Hemlock
Material-driven furniture and object design
Hemlock began as a hands-on exploration translating personal woodworking experiments into a broader design system for functional home objects. Rooted in material honesty, the project investigates how techniques like steam bending and industrial forming can shape objects that feel both organic and intentional. Each piece is designed to balance structure and ornament, allowing the natural behavior of materials to guide form rather than constrain it. The result is a brand and product language that sits between furniture and sculpture, where utility and expression coexist.
At its core, Hemlock is driven by the idea that materials should lead design decisions. Rather than forcing rigid geometries onto wood, the project embraces techniques like steam bending to allow form to emerge from the material’s natural flexibility. This creates a visual language defined by curvature, tension, and forms that feel grown rather than assembled. The goal was to create pieces that are structurally sound while maintaining a sense of lightness and ornament.
Process & Exploration
The project began with testing how wood responds to bending, pressure, and time. Early sketches and mockups focused on understanding limits: how far a piece could bend before breaking, how curves hold under tension, and how repetition could create strength.
These explorations informed both object design and brand identity. Curvature became a unifying motif, influencing everything from product silhouettes to typographic choices. Iteration played a key role, with forms refined through cycles of sketching, prototyping, and visual testing.
Brand Identity
The Hemlock identity extends directly from its material philosophy. The logo system reflects the same balance of control and organic movement found in the objects, combining clean structure with subtle curvature.
Typography and layout choices emphasize clarity and restraint, allowing form and materiality to take precedence. The identity system was designed to be flexible across applications while maintaining a consistent tone rooted in craftsmanship and precision.
Applications
The brand was applied across a range of touchpoints to demonstrate versatility and production readiness:
- Print materials including posters and promotional graphics
- Apparel such as employee t-shirts and sweatshirts
- A landing page concept translating the physical design language into digital space
Each application reinforces the core idea of material-driven design, ensuring consistency across mediums.
Logo History
An evolution of the Hemlock’s logo with many variants that are still incorporated for special ocasions.
Print Production
Left Image: Employee T-shirt with Logo Variant
Right Image: Employee Sweatshirt
Print Method: Screen Print, 1-color
These garments were printed with algae-based ink!
In contrast to traditional water-based inks, algae-based inks are carbon positive. They also don’t emit unpleasant odors during the curing process.
Outcome
Hemlock represents a synthesis of making and design. Bridging physical experimentation with visual identity. The project demonstrates an ability to think across systems, from object construction to brand application, while maintaining a clear conceptual foundation.
By prioritizing material behavior and production considerations, Hemlock moves beyond a purely aesthetic exercise into a framework for creating objects that are both functional and expressive.