Winning Designs of the Create Your LessThanFive Chair Contest

In late September, we asked designers and architects to utilize our new LessThanFive Customizer tool to create a design that would make the LessThanFive Chair uniquely theirs. We had a great response and received more than 340 entries for our Create Your LessThanFive with Coalesse contest. Designer Michael Young,  Coalesse director of design John Hamilton and Coalesse brand manager Krista Markell sifted through all the entries before choosing their three favorite designs.

The winning entry chosen by the judges was created by Felix Martinez of Partners by Design in Chicago, Illinois. The judges felt Felix’s design best used the capabilities of the Customizer tool in clever and unique ways while still considering the form of the chair.

The winning design by Felix Martinez of Partners by Design in Chicago, Illinois.

We asked Felix a few questions about his participation in the contest and the inspiration behind his design.

1.  Why did you enter the contest?

After visiting Coalesse last year in Grand Rapids and seeing their history of collaborating with lead designers in the industry, I wanted a chance to associate myself with those brilliant designers.

2. What was the inspiration behind your design?

The overall color choice was based off of the PMS color of the year, Serenity. The complementing color on the lower portion of the chair legs was to only have a hint of the ombre effect that the LessThanFive Chair features. The textured white fading into the chair color was my interpretation of the chair color rubbing off due to extremely high usage. The locations of the white are from repeated seating and handling of the chair due to its light weight.

3. What do you plan to do with your chair?

Honestly? Once I told a family member that I won, she said “Perfect! I was just looking for a guest chair to put in my office!” So that’s probably where it will be on display.

The judges also selected designs by Casey Torch of McTernan Design Associates in  Toronto, Ontario, and Jackie Perez Castro of Interior Office Solutions in Los Angeles, California. Both designs were posted on Instagram and in a very close popular vote, Casey Torch’s design was selected our second winner. Both Casey and Felix will receive a LessThanFive Chair with their design.