“ We love thinking outside the box.” We are speaking to Ronald, one of the designers involved from the very start of the design process. “Of course the client sets conditions, but you first have to analyse them down to their essence before you start work. For example, the condition that the whiteboard had to ‘be movable’ was turned into ‘be mobile’ – a principle that exposes the essence of functionality.”
Colleague Bastiaan explains that in the subsequent brainstorming phase, anything can be ‘tabled’. Containers full of materials, construction sketches and above all, lots of rough drawings. “In general, you can divide the resulting ideas into functional and stylistic ideas. ”However big or small a thought is, every idea is expressed in a small pencil sketch. In the next phase, all the sketches are then reduced to 3 directions, which are presented to the client as a mood board. “Of course, we have a preference, ”Bastiaan explains. He then adds proudly that the client initially chose a different direction before coming back to GBO based on their arguments. “We felt that a slightly more industrial and robust design was best suited to Smit Visual and current interior trends. ”That is now reflected in the 2 whiteboard designs.” He compares the design for the Chameleon Portable with the leather strap with Scandinavian design. “The natural materials are the details that matter. Whoever uses real leather in a whiteboard! Amazing!”
In the last phase, the fine-tuning takes place in consultation with the engineers. Careful calculations are made about the width of the whiteboard’s stand, for example. Nothing is left to chance here. In a 3D programme, for example, the centre of gravity of the board is calculated precisely, resulting in a mathematical determination of the width of the stand. But then you have to deal with the practical situation too. What about the width of the stand? Might you trip over it? “In order to establish that, we asked 25 people without any further explanation to write their same on the whiteboard in different places. We recorded them doing that and measured the ‘natural’ distance between their shoes and the board,” Ronald explains. All these calculations produced an ideal width for the stand.
Obviously, these guys know their stuff. They radiate enthusiasm and are totally committed to the world of the product. Ronald also tells us that for Chameleon Portable, he studied the world of different types of leather. “In this case, I found out everything I needed to know from a market salesman. It was only afterwards that I went to see manufacturers – you need to be properly prepared.” This all resulted in 2 whiteboards which really add a stylish element to the interior.
