Zlín students pair low lounge chair with free-speech website and indigo blues

A low leather lounge chair that sits close to the floor, a clickable dictionary about free speech and clothes dyed blue with plants share the spotlight in a new student showcase from Zlín.

The roundup comes from the Faculty of Multimedia Communications at Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Czech Republic, and was published on 26 September as part of Dezeen's School Shows, an online series that presents work by design graduates.

The chair leads the selection. It pairs a low-profile leather seat with steel legs shaped by CNC bending, a computer-guided process that curves metal into precise forms. The result is spare and sturdy, built for lounging rather than perching.

Sit low. Stretch out.

Another project lives entirely on screen. The Interactive Dictionary of Free Speech, by Digital Design student Adrián Gubrica under tutor Bohuslav Stránský, is an experimental website aimed at young people and built to explore freedom of speech. It is live at freespeech.gubrica.com, where visitors can browse entries rather than read a single essay.

The fashion entry works in a different material altogether. It uses natural indigo dye, a plant-based blue with a long history in denim and workwear, across a collection of garments. The focus is on colour, process and wear, not a single catwalk look.

The faculty said the feature draws across six courses: Fashion Design, Product Design, Digital Design, Industrial Design, Jewellery Design and Graphic Design. Named tutors for the feature are Jana Kotikov, Vladimír Kovařík, Bohuslav Stránský, René Baďura, Sabina Psotková and Pavel Noga.

The school itself is broad. The Faculty of Multimedia Communications comprises fourteen studios alongside the Department of Marketing Communications and the Department of Theoretical Studies, according to the showcase text.

For readers in Zlín, part of the school will look familiar. Its Building U16 on Tomáše Bati Street houses the Shoe Design, Fashion Design, Digital Design, Product Design and Spatial Design studios, according to an earlier faculty announcement.

What makes this fun to browse is the range. Furniture, websites and clothes do not often sit side by side. Here they do, and each project lists its student, course and tutor so readers can follow who made what and where to look next.