Press Release
Dango Multifunctional Folding Chair by Nora Voon Wins the Bronze A' Design Award in Furniture Design
Nora Voon of Noda Designs acknowledged for furniture design by the international grand jury of the 2023 - 2024 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 24, 2024 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Furniture Design category for Dango Multifunctional Folding Chair by Nora Voon of Noda Designs. The recognition forms part of the 2023 - 2024 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Bronze A' Design Award
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
About Dango Multifunctional Folding Chair
An indoor, outdoor multifunctional folding chair that can also turn into a lounge chair. It folds into a a flat pack and can be shipped easily. Inspired by the Japanese dessert called dango, the chair takes the form/shape of this inspired snack, especially when it is closed in the collapse form. Challenging technical aspect of this design is making sure that the angle on both lounge and chair version is comfortable and functional with a single ratchet. Taking into consideration that the chair should be lightweight for shipping purposes made of eco friendly foam and powder coated aluminum.
About Nora Voon
Nora Voon is the Founder and Principal of Noda Designs. A graduate of Inchbald School of Design in London, UK, she was the recipient of the prestigious Fox Linton award for her innovative commercial design for Preen Fashion House. Working with artisans and designers, her projects span across the globe in Europe, Asia, Middle East and N. America. Deeply inspired by her travels, her love of traditional craftsmanship, bold colours and graphic organic motifs, you can feel her passion and sneaky sense of humour in the beautiful materials she chooses, the objects she crafts, the spaces she manifests.
About Noda Designs
Noda Designs distinguishes itself through a blend of global inspiration, mischievous high-style, and a keen eye for detail. Based in Toronto but with a worldwide reach, their designs are enriched by their travels, incorporating diverse cultural influences
Award Record
This recognition makes Nora Voon of Noda Designs a winner of 2 A' Design Awards. The awards span the editions from 2021 - 2022 to 2023 - 2024 of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Furniture Design Award
The A' Furniture Design Award is an international furniture competition recognizing good furniture designs by best furniture designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to furniture designers, product designers, industrial design studios and furniture brands from all countries. Entries typically include chairs, tables, sofas, beds, cabinets and shelves. Awarded furniture designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/furniture
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/155184
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/155184
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!155184
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/286751
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Dango Multifunctional Folding Chair
- Function
- Multifunctional Folding Chair
- Category
- Furniture Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Furniture & Home
- Colors
- Gainsboro, Light Slate Gray, Silver, Gray and Maroon
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Nora Voon
- Country
- Canada
- Brand
- Noda Designs
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2023 - 2024
- Design ID
- #155184
Credits
- Team
- Sean Paolo Rillorta
- Image Credits
- image #5 renders are done by Sean Paolo Rillorta
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Multifunctional folding chair that is also a lounge chair. Inspired by the Japanese dessert dango, the chair takes the shape of the snack when it is closed. Most challenging technical aspect is making sure that the angle on both lounge and chair version is comfortable and also functional with a single ratchet. Lightweight, it is made of eco-friendly urecel quick dry foam, good for outdoors, sustainable fabrics, vegan leather and powder coated aluminum. Additional detail is the handle at the top so it is easily movable from one place to another. Stackable for storage and shipping purposes.
- Inspiration
- The inspiration came from a Japanese dessert snack called dango. It is made up of a mix of rice flour and it's usually in 3-4 round shaped mochi served on a skewer. When folded the chair (profile view) takes the shape of the snack. Noda designs wanted to design a multifunctional folding chair that can convert to a lounge chair and can be used indoors or outdoors with eco friendly materials.
- Research
- The objective of this product is fun and multifunctional for indoors and outdoors. Inspired by the simplicity of the shapes of Japanese snack dango. Started experimenting with packing foams and sticks to make the shapes and testing different angles to ensure the chair is supporting the recline position. Using aluminum frames and lightweight foam and eco-friendly materials an ideal aesthetic that serves both indoors and outdoors is crucial so a survey was conducted asking clients and subscribers and the results were unanimous love the multi-functionality, choice of colours and design of the chair.
- Challenge
- Biggest challenge is ensuring that the angles for both dining and lounge version is comfortable for the user on a single ratchet. Tested several reclining angles by making small models and playing with the angles at different heights before finalizing on the prototype and ensuring it is ergonomically within the boundary. As this product is an in-house design for manufacturing, making sure the foam sourced is eco-friendly and local to reduce cost of production and carbon footprint. Using eco-friendly fabrics with limited MOQs is a challenge because ensuring these variables do not delay the production timeline and costs.
- Realization and Technology
- This multifunctional folding chair was designed out of necessity. There seems to be a gap with multifunctional designs for smaller homes or apartments that can be used for indoors and outdoors. The frame is made of lightweight aluminum powder coated with non toxic paint and sustainable fabrics or vegan leather for the upholstery. The foam used is Urecel QuickDry which is antibacterial, has no VOC, ecofriendly and high durability with a unique open cell structure that can dry very quickly. There is also a weaved version that use off cuts wastes collected from local factories.
- Operation and Interaction
- The chair is a simple folding chair, however, the ratchet that holds the two frames together has a latch internally that could help lower the seating and recline the back into lounge position. To store it away simply fold the chair and its form takes the shape of the dessert dango and is flat.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in September 2023 in Toronto and the prototype is made in Jakarta, Indonesia with our manufacturing company.
- Specifications
- 546 W x 185 D x 1020 H (mm) Flat pack for shipping, eco friendly foam, eco friendly fabric, vegan leather, aluminum frame
- Keywords
- folding chair, chair, outdoor chair, outdoor furniture, outdoor, lounge chair, outdoor lounge chair, dango
