What’s in a chair?

David Bowie on the Russell Harty Show in 1973 seated on the classic Le Corbusier LC2 Armchair.

Go ahead and have a seat!

From talk shows, to therapist offices, to the favorite chair in your living room, to the best log that the cavemen sat on, seating is important.

Chairs can give us comfort, support, coziness, or even authority. Some chairs make us relax and invite us to sink into conversation.

The statue of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial depicts him seated in a semi-circular ceremonial chair. The chair's fronts have fasces, which are bundles of wooden rods and an axe bound together by leather thongs.  In ancient Rome, fasces symbolized power, strength, authority, and justice

That’s why at Podhead Studios, we’re focused on choosing the right seating for our shows.

For a video podcast, the chairs are a big decision. When we set design for a new show, we begin by diving deep into how to serve the desired perception for the visual design. Is it an academic feeling where we want to convey education and experience? Do want to feel inviting for viewers and guests by creating a cozy feeling? Or perhaps, we’re creating a fun and creative space that invites viewers to feel inspired and joyous. All of these feelings can be created with intentional set design and yes, chairs.

Perhaps the chairs need to feel warm and inviting, how do we achieve this? Well, we could perhaps start to look for chairs that look comfortable and big and cozy. Perhaps we’ll use color theory and choose colors that feel warm or inviting or even deep and introspective which a dark blue can sometime symbolize.

Custom Podhead Studios set design for FROM NOW ON with host, Lisa Phillips

These choices will not only convey the feeling to the audience, but also to all guests who come on the show and sit in the chairs. Imagine trying to get vulnerable and deep into a conversation while seated in a hard chair that makes you fidget, squirm, and ache.

At Podhead Studios, we understand the right chair can lead to the right conversation, while the wrong chair can stifle it.