Detroit Startup Week had a ton of GREAT events for entrepreneurs and business owners. These informative sessions were held throughout the city this week, all  hosted by amazing businesspeople. So many featured valuable insight shared with the crowd learn and it is a really valuable place for meeting like-minded people while networking. ​

       
       How to Grow a Chair | Studio 7.5's Design Process 


       "We learned so much by assembling everything wrong" 

"A lot of things went wrong." Carola Zwick confessed lightheartedly, during the initial development stages of the Cosm chair.

She said that a team of eight basically had 120 seconds to act fast before the polyurethane dried as they were working through prototypes, making it impossible to modify after that blink-of-an-eye  timeframe. 

Ms Zwick said another challenge surrounding the "Cosm" came from the intricate design of the teeth- a major component of the chair's unparalleled suspension. "We had to count line by line. One line resulted in entirely different sitting experience. "

The designers worked to create a piece of furniture that would seamlessly translate funtion and comfort into a single chair.



               "It’s not an armrest- it’s an elbow cradle." 

"Our first iteration scared our client," joked Burkhard Schmitz, noting that the "elephant ears" were an unconventional, yet important aspect of the design.

He went on to mention the "leaf arms" that are integral to the overall design and functionality of this chair-- the potentially overlooked elbow support.

But don't call them arm rests! Mr. Schmitz refers to them as "elbow cradles," highlighting the importance of getting this particular part right. 
  

         "A chair should be designed like a bicycle- not a car."

An interesting declaration from Burkhard Schmitz was that approach to designing a chair should be akin to designing a bike-- not a vehicle. 
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The designers made a concerted effort to follow in the footsteps of Charles & Ray Eames:  with the intent to design with great attention to every detail. ​

"We were able to think about entire family of chairs. All provide diff sitting experience but able to use same design." 

The studio was able to illustrate the manufacturing process first-hand to the fabricators at Herman Miller. The designers travelled to the Zeeland, Michigan facility and taught their design methods for the  chair at the Herman Miller Design Yard. And although it was a challenge to replicate exactly, they were able to find a solution and produce a high-quality, specialized chair, uniformly. 

Related: 
A Day at Herman Miller Design Yard
Herman Miller | Threads 
Detroit Designs the World 
Art in Detroit | A Sculptural Adventure 

I saw one!
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That's the common refrain you hear when attending a stargazing party.

We're at the Meteor & S'mores event, hosted by the Bald Mountain State Park. It's a viewing party- when the star player is just that--- a star. A shooting star. 

The Perseids meteor shower is an annual event that lights up the night sky in early August. The peak is on August 10, through the 13. This phenomenon features up to 60 meteors an hour— shining through the night sky. The meteors are bright enough that are visible without a telescope. And this year  is going to be even better!

The park rangers serve up s'mores campfire-style. Just like you remember. This event takes place around twilight by the lake, under a glittery summer sky.

And the crowd goes wild! Everyone in attendance shouts "Aaaahhhhh" when one streaks across the sky. This last one had a tail-- like a fiery dragon shooting through the night sky.

With each shooting star that did its dance through the atmosphere, people screeched with unbridled JOY, and laughter filled the night until there was no one left and the beach was empty. ​