montgomery valentine lewis-design portfolio

Montgomery Valentine Lewis

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Design Portfolio

Background.

I have spent most of my twenty four years living in London, but have always revelled in getting out into the countryside. Whether through holidays spent on my Grandparents farm in the Lake District or at school in Buckinghamshire, the countryside is a place that I love and is where I spend as much of my spare time as

possible, fishing and pursuing other country sports.

Mountains have always had a resonance in my life, skiing is probably my strongest sport, (although I do like to play rugby and tennis). As a boy I used to race Giant Slalom, but I now prefer to seek out the more adventurous snow off piste. I was recently introduced to ski touring, so I hope, in the future to plan some trekking

in the “out back”.



Design Ethos.

I studied Three Dimensional Design; Product and Furniture. I get huge enjoyment from designing a product and putting it into the real world, to see if it performs and if it is appreciated. I gain great satisfaction from having an idea and making it happen, fail or succeed, it is satisfying to have tried.

As a designer I really admire well thought out, considered products. It is important to me that the product is designed with its whole life cycle in mind. Having written my dissertation on “What gives a product Meaning and Value to the Customer?”, I particularly favour the Endure and Evolve approach to design, where a product can

be repaired, acquire character and serve more than one owner. I also like to celebrate in a product the characteristics of craftsmanship, quality, heritage, innovation and integrity of materials.

Ideas and knowledge are what excite me, it is fascinating to discover and learn about a new manufacturing process or technique. These techniques and the stories that

surround them help me to create new products and distil them with provenance.

Tethera

Bag

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My final year project the Tethera is a town and country bag, as suited to carrying a laptop and lunch to work, as it is a brace of grouse and “piece”on the hill. The name Tethera, derives from the ancient Cumbrian word for three. The bag can be worn in three different forms, suiting a variety of applications.


The name reinforces the provenance of this bag. Cumbrian dialect is strongest in deep rural areas, like the rugged fells, tarns and river banks for which the bag isdesigned. Tethera is also a cue to the county where the bag has been designed and manufactured. It was here that the designer first gained his passion for the countryside and design as a young boy, building dams in becks and catching minnows in jam jars.

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This is a bag for the active individual, who cannot be sure of what they may be doing next and needs a bag that can instantly adapt to their varied lifestyle.

The bag is an example of British heritage and craftsmanship coming together with performance and practicality. Versatility is a key aspiration of this design. The bag features; a waterproof roll closure, watertight survival zip, detachable military grade straps, aluminium climbing buckles, a removable lining, utility straps, and a traditional exterior of waxed canvas and leather.

Its versatility ensures it is as suited to the town, as it is to the open moors. It is also de-constructable, allowing the owner to use the straps in various configurations, for example strapping the bag to a motor bike.


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Back panel development.

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Early concept sketches.

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Models for testing.

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Montgomery Valentine LewisMontgomery Valentine Lewis

Models for testing.

Sporrans.

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This is a personal project to respond to a gap in the Highland Dress market for quality sporrans. These are a take on traditional dress sporrans with a twist.

Inspired by the grand attic bedraggled sporrans, that have been passed down generations of highland families, these are the only ones of their type and quality on the market and will catch the eye at many a smart highland ball. The intricately cut and engraved horn cantle, along with the bullion pasmanterie make for a beautiful and unique sporran.


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Cantle design, development and vectorising. The cantles are constructed from brass with a flattened plate of cow horn which has then been laser cut. The inspiration for this laser cut cow horn was a visit to a specialist UK manufacturer of horn products and a collection of antique tortoise shell peineta combs worn by Spanish women in the 19th century.


Machined Wallet.

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Third year project, the Machined Essentials Wallet; a milled aluminium wallet case, with leather internals and a magnetic hinge.

The idea was to design a wallet that was for the bare essentials, suitable for smart occasions or a night on the town. The milled case and leather interior is designed to evoke the ceremony and luxury of producing a cigarette case from ones pocket. The wallet is designed as an alternative the use and worn, receipt filled item of every day use. The bringing together of CNC machined metal and hand leather work combines the best of traditional and modern techniques. The original desire had been for the wallet to be milled from aluminium and for the leather internals to be of ostrich leather, unfortunately this was not possible due to budget constraints.


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The biggest challenge within this project was to design a suitable hinge. The use of milled metal meant that the application of heat though soldering would distort the metal, this ruled out the soldering of an existing hinge to the case. The fine tolerances of this case also meant that milling a traditional hinge in miniature would be beyond the capabilities available to me. The solution was to do away with the traditional concept of a knuckle and pin hinge and to innovate on the principal of pivoting from one position to another. The solution was for the two halves of the wallet to snap between the desired positions of open and closed, through the use of rare earth magnets and a milled chamfer on the two halves.

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Magnetic hinge modelling and testing.


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Development model card and foam for every day testing. Second development model, with stitched leather internals.


Cantilever Lamp.

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The use of LEDs for the light source requires a low voltage, which makes it possible to convey the power to them through an inlay of brass in the wood. This contributes to a clean visual effect and a thought provoking product.

The Cantilever consists of three parts; a base and two beams. The beams are unfixed and held in place by the principle of a cantilever. Adjusting the hight and focus of the light is done by lifting the beams to release the pressure, allowing it to be slid through the joint to the desired length.

The Cantilever lamp is my response to a second year project brief to design task lighting that could be focused and positioned to illuminate work. It did not take me long to discover that the best of these was the Anglepoise and that many a designer had tried yet failed to better it. I concluded that if anyone wanted a desk lamp purely for functionality and ease of use they would purchase an Anglepoise. Instead I focused my ideas on creating a lamp that would be bought because it was unique and interesting to use.

The aim of the Cantilever is to encourage the user to interact with the product and gain enjoyment from this relationship.

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Models.

Flatware.

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This was a second year project exploring simple innovation in form and learning traditional hand prototyping skills for flatware from solid brass. Innovating the form of flatware and producing something different was quite difficult. The constraints were practicality, the material and the traditional techniques we were using. I feel managed to fulfil the brief, subtly innovating the form, while sticking to my personal wish to interpret a traditional yet up to date style. A style that would be suitable in both the most traditional and contemporary homes.


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CAD Templates.


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Development sketches.

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Development models.

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Development models.

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montgomery valentine lewis-design portfolio

Documents

tethera bag

country bag

dimensional design product

product meaning

design portfolio

new products

cumbrian dialect

young boy