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If you’ve ever looked into buying an office
chair and have say looked up some options

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online - you’ll find that it's possible
to buy one for about $50.

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There are also ones for between a hundred
to a thousand.

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And there are ones for over a thousand dollars.

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You may think to yourself- aren't they all
just things we put our butts on?

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What's with the big price range?

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And what kind of crazy person would spend
over a thousand dollars on a chair?

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Well let me tell you a story.

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The first chair I ever bought for myself was
a chair from I think Walmart for like $39.99.

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After about 18 months of use, an arm had broken
off, the adjustable seat had gotten stuck,

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the vinyl had ripped in a bunch of places
and the seat cushion was as flat as pancake.

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In fact, this chair wasn’t even frequently
used - I maybe sat in it for about

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1-2 hours a day on average.

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A good, durable office chair should last about
10-15 years while being used continuously

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for an average of a 40 hour work week.

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A cheap chair may cost you less initially,
but if you had to replace it every year or two

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It may end up costing you more in the
end.

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And that's not even mentioning that cheaper
chairs are often very uncomfortable

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and not ergonomically designed.

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This is not to say that every single person
needs to spend a thousand dollars on a chair.

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For light residential use, you could probably
find a good quality chair for that purpose

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for a few hundred dollars.

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But if you're looking to buy a chair for business
use, or you work from home and you do

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spend about 40 hours a week sitting it
in - you probably want to look into spending

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a little bit more to get a good quality chair
for the long term.

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Designing a quality commercial office chair
often takes years

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and cost a lot of money to implement.

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It involves a lot of research and development,
testing of materials, concepts iterations,

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and involve the work and input of many scientists,
engineers, designers, technologists and even

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healthcare professionals.

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For instance - the Steelcase leap chair took
four years to develop, cost 35 million dollars,

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and involved 11 academic studies.

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But why do furniture manufacturers bother
with doing all of those things?

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Well one, because it takes a lot of work to
develop something that's strong and durable.

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Most commercial manufactures will put their
chair designs through vigorous testing methods

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for function and durability.

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An example of this is the ISO 21015 test for
office work chairs.

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This test would determine the stability, strength
and durability of a chair by applying various

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standardized simulations of functional use
as well as expected misuse.

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Number two, most high quality chairs are extensively
ergonomically designed, since most of us expect

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to sit in them for up to 40 hours a week.

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Sitting for a long period of time in an uncomfortable
seat, a poorly supported cushion, or a strained

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position - could lead to severe health conditions.

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Thus a chair should not only be comfortable,
but also adjustable.

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So most professional office chairs are designed
with mechanisms that allow a user to easily

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adjust seat height, back angles, seat depth,
chair tilt, arm location, chair width, tension,

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and sometimes even the locations of lumbar
support - allowing the chair to adapt to your

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body type, work conditions and personal preference.

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Many commercial office chairs are also customizable.

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At a residential furniture store you generally
have a limited choice of design and fabric

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options, because manufactures can keep costs
low by manufacturing a few standardized products

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in mass quantity.

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But commercial customers usually require a
wider selection of options, so commercial

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suppliers generally have a higher per-item
cost.

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A commercial chair supplier usually allows
you to choose from a greater selection of

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designs, finishes, and fabric options.

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You can even bring in your own fabric, or
have the option of printing a custom graphic

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or pattern onto the fabric.

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Many commercial businesses want to be able
to reflect their brand colour or image in

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the design of their offices, especially if
it's for a customer facing environment.

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But if you're just a person who's looking
for a simple functional chair for your

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home office - you most likely don’t need
all of that.

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But the option is there if you have a very
specific design in mind.

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Ultimately - a great chair, like all great
designs, seamlessly ties together elegant

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form, innovative technology and functional
excellence.

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The Aeron chair, a Herman Miller product that
was designed by Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick

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In 1994 - is actually a part of the collection
in the Museum of Modern Art.

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An interesting and innovative part of their
design is that its seat as well as back are

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actually not built out of traditional upholstery.

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It's made out of an intricate network of polyester
mesh that’s stretched over an aluminum frame.

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This make it light and flexible yet durable,
resilient, stain proof, splash proof and its

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open mesh helps to keep your butt airy and
cool.

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So if you’re looking to buy a chair - whether
you're looking for a classic work of of art

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that's worth of a museum, or you're just looking
for a simple functional chair - hopefully

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this gives you a little bit of an idea into
what to consider and what to look for.

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Often I like to talk about how “everything
in this world is designed” - from the concrete

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curbs on the side the road, to toilet partitions
in a public bathroom, to the plastic trims

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on the edges of a chair.

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Most people don’t even realize, or take
for granted just how much work and thought

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has gone into designing some of the most ubiquitous
things in the world.

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So I'd love to hear from you guys.

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What are some of your curious questions about
the design world, or just what are some of

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your questions about the everyday objects
around you.

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Feel free to leave it in the comments below,

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or suggest it to me via any of my social media accounts.

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Thanks for watching and happy sitting!