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SUDO Furniture Design is an attempt to democratize design by sharing ideas and encouraging user participation. When I began my capstone, I simply wanted to make cool furniture. After going through the process of fabrication however, I realized how satisfying it was to create something that's both beautiful and useful. SUDO is about sharing that feeling.
The first question most people have about this project is: “Why would a user go through all that trouble if they could just buy flat pack furniture from IKEA?” The answer is simple, Ikea furniture is successful because of its price point and DIY nature; SUDO expands on both elements in drastic ways. This project was created with people interested in the maker movement in mind. I, myself, was intimidated by the idea of going to a maker space because I had no idea how to use any of the tools and I was afraid people would look down on me, but the opposite was true. The environment was welcoming of beginners and enthusiastically encouraged people to learn and create. Claire and I tried to replicate that same attitude with this project.
It feels good to respond to a person’s compliment with a “thank you, I made it!” It’s probably why DIY projects exist in the first place, but more than pride using your hands to make something is a cathartic experience that engages both the creative and logical sides of our brains and often that experience is worth more than the final product. Of course it is challenging, but building and creating makes you a more interesting person. This is the underlying framework of SUDO.
There are perks to building your own furniture. Foremost being that it is much cheaper than traditional retailers. There’s no excessive fees or unnecessary costs from brand names. The cost of SUDO depends on the wood, which you decide. The best part of doing this project, besides ending up with cool furniture, is subverting capitalism’s make- use-dispose method. Building your own furniture you see the start and end of production. There is no shipping or wasteful packaging, no gross factories or terrible working conditions. Building your own furniture ends up being a more sustainable choice. We tried to maximize the value of the wood by laying out multiple pieces of furniture on one sheet of plywood as well.