Research And Practice On Innovative Design Of Ming-Style Furniture

Ming-style furniture is popular with the world because of its simple and elegant shape,exquisite decoration,rational structure with characteristic functions,and furthermore,it is the essence of traditional Chinese furniture and has a far-reaching influence on the modern furniture.With the development of social economy,people’s lifestyle and aesthetic interest have experienced great changes.The traditional Ming-style furniture market is limited to develop itself.Therefore,to inherit and develop Ming-style furniture better,it is necessary to innovate the Ming-style furniture design according to modern life concept and life style.Based on the methods of literature study,field research and questionnaire survey,this paper focuses on the study of Ming-style furniture through analyzing the types and characteristics of Ming-style furniture.Combining modern life concepts and lifestyles,the paper proposes innovative design ideas and methods through analyzing innovation design cases,and finally puts forward some innovative design projects of Ming-style furniture.The conclusions of the paper can be divided into the following points:(1)By sorting out all kinds of Ming-style furniture,summing up the artistic characteristics of Ming-style furniture,and analyzing its advantages and disadvantages based on contemporary lifestyle,life concept and technology,the paper provides basic support for future innovative design research of Ming-style furniture.The types of Ming-style furniture mainly include chairs and stools,square tables,beds,cabinets,shelves,screens,and so on,which is a solid foundation for the innovative design of Ming-style furniture.The characteristics of Ming-style furniture are analyzed from the aspects of humanistic connotation,style feature,decorative pattern,material selection,structural components and production technology.Firstly,Ming-style furniture shows many excellent spirits of ancient Chinese philosophy and traditional culture,which is an important characteristic that innovative design needs to display.Secondly,with the characteristics of elegance and preciseness,Ming-style furniture is mainly made of a wooden frame with the linear structure,which is the basis of innovative design.Thirdly,the decoration of Ming-style furniture is simple and exquisite through using the natural texture of wood,artificial enamel,stone decoration,etc.,which reflects the flexibility of furniture and is an important decorative foundation of innovative design.Fourthly,Ming-style furniture is divided into external support structures and internal joint structures,such as structural components and mortise-tenon joints of Ming-style furniture,and they are the basis for the construction of innovative designs.(2)Contemporary Ming-style furniture exists in three forms: high imitation Ming-style furniture,improved Ming-style furniture and innovative Ming-style furniture.Innovative Ming-style furniture,the research object,which is analyzed from the perspectives of modeling,function,material,structure,craft and other aspects,is proposed that the Ming-style furniture is mainly designed with linear structure and it needs to be simplified because of its complex decoration,compared with modern furniture.Function of the Ming-style furniture caters to people’s lifestyle in the Ming dynasty,which is more singular and bulkier,so it needs to meet the requirements of contemporary generations.Furthermore,Ming-style furniture is necessary to rationally use new materials instead of precious wood.Ming-style furniture has a complicated structure,which relies on handwork,and strict production process.Therefore,it requires a streamlined process and makes good use of new technologies.(3)Analyze and summarize a variety of design innovation methods such as refinement and simplification,deconstruction and reconstruction,imitation and reference,deformation and improvement,adjustment and replacement,multifunctional design and diverse fusion.Refinement and simplification is to extract the style charm of Ming-style furniture,to remove the specific details and grasp the main features,and to express the outline and inner essence of Ming-style furniture.The method of deconstruction and reconstruction shows that the prototype of Ming-style furniture is disintegrated into basic original unit elements,and then recombined to form a new furniture.Imitation and reference is to extract the advantages of the referenced Ming-style furniture,and then redesign new furniture works.Deformation and improvement means that the basic features and concepts of original Ming-style furniture design are not changed,but the partial parts of the furniture are changed by distorting the original appearance or the original shape,as a result of which,it produces a new furniture piece similar to the original one.The adjustment and replacement shows that some structural components of the furniture are adjusted and replaced.For example,some wood parts of the furniture are replaced with metal,plastic,soft bag and other materials to form a new design.Multifunctional design is to realize the design of other new functions for the Ming-style furniture based on its initial function.Diverse fusion mixes elements of the traditional Ming-style furniture and other styles and then merge them into a new furniture design with personalized features.(4)Through the analysis of some furniture design brands and designer works,find the application of various design methods and ideas in the product innovation design,and further demonstrate its rationality.Focusing on the analysis of four brands,namely U+,Opal,BANMOO and Noord,the paper finds that the methods of refinement and simplification,imitation and reference,and deformation and improvement are commonly used by domestic furniture brands.However,the method of diverse fusion is widely used by foreign furniture brands to merge various furnitures’ style,material,and crafts into a new designed one.The innovative ideas and methods of each brand of furniture are closely related to the corporate culture and the design ideas and background of the designers.(5)Through questionnaire survey,analyze direction of innovative design demand for Ming-style furniture.A total of 513 valid questionnaires were collected,and the results showed that the population under the age of 40 was the main respondent.Most of the consumers surveyed believe that Ming-style furniture should be innovatively designed in combination with contemporary social needs.While preserving and promoting the essence of traditional Ming-style furniture,the innovation enhances the comfort of furniture and pays attention to the personality characteristics of users,making the furniture more modern,more fashionable and younger,which can increase the functionality and interest.When it comes to materials,consumers prefer to use wood mainly,and properly match fabric,leather,etc.Besides,consumers prefer to furniture with simple wood carving and fabric pattern design and most consumers like bright-looking Ming-style furniture with beautiful lines,curves fit to the human body,comfortable user experience and simple decoration.Based on the above research results,the paper proposes the specific innovative design ideas,methods and schemes.The design methods proposed above are demonstrated from different angles,thus providing suggestions and ideas for the innovative development of Ming-style furniture.