a modern chess set

6 week studio project

to create a chess set of six individual pieces that have a familial resemblance amongst a common theme. each piece in the set must be easily identifiable while also maintaining a new and interesting form. the final set should be easily replicable for the possibility of mass production.

project goal:

family of form:

a familial resemblance & visual continuity amongst a group of figures that all share a common conceptual theme reflected in each piece.

adjective; green with vegetation; covered with growing plants or grass. a verdant oasis.

when looking for an inspiration for my chess set, I became intrigued by the growth of a plant. there is something so beautiful and so simple about a process that many people overlook. I wanted to highlight these organic stages within my chess set to demonstrate the beauty in the familiar.

sketches

final concept direction

digital hand rendering

vector ideation

first round iterations: all plants were different,

second round iterations: focused on the form for the pawn.

third round iterations: decided to make all the forms an evolution from the same plant.

final round root iteration: further developed the idea of the root “growing” throughout each piece. in an organic approach with each root, the pieces move up in rank causing the roots to get longer and have more branches.

final round plant iteration: further developed the idea of the plants “growing” throughout each piece. plants get taller and add more leaves every time they go up in piece value.

low fidelity modeling

created quick low-fidelity models of my design to test the forms and how they would work with human interactions with each piece. used 1/16” clear acrylic sheets to cut out the forms of each piece, and 1/8” basswood for the dowels. I used the laser to etch in the roots, and a paint marker to color the plants.