comments, thank-you all for your help. I'll add about 5mm to the edges to not give it such a sharp appearance. I'll see how I can add in a few simple shapes to signify a person so I can give it some proper scale. Thanks for the idea of the floor. As you can tell, I'm learning how to present these designs.

[Guest Brook_Tobey]

Im not sure what the typical heights of tables are but yours seems a bit hight for a typical desk i night consider looking into that first off. also i don't quite understand the purpose for the 2 layered table tops it just seems like a waste of material i think the you may fin that there might be better ways to create the same effect like the top plane being itself cut out of the bottom one.

[Guest Wally]

what are you using it for (always a good start, heh)?

 

As for now, i reccomend a bit of simplification and some curves - nothing like curves to make an object welcoming, it's the most basic ergonomic design rule i can think of. Angular things look uncomfotable, and so tend to be that way when used, simply by a person's predisposition

 

EDIT: oh, and how about flipping the two tiers so that the larger surface is above, and the smaller one a bit further down to provide some more storage?

 

EDIT AGAIN: heh, sorry, looks like someone beat me to it

[Guest wenxiang]

good start stotion, somehow i could not get the brief of yours... pardon me but may i know if there is any objective of your desk?

 

Well i couldn't provide much suggestions without getting to know your product fully.. here are some comments that might help...

 

in the looks, i agree that it have a rigid feel, u can add curves to it to break away the tightness of it... try shortening the legs if possible or add some character to them... try not to have sharp edges pointing out (like the middle section of the table)

 

you might be heading towards a simple construction technique... i think the material u are using is most likely to be wood.. you may try looking into other materials like glass.. plastics.. etc.

 

make it look modern yeah

[Guest Digitus]

It sort of reminds me of the Ark from Indiana Jones. I'd suggest experimenting with different color combinations. I have a feeling that a monochromatic theme would reduce the so called "Harshness" others have described. Maybe you could try a slightly lighter blue against the darker blue.

[Guest tom_j_owen]

nice idea.. standing stations are in short supply!

 

as the others have said sorting out the sharpness is a good idea. putting some fillets on the edges will make the desk look a whole lot better and will make it function better, your arms would hurt alot after a while pressing on those edges.

 

as mentioned before an element of perspective would help others understand better, a simple shilloette would be fine. a simple way of doing this is to grab a photo of the web and edittting it in photoshop. another way is to use 'poser' to get the shape you want.

 

this can downloaded off the web, i think poser 6 is the latest.

 

tom