Struck by the idea that both designers of type and designers of furniture are often shapers of subtle curves, I decided to put one profession in service of the other. The Optimum Chair is constructed from the H, Q, D, and I of the typeface Optima, by Hermann Zapf. I designed the traditional caning pattern for the seat and back. The letters were cut from quarter-inch plywood on a laser cutter, the caning from cover weight paper.
