We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Konstantinos G. Papadopoulos about their original and creative Wooden Bicycle design work. Konstantinos G. Papadopoulos is an award-winning industrial designer, that makes our world a better place with their original wooden bicycle works.
Konstantinos G. Papadopoulos ("KGP") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work FRB Custom Wooden Bicycle. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
KGP : My family’s business is in the timber processing and trading and as such wood has been a part of my life since the day I was born. I lives in a small town called Tripolis and I ride my bicycle to work every day. I always wanted to make something new with wood as the main material so I combined those two.
KGP : I would like to design even more custom wooden bikes. We have almost finished the making of a second wooden bike which design is more futuristic.
KGP : I started with sketches in February 2014 and the bike itself was finished and ready for a ride in August 2014.
KGP : As I said before I always wanted to make something with wood as the main material and I also like cycling, so I designed and made a unique wooden bike.
KGP : I made the original design of the bike's frame and chose the peripherals for it. A friend of mine -Dimitrios Thanogiannis- who is a professional carpenter built the main construction. We are planning to design and produce more custom bikes together.
KGP : Some day in December 2013 we were out for a ride with Dimitrios Thanogiannis and when we came back we had a conversation about buying new bikes. After a long chat we decided to make them ourselves.
KGP : Since I had no previous experience in industrial design, I was influenced by other bike designs which I found in stores or online but since I am an experienced biker I knew how a bike must fill. So I tried to make it unique.
KGP : Anyone who likes cycling, nature, design and wants something unique and custom.
KGP : The entirely handmade construction, based on the character and style of the customer.
KGP : FRB Custom are the initials for Free Ride Bike Custom. We like to ride free on our custom bikes.
KGP : Pencils, erasers, rulers, papers for the original sketches. Adobe Illustrator for the digitized version and the 3d design for the ergonomics was made in 3d Studio Max.
KGP : The way we used the wood to stabilize and harden the frame. Wood is a flexible material and Dimitrios came up with an idea to make many small slices of wood that were glued together. This made the frame rigid and stable enough to support an adult rider.
KGP : I collaborated with Dimitrios Thanogiannis, who is a professional carpenter.
KGP : When we designed the 3d model we run some tests about the frame's stability, hardness and overall construction. It helped us fix some mistakes οn the original design, that we could not have known before the final product was tested live.
KGP : After some tests with the 3d model we had to make adjustments to the original design because it was not quite stable.
KGP : I had no previous experience in industrial design and the challenge I had was how to make it strong and stable enough to support an adult rider. During 3d modeling and the construction we made some tests and we found a way to make the wooden frame more stable.
KGP : Since I had the bike finished and tested I decided to submit it to a local competition for young designers and it was awarded. I decided to submit it at A' Design Award & Competition too because it is a recognized world-class competition.
KGP : I learned a lot about cooperation and through research and development I improved the way I think and design.
