This section of my portfolio is dedicated to the tables and desks I have designed and created on my own. I also like to shoot all of my own product photos.

-Michael Hegarty (MCo)

When the owners of New England Country Rentals asked me to design the reception desk to their main lobby I felt honored to be given such a task. And when they told me to take total creative freedom with the design I was thrilled. I wanted to design something that would immediately stand out and give their clients an impression that this was no ordinary rental company that they just walked into. I spent several weeks scouring the internet for inspiration, and modeled a few ideas in Sketchup. My first few design iterations involved making some sort of amorphous shape using cross-sectional pieces. I liked this idea but felt my initial sketches were too similar to other desks I had been inspired by. This is what led me to redesign the desk completely, making it "float". I wanted to put something in that room that no one has ever seen before, I wanted it to look clean, sleek, and yet somewhat complex. 

I first modeled the desk as a solid shape in sketchup. From there, I used that model to create a cross-sectional version in 123D Make, which also produced 2 dimensional vector files of each cross section which I then used to program for CNC cutting the shapes from 3/4" plywood. 

Once the pieces were cut, the desk was assembled, painted with white lacquer and finished with lacquer based polyurethane, and a large piece of 3/8" white acrylic was inlayed into the desktop to create a writing and computer space. 

I worked with one of the custom shop carpenters to install the desk. We mounted one end into studs in the wall, and the other end was suspended from the ceiling using air-craft cable. 

This project was one of the first big challenges I faced while working at NECR. We were tasked to build these two 13ft wall structures by Raffanelli Events. The challenge for us was figuring out how to build them going off not much more than a photo of 2D drawing giving the dimensions of the frame of the structures, and some inspiration images. After much trial and error, the first wall we produced did not look good at all, or at least we knew it was not good enough for our clients standards. Eventually, I came up with the idea that if I could create a 3D model of the walls in Sketchup, then I could some how take the individual pieces and create files to run on our CNC machine. The only problem was, I didn't know how to use Sketchup, and it was the night before the event. After several hours of watching tutorials, and playing around with the program I had our 3D model, and successfully converted each triangular piece into a format for the CNC to cut from plywood. We may have stayed up through the night to get this one done, but it was well worth it. 

34' wide suspended sunglasses structure, designed by Rafanelli Events for an annual fundraising event known as Camp Harborview Beach Ball. Built at New England Country Rentals. 

Plywood and steel frame construction, with rear projection screens mounted to the back of the "lenses"

My role: 

Project management - start to finish 

Welded steel frame

Programmed and operated CNC router to cut the plywood shape

Led onsite installation 

The Lawn on D is an experimental event landscape that brings together different communities and audiences and residents for innovative programming and events in the epicenter of the Innovation District and South Boston neighborhood. While working at NECR, I had the pleasure of working with our Custom Design and Build team in conjunction with Mission Six to produce several of the elements at Lawn on D. The team at NECR worked tirelessly to produce: the outdoor tent backwall, a kid sized branded aluminum ping pong table, counters/surround walls for the kitchen area, lawn tic tac toe pieces, and vinyl branded cornholes. We also repurposed the regulation size ping pong tables and wooden bocce ball courts from the year prior. 

My role included: 

Project management for all pieces built by NECR

CNC programming and operation to cut pieces of the kids ping pong table

Construction of the kids ping pong table

Design of the kitchen surround facade

Coordinating with print vendors

Event design by Raffanelli Events

Products produced by New England Country Rentals: 9 black acrylic 4'x8' freestanding signs with vinyl messaging, an 8'x8' sign of similar construction, 3 "way finding towers" made from aluminum framing and black acrylic, 4 pure white pedestals, and a black acrylic faced keg wall. 

My role included: 

Project management of all pieces created by NECR

3D rendering of 8' square sign

On site installation management 

Coordination with print vendor for all vinyl applied to our products

I felt very lucky to work on such a cool project designed by Rafanelli events, in which the team at NECR constructed a giant UNICEF treat or treat box. What I found so intriguing about this project was the way that the imaginative team at Rafanelli designed this as a clever portal into the "world" of the event. Oh and of course, celebrities like David Ortiz and Heidi Klum having their photo taken in front of it was pretty cool too! The structure was created with a light wooden frame and skinned with MDF. The UNICEF branding was achieved by attaching CNC cut 1/8" PVC plastic. 

My role included: 

Project management over the production of the giant UNICEF box

Creating 3D renderings of the structure for our build team

Programming and operating the CNC milling of the UNICEF branding from 1/8" PVC sheet plastic

"Play Day" was a one of a kind event designed by the brilliant minds at Industria Creative, and held at Boston's Lawn on D. Their team brought 14 artists/groups to setup their own installations, all of which had the theme of "play." Industria Creative approached the Custom Design Team at NECR to produce 14 double sided, 4'x8' A-frame signs; each to demarcate a single installation, and provide information about the artist(s) who created it. Industria provided us with 28 total graphics which we used to print in house with a recently acquired large format printer. We also built the A-frame structures from scratch and installed the prints on site. Not only was I thrilled to work with this agency, but also delighted that they let me convince them to use our new print services over another vendor, as well as to try out a magnetic print substate to allow for a much faster install time. 

My role included: 

Project management of all A-frames constructed, and graphics printed by NECR

Sourcing a vendor for Visual Magnetics print substrates and adhesive magnets

Running the large format printer for several of the prints

On site installation