Deceptive Design: Experiments in Furniture

The iconography of furniture and functional objects often appears straightforward and simplistic.

But are there opportunities for the designer to diverge from tradition through visual, material, mechanical, or functional experimentation?

Can furniture display other layers of meaning, purpose, and use?

With this in mind, can design be deceptive?

The focus of this exhibition is to challenge common concepts of furniture and furnishings and to explore new roles for design.

Each of the works selected for this exhibition will employ clever material, functional, and other approaches to show that furniture and functional objects can be more than just comfortable or useful.

The design process is as mysterious, and often deceptive, as the final objects.

Design remains a mystery to the public, reinforced by the fact that the designer struggles over many iterations of a design, but the rest of us experience only the finalized renderings and polished prototypes.

Deceptive Design also seeks to expose the creative process by pairing images from the design process with its finished piece.

Organized by the Chicago Furniture Design Association (CFDA) and the Chicago Chapter of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), in conjunction with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, this juried exhibition will feature prototype furniture, furnishings and functional objects.

The hidden processes of the designers will also be unveiled.