Modern furniture, thoughtfully made.

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Alex Jaynes uses traditional woodworking methods to create modern, thoughtfully made furniture. A former NASA engineer, he strives to balance beauty with elegant function. His work blends the subtlety of Scandinavian and Japanese design with the Shaker tradition's aesthetics of simplicity, utility, and honesty.

 

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Welcome to the brain of a human factors engineer. I am always paying attention to #design and people’s interactions with it. This retracting exam light in the labor and delivery room was by far the coolest piece of equipment I saw at @utmedicalcenter. It starts as a blank panel on the ceiling and then gets deployed when it is time to push. The segmented lens prevents shadows. The handle is obvious, and you point it where you want light. In addition to all that it is absolutely gorgeous. I want one . . . It was also interesting to chat with the nurses about their gripes regarding some of the workstations. For example, the display screen for the wireless monitors that keep track of fetal heart rate and contractions was mounted below the pull-out keyboard tray. That means you can’t see it while typing in info. Also, it was really hard for one person to roll the IV tree over the bathroom threshold alone. Another monitor was propped up on a book because it was too low. Light switches and outlets that work during a power outage were red. Instinctually, I avoided them and had to ask how to turn the lights off. Maybe use a different color . . . The quality of care we received was excellent overall. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience (save the five attempts it took for Kelly to get her IV inserted.) . . . This is the kind of thinking I bring to my furniture work now. It’s not always just about creating something that is aesthetically pleasing. True beauty is a balance. I really enjoy talking with my clients to figure out what they need. What problem needs to be solved? A chair can be pretty, but if it isn’t comfortable, what’s the point.
@kabochantico and I had an incredible 4th of July! We finally got to meet our little girl, Lyra Pearl Jaynes-Luce. It’s hard to believe she is real. Also, we got to watch the fireworks from our room on her first night.
@saturdayboxco and I had the privilege of watching @bapodesign and @kiteflightdesign at work last night. We got an intro course on bronze casting and came away with tons of ideas for future projects. I can’t overstate how awesome it is to have friends with such wide ranging skills and perspectives.
Working on screens for @fintwoknox
1000 board feet of white ash. It’s possible I may need to go back for more before this project is done. Thanks @oldnorthdesigns for letting me use the truck, and thanks @saturdayboxco for helping load/unload.
Picking up a bit of lumber.
Hello Mr. Corn Snake.
I made a new friend.