PLACEHOLDER — praeceptum-hero.jpg — brushed aluminium shoulder over hemp canvas, full-bleed

Aluminium, hemp canvas, ash — made by humans on earth

Jacob Palmer

Jacob Palmer

Industrial design · Calgary, Alberta

Industrial design · Calgary, Alberta

Furniture

2024

Self-directed

Praeceptum

A brushed aluminium shoulder set over a hemp canvas seat — built twice, kept the second.

PLACEHOLDER — praeceptum-build.jpg — shop build, the wood subframe mid-glue-up

Shop build, the wood subframe mid-glue-up.

Specification

Frame

Brushed 6061 aluminium

Seat

Hemp canvas, 18 oz

Subframe

Laminated ash

Dimensions

740 × 620 × 810 mm

Finish

Hand-sanded, unlacquered

Built

Two prototypes, one kept

Process · Four Stages

01

Premise

A seat where the structure is the finish. No skirt, no cover panel — the aluminium shoulder carries the load and shows how.

02

Mock-up

Foam and plywood at full scale, sat on for a week. The shoulder angle moved twice; the seat depth moved once.

03

Build

Ash laminated over a form, then machined back to meet the aluminium. The glue-up dictated the schedule, not the drawing.

What failed

The first subframe delaminated at the tightest radius. Too few plies, too much clamp pressure — rebuilt at nine plies.

04

Finish

Left unlacquered so the aluminium dulls and the canvas softens. It is expected to look used within a year.

The frame was never meant to be hidden, so it wasn’t.

PLACEHOLDER — precept-influence.jpg — the reference object that started it

PLACEHOLDER — precept-studio.webp — the bench mid-process

PLACEHOLDER — praeceptum-hemp.webp — the canvas before stretching

PLACEHOLDER — praeceptum-finished — full three-quarter in the room, warm directional light

Transport

2024

Studio brief

Si’kssopo

The neck vent runs through the stem, so the seat breathes where a body actually meets it.

PLACEHOLDER — sikssopo-seat-1.png — the neck vent carried on the stem

The neck vent carried on the stem.

Specification

Shell

Compression-moulded flax composite

Stem

Extruded aluminium, internal duct

Vent

Neck-height, 42 mm throat

Dimensions

520 × 610 × 1040 mm

Print

PolyJet, quarter and full scale

Context

Transit, all-season

Process · Four Stages

01

Premise

Transit seating treats air as something to add later. The brief was to carry it inside the structure from the first sketch.

02

Mock-up

Quarter-scale prints tested the duct path before any surface was resolved. Airflow decided the stem section.

03

Build

Full-scale PolyJet print, held and sat against at actual scale — the only way the neck height stopped being a number.

What failed

The first duct exit sat 30 mm too low and blew across the shoulder instead of the neck. Moved up, narrowed, retested.

04

Finish

Flax composite left visible so wear reads as texture rather than damage.

Comfort is a route, not a surface.

PLACEHOLDER — sikssopo-seat-2.png — the seat from behind, duct visible

PLACEHOLDER — sikssopo-airscarf.jpg — the vent tested against a neck

PLACEHOLDER — sikssopo-print — the PolyJet print held in one hand, actual scale

Civic

2023

River Valley, Edmonton

Communis

A civic ring built to be sat on in January and forgotten about in July.

PLACEHOLDER — communis-ring.png — the ring seat

The ring seat.

Specification

Structure

Rolled weathering steel, 8 mm

Seat

Thermally modified ash slats

Light

Underglow, 2700 K, dusk sensor

Diameter

2 400 mm

Siting

Stair landing, west viewpoint

Maintenance

None scheduled, by design

Process · Four Stages

01

Premise

A stair landing that people already stopped at. The brief was to make stopping legitimate without adding a shelter.

02

Mock-up

Card and tape rings on site, at three diameters, watched for a weekend to see which one people actually walked around.

03

Build

Rolled steel, slatted ash, underglow wired into the existing stair conduit. Winter drainage set the slat gaps.

What failed

The first slat spacing held meltwater and froze into a shelf. Widened to 14 mm and sloped the rail outward.

04

Finish

Left to weather. The steel is expected to bloom orange for two seasons before it settles.

Public furniture earns its keep in the worst month.

PLACEHOLDER — communis-bridge.png — the ring read against the bridge

PLACEHOLDER — communis-winter-stairs.jpg — the stair in February

PLACEHOLDER — communis-marigold.png — the underglow detail

PLACEHOLDER — communis-summer-stairs.jpg — the same stair in July

PLACEHOLDER — communis-oilers.jpg — the ring in use, game night

PLACEHOLDER — communis-pedestrian.png — approach from the path

PLACEHOLDER — communis-site — the ring on site at a River Valley viewpoint, dusk, underglow on

Art Studies · Visual Design

Six Items · Ongoing

art-brake.png — reads as the word BRAKE from a distance

BRAKE

Art study

Letterforms cut from stopping distance. From across a room it reads as one word; up close it is only marks and gaps.

art-aviation.webp — SR-71 layered over a Boeing 787

The Sun’s Gone Dim

Art study

An SR-71 layered over a 787 — sixty years of the same problem answered twice, drawn on one plate.

the detonated airbag panel laid flat, raking light

BREAK

Art study

A detonated airbag panel laid flat under raking light. The photograph is still missing; the panel is not.

Photograph missing

Figure, cadaver & F1 anatomy

Drawing

Three years of drawing bodies and cars with the same intent: find the load path, then draw only that.

Drawings held back — sketchbook, on request

valt-logo.png — four lockups of the identity

Valt

Visual design

Four lockups of a single identity, built to survive being stamped, etched and printed badly.

a spread from the layered infographic system

Mini hydro generator

Visual design

A layered infographic system explaining a small hydro unit to someone who will never open it.

Photograph missing

art-brake.png — reads as the word BRAKE from a distance

BRAKE

Art study

Letterforms cut from stopping distance. From across a room it reads as one word; up close it is only marks and gaps.

art-aviation.webp — SR-71 layered over a Boeing 787

The Sun’s Gone Dim

Art study

An SR-71 layered over a 787 — sixty years of the same problem answered twice, drawn on one plate.

the detonated airbag panel laid flat, raking light

BREAK

Art study

A detonated airbag panel laid flat under raking light. The photograph is still missing; the panel is not.

Photograph missing

Figure, cadaver & F1 anatomy

Drawing

Three years of drawing bodies and cars with the same intent: find the load path, then draw only that.

Drawings held back — sketchbook, on request

valt-logo.png — four lockups of the identity

Valt

Visual design

Four lockups of a single identity, built to survive being stamped, etched and printed badly.

a spread from the layered infographic system

Mini hydro generator

Visual design

A layered infographic system explaining a small hydro unit to someone who will never open it.

Photograph missing

Enquiry

Tell me what you’re making and where it’s stuck. Short notes are fine — drawings are better.

Based

Calgary, Alberta

Focus

Furniture, transport, civic

Elsewhere

Instagram

Or write directly, if that suits you better.