Christopher McNicholl is a Comber, Northern Ireland based insightful designer who has created a chirping bench called 'TweetingSeat'. A student of Product Design at the University of Dundee, Chris has a deep perception for designing. Not only that, he has been a part of six designers who represented the UK at Microsoft's Design Expo in Redmond, USA. Chris is absolutely a young emerging designer and has already made his mark in the industry by creating TweetingSeat. We contacted Chris for a small interview with us to know about his future plans, inception of TweetingSeat and much more. Catch it below:




Christopher, please introduce yourself to E-junkies.

Okay. My name is Chris and I am from Northern Ireland. I have spent the last four years studying product design at the University of Dundee and I am due to graduate in June with a first class honors degree.

What tickles your creative bone? What are the things that influences the designer within you?

I've always had a fascination with making things. When I was young I played with Lego almost constantly, and when I wasn't I would be drawing or constructing things from anything else I could find lying about the house. Now, as a designer, everything influences me! I enjoy following the regular design and tech blogs to see what kind of things other creatives are producing. However, most of all I am influenced by people. I constantly find myself watching others and seeing how they go about regular tasks or react to things in their environment. I find this or just talking with people is definitely the best way to be inspired.

Your TweetingSeat looks pretty awesome! How did this creative idea strike to you?

TweetingSeat is the result of research into communities. I spent a lot of type talking with people in the local area and the council about communities within the city of Dundee. After I while I developed an interest in how different communities interact with each other, in particular physical and digital communities. This is when my seat came in. I wanted to see if there is the potential for connecting these kinds of communities and whether people would be accepting of objects doing so.




























TweetingSeat is loved by everyone (including me). So, are there any plans to expand this project?

The project was only just recently completed as part of my fourth year assessment, and it is currently on show at the University of Dundee degree show. For this reason, I haven't had a lot of time to consider the next steps. I have been really overwhelmed with the reception from everyone who has taken an interest in TweetingSeat, so I would like to do something with it in the near future, and I'm very open to suggestions or opportunities that people may have.




























I read on your blog that 'you have a soft spot for use of natural materials in product design'. Any specific reason?

I'm not all that sure why. I always just seem to be drawn to objects that have been really beautifully crafted in organic materials. I particularly like the contrast that can be created in electronic/digital products that make use of natural materials in their aesthetic. I find that Scandinavian design possesses a lot of this.

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

Good question. I definitely want to break into the design industry. I'd love to have a diverse job in an agency or consultancy where I can use my skills on a wide range of different projects. To be honest, as long as I get to design I'd be happy!

What message do you have for our readers?

If you like my work, please check out my other projects at www.chrismcnicholl.com. You can also find my blog here where I like to document what I'm up to. And be sure to follow @tweetingseat and me @cmcnicholl.

Chris, thanks for this wonderful interview. We wish you all the very best and hope to see some exploding projects like 'TweetingSeat' in future! 


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