Designers and their work

• Philippe Starck


  - french product designer

  - famously worked on kitchenware for Alessi

  - some of his work is regarded as post-modern sculptural pieces

  - aesthetic before function

  - aimed at democratic design rather than the elite

  - playful and provoking designs

  - experiment with modern materials and manufacturing processes
• example of a Philippe Starck product


  Juicy Salif juicer - made from a single piece of aluminium casting. inspired by starck squeezing a lemon over squid in a restaurant.

  Key features of the design:

  - high centre of mass - unstable when juicing

  - large enough for a lemon, too small for an orange

  - form in striking - displayed in kitchen, not put away
• James Dyson


  - British designer

  - created range of household products - e.g., wheelbarrows, hair dyers, hand dryers, vacuum cleaners.

  - uses innovative technology
• James Dyson - Vacuum cleaner DC01

  - bagless cleaner

  - utilises technology used in extraction systems

  - Dyson found in existng products that the collection system got blocked with dust with reduced suction

  
  

  key features of product

  - new dust collection system - separate dust without reducing suction

  - contrasting colour schemes - key features are highlighted - ease of use for consumer

  - most is injection moulded - ABS, clear dust bin in PC

  - integral fixings - disassembly and maintenance

  - clear bin - sense of achievement for users, and visual feedback of when it is full and needs emptying
• Margaret Calvert


  - Graphic designer

  - worked with Jock Kinneir to develop transport font

  - standard pictograms used for road signs

  - stylised silhouette forms - simple and clear communication

  - upper and lower case lettering

  - improved readability at high speeds
• Dieter Rams


  - German functionalist designer

  - late twentieth-century

  - consumer electronics - taking ornamental wooden casings and replacing them with functional minimal designs in white and grey

  - relied heavily on technological developments e.g., transistor and thermoplastics
• Dieter rams key principles

  A GOOD PRODUCT IS:

  - innovation - product uses modern materials and technologies

  - useful - functional - solves a problem

  - aesthetic - form follows function but aesthetics depends on the market it is designed for

  - understandable - requires little guidance

  - unobtrusive - designed for a purpose, no feature added purely for aesthetics

  - honest - doesn't hide material e.g., no veneer to make manufactured board look like solid wood.

  - last detail - every last detail is considered e.g., ridges on battery cover of remote control

  - environmentally friendly - materials, production, disposal

  - as little design as possible - concentrates on essentials - minimalist
• Charles and Ray Eames


  - moulded furniture

  - used plywood and polymers

  - their modernist house made from used parts found in catalogues

  - reflected cubist architecture - De Stijl movement
• Marianne Brandt


  - student as Bauhaus design school

  - became head of the metalwork department in 1928

  - created geometrically pure kitchenware

  - her products were sold - even when Bauhaus was seen too controversial for mass production

  - her designs ensured longevity and relevance in modern design