So. It's been awhile. sorry. I will give you guys a general idea of the three ideas I had for midterm, and then the nightstand that I've decided I'm doing. 

Here is the original piece:

It's from the Engan series, and it's a nightsand

This first nightstand is supposed to be a sort of lightbox "lantern" type thing. The nighstand itself is pretty basic with a surface to set things on and a shelf to store things in. The pattern on the front is made from a transparent material that would be backlit so that when the nightstand is turned on it acts as a nightlight, or "lantern". 

It's pretty basic, not much to it really, but I liked the idea of having a pattern on the front and being able to light it and play with shadows and patterns and that sort of thing. 

This second piece also incorporates light. The concept is about pushing and pulling light, and the absence and presence of light. The physical act of pulling open the drawer reveals the light that is inside it, and the act of pushing the drawer shut hides the light. During midterm reviews I got a lot of good feedback on this piece, with wonhee saying that it would be interesting if the light also served as a functional reading lamp. So if the sides of the drawers were made of something that was transparent, then when the user opens the drawer the light shines through and can be used as a reading lamp, and then when the user wants to turn the light off the shut the drawer. The  light inside the drawer would also serve in a functional manner because it would make searching for things in the dark easier. The top is half a surface and half a storage bin so that the user can set things on top as well as store books and such on the side. 

This third piece is more of a statement as to how technology is becoming integrated more into everyday life. It's a statement on how a computer and cellphone are starting to become the "modern diary", and how people need some sort of nightstand that adjusts for their technology. This nightstand serves as a surface for the user to work on their laptop in bed, has a "charging dock" where one can plug in their computer and cell phone, and has surfaces to store their various bedtime items. This is the piece that I think I will be building because it got a lot of good feedback and seems the most functional to me. 

This is the top, and the way that I designed it in the prototype, it just slides out and the user can completely remove the top surface and use it as a laptop surface in bed, or they can pull it out halfway and use it as a mini table, or they can place their laptop and cell phone in the drawer below and charge their items and then slide the top piece back on so they don't have to bother with their technology once it's charged. Givens suggested that instead of making the surface slide I make it pivot so that you can rotate the surface around and use it in bed. He also made a good point that if people see a horizontal surface they have a tendency to put things on top of it, and that the sliding surface could potentially become unusable because people would just set things on top of it. He suggested that I give the user the ability to use the top surface as a laptop holder OR have an extra slot where the drawers are so that the user can take out the top and use this surface essentially as another drawer on the inside of the nightstand. 

The last nightstand is my favorite one because of it's functionality and ability to adjust to the user, so I think I'm gonna go with this one.