Working at ClassiCon

The ClassiCon brand stands for timeless aesthetic and superior craftsmanship.

During my two years as product developer, I followed a number of products through their complete cycle of development, redesigned the Company fair stand, created quality guidelines, designed packaging, also drawn illustrations for instruction booklets.

During this time I experienced a variety of very different tasks and challenges, learned the dynamics and priorities of a demanding brand and its suppliers, with frequent visits at the factories and partner liaising.

Membrane Armchair Model Mockup Mold product development furniture davide dante valerio

Membrane Armchair Model Mockup Mold product development furniture davide dante valerio fabric knitting

My very first task concerned the development of Membrane, an innovative foam-free lightweight armchair with 3D-knitting technology.

Through models we gained a better understanding of the product, refined proportions and learned how fabric behaves once stretched onto the structure.

Membrane Armchair 3D Model product development furniture davide valerio classicon

Membrane Armchair Ergonomics Foam Model ergomodel ergo furniture product development mockup mock-up davide valerio classicon

The ‘freeform’ rings drew by the design studio were optimised to the minimum amount of arc of circles, in order to be manufactured with a calender.

Membrane Armchair Calender Technical Drawing Radiuses Poster product development furniture davide valerio classicon radii

Membrane Armchair Model Mockup Mold product development furniture benjamin hubert fabric knitting protoype 3d-knitting technology innovation disassembled milan design week 2013 salone del mobile milano

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We often travelled to our partners between Italy and Germany to ensure that the Company quality standards for our products were kept as high as expected.

For one furniture in particular (Orcus, by Konstantin Grcic) we flew on a regular basis to our supplier in Italy. This unique secretary desk features wide high-gloss lacquered shelves and drawers, it was then critical to check each pieces individually to ensure that the quality standard were matching the quality requirement.

orcus walnuss walnut noce classicon konstantin grcic

Orcus Quality Check ClassiCon Konstantin Grcic

Orcus Quality Check ClassiCon Konstantin Grcic Label Series

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sedan mold injection moulding furniture industrial design manufacturing made in italy classicon

sedan metal black fabric classicon neri&hu

Sedan Armchair has been designed by Neri&Hu and launched by ClassiCon in 2013.

The chair seat and frame are conceived as visually distinct, contrasting forms: the seat appears to be suspended on the metal frame like a sedan chair, giving the design its name.

From a development standpoint, the challenge of this product was to fit the seat into the frame: after the injection moulding process, the plastic shell slightly shrinks when cooling down, moving the screw sockets from their original position and altering the backrest curvature.

Classicon Sedan Neri&Hu Neri & Hu product development technical drawing reverse engineering davide valerio furniture design furnitures arredo moveis moebel

The shrinking made necessary to reverse-engineering the frame: first I acquired the horizontal section of the shell at the height of the bow by cutting it on a cardboard template. Finally, the scanned profile has been then drawn again digitally as arcs of a circle for the calender.

Sedan Lounger has been finally exhibited during Salone del Mobile. It is currently available with both metal and wooden structure, PU and upholstered shell (both fabric and leather).

Discover the product on ClassiCon.com

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