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Design 101
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American professional boxer, poet, first celebrity-athlete, outspoken on religion and politics 1942-
People called him ‘the greatest.’ ‘Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.’”
From a very young age, he was one of those people who just understood things. To study his life is like digging in a gold mine.
To learn more, here is a nice documentary.
ALI, MUHAMMAD‘Float like a butterfly,
sting like a bee.’
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French philosopher, theorist, linguist & many more1915-1980
Author of ‘Camera Lucida’ and ‘Mythologies’
He is dear to us for two reasons, two (very nice and) very intelligent books. ‘Mythologies’is particularly interesting because it deals with“‘modern’ myths. We know quite a lot about classical mythology, but what about modern mythology?
If you want to understand the 20th century, he is one to follow.
BARTHES, ROLAND
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British rockstar, showman, businessman and cultural icon1947-
A pop icon from the 1970’s, many songs and headlines later, he is still running around as Mr. Cool. For us, he is quite an inspiration because of his ‘Absolute Beginners’ song. Reminding us that we will always be absolute beginners. Even on the day we die, we will be absolute beginners (It sounds eerie, but think about it; it is a very nice condition.).
He is no stranger to the world of business. Here the link to his company website.
BOWIE, DAVID
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American futurist, inventor, theorist, designer1895-1983
Inventor of the ‘geodesic dome’
In reality, the geodesic dome was first invented by the German engineer Walther Bauersfeld 20 years earlier. But then Germany lost the war, was split in two and the dome’s design stayed in East Germany along with Bauersfeld.
Over the last 50 years, ‘Bucky’ has been incredibly influential. Check out the website of his institute. You will understand the scope of his influence.
It is interesting to note that 99% of his ideas were not brought to fruition. Regardless, he is still relevant today. Sometimes the world of design works in curious ways. The people who get it ‘right’ are considered boring, while the spotlight is put on the ones with imaginative yet quasi impossible visions.
BUCKMINSTER FULLER, RICHARD‘Don’t fight forces,
use them.’
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American writer1888-1955
Inventor of the self-improvement model (aka self-help)
You know, all those books you buy to learn how to become rich, famous, slim, fat or whatever comes to mind. The kind of books we openly dislike.
But (always a but)...
Carnegie’s ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ is the mother-book, and it is extremely interesting to be read. We can forgive Carnegie for his silly title, because the content is very OK. If you want a shortcut, here is the Wikipedia entry, where you will get all you need to know and more.
CARNEgIE, DALE
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A New York City landmarkbuilt 1883-1885
Design (like any other human activity) relies on being at the right time at the right place.
In the 20th Century, the Chelsea Hotel was one of THE places to be and this went on for some 50 years. The list of the people who stayed, lived, loved and died there is long and impressive.
Question: what are the Chelsea Hotels of our age? How do we find them? (How do we get there?)
Anyway, here is the link to the (unofficial) blog. Browse and discover its legacy!
CHELSEA HOTEL
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French poet, artist, designer, filmmaker, novelist & many many more1889-1963
Let’s just say he represents what we imagine is a contemporary designer. Amazingly, he understood the concept 100 years before us.
Too many things can be mentioned. You can start with his drawings. In any case, here is a website about his life and career. Amid the many things he did, we like the Saint Pierre des Pecheurs chapel.
Indeed, he is so dear to us that he is featured on one of our postcards’ stamps.
COCTEAU, JEAN
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Book written by Bruno Munari, Italian artist, designer, and inventor1971
‘To make things easy is very difficult. To make things difficult is very easy.’
We couldn’t agree more!
An absolute must read! Munari’s thoughts, ideas, drawings! Superlike!
Actually, we have different opinions on the subject (design is design and art is art), but the book is so inspirational that we are happy to suggest such a nice read.
Here is a review of the book itself.
‘DESIgN AS ART’
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A special Chinese food (Cantonese cuisine, from Guangdong province) served in small baskets used to steam the food itself
To cook dim sum implies to make a stack of multiple baskets. It is quite tricky to do if you have no expertise in the matter.
It is a technique that overlaps design with cooking and produces fantastic results. The baskets that steam the food are incredible pieces of anonymous design. The cart used to serve the food in the restaurant is another impressive device.
Here is the official Hong Kong web guide on dim sum, and here you can find out even more.
When cooking, design is inherently in the kitchen (and on the table). Have you ever thought about it? 10 000 years of human history are embedded in the tools we use to cook and eat. Such an interesting concept for the design-oriented mind!
DIM SUM
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A people from West Africa, Mali
They are extremely interesting to us because of their religious traditions, masks, dances and sculptures. And we cannot forget their architecture! Tourism is destroying all of this cultural heritage (but that’s another story). Once again, we have an example of things being ‘very old’ and simultaneously ‘very contemporary.’
Contemporary design does not necessarily mean “made now. Contemporary design means relevant now.”
Here is a nice website. And here a is second one with an impressive collection of visuals. For more, here is a link to a video where you can witness a ritual: music, dance, masks and traditional clothing.
DOgON pEOpLE
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American couple, design superheroes of the 20th century1907-1978 / 1912-1988
‘Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.’
In their life, they did everything you could possibly imagine: design, architecture, graphics, fine arts, films etc.
To list all there is to explore would be endless. For the most incredible journey ever start with a short (less than 10 minutes) documentary called ‘Power of 10’!
Here is a link to their entry on Design Museum Archive. Here is their website.
They are flying first-class in our zeppelin. They have our postcard’s stamp of approval.
EAMES, CHARLES AND RAy
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American art teacher1926-
Author of ‘Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain’
If you want to learn how to draw (or know some very interesting fact about how our brain works), get the book.
It is one of the best ‘how-tos’ ever written. To start, here is the website. Enjoy!
EDWARDS, BETTy
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Diagram
A flowchart organizes a process in different steps. Each step is normally represented by a box. Each box is connected to others by arrows.
Since design is foremost a process, the procedure illustrated by such a diagram is key to us designers. The flowchart is a way of visualizing, of thinking.
Here is the link to an article where you have all kind of free on-line tools to create flowcharts.
FLOWCHART
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Book by Martí Guixé, Catalan designer2010
A look at food from the perspective of a designer
In case you can’t find the book, you can get an idea by going to this link.
We like this type of design: humble, easy to understand, intelligent, humourous and ready to play with such serious subjects as money and business.
FOOD DESIgNINg
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Japanese designer1956-
One of the most influential contemporary designers
‘I’m not thinking about this pen when I’m writing with it. Rather, it’s when you least think about it that the pen can be held most naturally.’
The list of things he did is too long to mention. Check out MUJI’s CD player. It’s a good introduction to his work.
To learn more about him, here is the link to his website and here is a link to a nice interview, on designboom webzine (a fantastic source of quality stuff about what’s going on in the design world today).
Some years ago, together with another smart fellow named Jasper Morrison, he did an exhibition (with a book) called ‘Super Normal. Sensation of the ordinary.’ It’s worth a look. Enjoy!
FUKASAWA, NAOTO
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Paul Les’ Guitar1952
Design and music are one and the same.
Without design (or, if you prefer, craftsmanship), you wouldn’t have any musical instrument to play.
Already in Ancient Greece and China, the musician needed an artisan to build his musical tools. This was true then and it is still now. Said differently, the musician, without his tool/instrument, doesn’t go very far.
We have Paul Les’ Gibson guitar, but it could have been a violin by Stradivari or Jimi Hendrix’s Fender Stratocaster. Contemporary (or traditional) design can be found in the most unexpected places. By the way, if you check on YouTube, you’ll see almost 300 000 videos related to Gibson’s guitar. Quite impressive, isn’t it?
gIBSON
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Catalan designer1964-
A designer who defines himself as an ex-designer
‘There are several products in which the shape is not important and the function is more important. I think the way to do that is working basically with ideas, so that the shapes and materials become anecdotal.’
‘I am only interested in food, as I consider it is a mass consumption product and I like the fact that it is a product that disappears - by ingestion - and is transformed into energy.’
His website is like watching fireworks. He has a particular fondness for any kind of food. You can learn more about him reading his page on the Design Museum website.
gUIxé, MARTí
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Joint project of BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum, curated by British Museum director Neil MacGregor
If you want to understand where we are today, you better understand what has happened in the last 10000 years (otherwise we won’t understand much).
If you have a lot of time, read the book.If you don’t have much time, browse the project’s website.If you don’t have time at all, read a concise version of the whole thing on Wikipedia.
Watch out. The quality of the information you get from these sources is radically different.
This concept applies to everything. It is up to you to understand when it is time to skim the surface, and when it is time to dive deep into the real meaning of things. Be careful not to drown!
Remember to come back to the surface for some air!
HISTORy OF THE WORLD IN 100 OBJECTS, A
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English painter1937-
‘Art has to move you and design does not, unless it’s a good design for a bus.’
‘I draw flowers every day and send them to my friends so they get fresh blooms every morning.’
We love the way he paints, the way he smokes, the way he sketches. His swimming pools are so cool, not to mention his sketchbooks of his travels.
Definitely, a superhero! If you want to learn how to sketch, go to his drawings from the 1960’s.
HOCKNEy, DAVID
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Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China
We like Hong Kong, because it represents fairly well contemporary design. A hub of energy full of contradictions, this land by the sea has created an ambiguous mix of cultures and has set up all kinds of short-circuits.
This hybridization didn’t happen in the last 10 years. It happened in the last 500 years, a very long process.
If you want to see a movie about Hong Kong, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is probably the best depiction on film of the city. Start your engines, your engines of eternal energy that is!
The movies was shot in 1982, and presents Los Angeles in the future. In reality, the movie showcases Hong Kong as it is now (an ever fleeting now).
HONg KONg
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Song by The Eagles1976
‘On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night’
Actually, it is not a hotel, it is a song. Very nice.
The way this hotel is described is very particular. If you like ghost stories, this song is for you.
HOTEL CALIFORNIA
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Writer, thinker1894-1963
Author of ‘Brave New World’
‘I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.’
‘Maybe this world is another planet’s hell.” A pretty good start, eh?’
In 1932, he wrote ‘Brave New World’, a dystopian novel in which he describes with an incredible accuracy today’s world. He understood our contemporary world some 100 years before anyone else. A cool chap. Let’s all bow down to Mr. Huxley.
Here, you will get all you need to know about him.
Here is the link to a ‘Brave New World.’”
HUxLEy, ALDOUS
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Design firmFounded in 1991 by David Kelley
It is probably the most important design firm in the world. Or, said differently, with more than 500 people working in 12 cities all over the world, the firm defines the ‘American way’ of designing at its best.
In fact, they would rather say they are an innovation consultancy”. Go see for yourself.
Here is the company’s website.
‘The Power of Design’, a Business Week article, explains the way the work.
Before moving on, go see Open Ideo, one of their latest projects. They described it as the following, ‘OpenIDEO is an open innovation platform. Join our global community to solve big challenges for social good.’
IDEO
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Social networkLaunched in 2010
It’s one of the most popular social networks around (we are writing in 2013 and we don’t know how long such a thing will last).
Basically, it’s about taking photos and creating connections with others via photos and comments (the description is very lame, we are totally aware). Anyway, if you have a smartphone, the simplest thing to do is to download the free application and start fiddling around.
Instagram offers an excuse to go around with your eyes always open, an essential quality for any designer.
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Shinto shrine
With its ‘tori’ (entrance gate) on water, it is located off an island near Hiroshima.
Water is a timeless ingredient for any cool design.
Listen and be inspired.
ITSUKUSHIMA SHRINE
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English designer, lead designer at Apple1967-
‘There’s no learning without trying lots of ideas and failing lots of times’
He is behind all the cool stuff made by Apple in the last fifteen years.
A conceptual disciple of the great Dieter Rams (conceptual in the sense that he never studied or worked with/for him), he started to work at Apple in 1992.
His first success came with the iMac. Since then, all major products (iPod, iPhone, iPad, iOS 7, etc.) are of his hand.
You can read more at Design Museum Archive. And here is a nice short text by Ive on Dieter Rams.
IVE, JONATHAN
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German-Swiss painter, artist,Teacher at Bauhaus school1879-1940
‘A drawing is simply a line going for a walk.’
If we have to mention one artist we like very much, Paul Klee is one of the first names that come to mind. His work has mesmerizing depth.
Check him out: his life, his journeys, his work.
KLEE, pAUL
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American physicist, origami artist and theorist1961-
He had the idea to overlap traditional origami techniques with mathematics and computer science.
It is a great demonstration of what happens when you generate short-circuits from apparently remote disciplines.
Here you can see Mr. Land at Ted explaining: ‘The math and magic of origami’.
Isn’t it fantastic?
LANg, ROBERT
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Philosopher of ancient China 6th century BC
‘A journey of a thousand miles begins witha single step’
One of the most important philosophers in the history of human kind.
If you read his books or his quotes, each of them is a full course on contemporary design (or, if you prefer, contemporary life). Very impressive.
He knew and he understood so much...
One book you should try to read is his ‘Tao Te Ching’” (also known as the Book of Tao). A lot of wisdom there. Quite short, but extremely deep and mind-boggling.
LAO, TzU (a.k.a. Laozi in Chinese)
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American photographer 1946-1989
He crossed our paths as a young gentleman in New York when he met the young Patti Smith.
Here the link to his foundation website.
MAppLETHORpE, ROBERT
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Famous Italian designer, still active in Milan 1932-
His design is smart, intelligent and nasty. We referred to his calendars various times here and there. Here is“‘Perpetual Calendar’ for you to see. There is a lot of stuff on him on YouTube. Here the tutorial on how to assemble a chair.
He looks as a very nice and gentle old grandpa. He is not. He is one of the meanest characters around (if you are intelligent and you understand things, quite often you get to be mean).
If you want to see an impressive show, get to see a lecture of him (or, even better, a panel discussion). Satisfaction is guaranteed.
Another project you should check out is Autoprogettazione. Mesmerizingly intelligent. It was 1974, but it could have been 2074.
MARI, ENzO
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What is a mask? You must know.
Why do we like masks so much to include them in our encyclopedia?
Masks are some of the earliest objects of design ever made by humans. They were made for protection, for ceremonial and performance purposes.
A mask allows design to become part of the ritual and storytelling act. This was true 10.000 years ago and still is today.
Here, for instance, you have the link to the oldest mask ever found.
And here you have Saul Steinberg’s masks (a nice way to start your personal trip into masks).
MASK
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English product and furniture designer1959-
Another of those contemporary design superstars.
In his case, fame and success have been well-earned: he is one of the most interesting characters around.
The list of the relevant works would be quite long. Best thing to do is to check the website of his company (Jasper Morrison LTD), or read the entry about him in the Design Museum archive. Also nice, the interview he gave to designboom webzine some years ago.
Amid his many projects, one thing we liked very much was this exhibition (and later a book) called: “‘Super Normal. Sensation of the ordinary.’ If you have time, check it out: it is another book worth a read. Lots of food for thought in those pages.
MORRISON, JASpER
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Italian designer, influential visual artist, inventor, architect 1907-1988
‘To make things easy is very difficult. To make things difficult is very easy. (we couldn’t agree more!).’
A designer is a planner with a sense for aesthetics.
Always busy borrowing from the fields of poetry, graphic design, industrial design, he creates using a child-like language.
He also learns by doing, a.k.a. kinesthetic learning, with incredible tactility.
Luckily for us, there is a very nice website where all of his work is properly archived.
Another useful link is the one leading to Corraini publishing house (Munari made hundreds of fantastic books throughout his life and they have them all).
MUNARI, BRUNO
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A museum2013-
It’s a new museum in New York City, located in Chinatown.
It is a small as a matchbox, and it is one of the nicest projects we have seen in 2013.
It has been defined as the Museum of Banality.If you can’t go to New York City to check it out, here the link to its website, and here a link to a nice article in the New York Times.
MUSEUM
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A museum1968
In architecture field, the 20th c. has some superheroes (think to Marvel Superheroes, it is pretty much the same). One of them was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe(think of the Thing out of the Fantastic Four). He was Mr. Boooummmbooooouummm, Mr. #lessismore (or, if you prefer, Mr. #godisindetail).
In any case, towards the end of his life, he made this museum in Berlin where you find the 20th c. squeezed into one stark room.
If contemporary architecture were a religion, this building may well have been its temple.
NEUE NATIONALgALERIE
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Japanese American artist, designer, landscape architect1904-1988
‘Appreciate the moment.’
He is the one who started to add electricity to the traditional Japanese paper lamps.Akari (‘bright’) was the name he gave to them.
The rest is design history. The website of the Noguchi Foundation is very nice. Check it out and you will find inspiration!
If you are in New York City, go see his workshop / studio (now a museum) in Queens. The sculpture garden is very lovely and special. He is very dear to us!
NOgUCHI, ISAMU
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Japanese, traditional art of paper folding 17th c.
Typical example of things we like: very easy to learn, very difficult to master.
Although a traditional art, in the last decades it has been combined with other amazing fields, putting together traditional wisdom and computer science.
In a different way, if you think that origami is something traditional, and you don’t understand why we cross origami in our journey through contemporary design, here is something for you: Robert Lang at Ted, explaining ‘The math and magic of origami.’ Isn’t it fantastic?
Origami Instructions is the website we appreciate the most on the subject (of course, feel free to find better ones...).
ORIgAMI
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Austrian-born American design theorist, designer, philosopher, educator, ecologist1923-1998
‘All men are designers’
‘All that we do, almost all the time, is design, for design is basic to all human activity.Design is composing an epic poem, executing a mural, painting a masterpiece, writing a concerto.’
‘Design is the conscious effort to impose meaningful order.’
An ecologist 50 years before anyone else would have the slightest hint about ecology, he promoted responsible design.
Here a short text written by him (in his book: “Design for the Real World). We can take this as one of Design 101 manifestos.
pApANEK, VICTOR
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From the Andes in South Americasome 5000 years ago
Imagine a necklace with thousand of knotted strings. Imagine using this tool to count, to keep track of time, and to do an impressive number of things.This is a quipu.
One of the most fascinating devices invented by humankind, the quipu was used by the Incas, local people from the Andes. Sometimes to find inspiration and interesting things, you have to take a time machine.
Contemporary does not mean made less than 10 years ago. It means interesting today.
Quipu necklaces are extremely contemporary, don’t you agree?
qUIpU (a.k.a. talking knots)
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American avant-garde artist, painter, photographer, inventor of the 20th c. 1890-1976
‘Inspiration then information; each validates the other.’
Not to be confused with Rain Man (quite a nice movie, indeed). Here we are talking about Man Ray.
So many things to link, refer to, and explain. To start, here is the link to the Man Ray Trust website.
To start, check these two works: Cadeau (1921) and L’Enigme d’Isidore Ducasse (1920).
Next search Google Image with“Man Ray Photography. Pretty cool stuff, isn’t it?
He also got to be on our special stamp series!
RAy, MAN
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A Japanese girl who developed leukemia because of the Hiroshima bombing 1943-1955
Upon the Japanese tradition, if you are to make one thousand origami cranes, you make a wish and the gods will help you.
Unfortunately she died before finishing, but then, her friends completed the task.
Ever since, if you go to her memorial, you will see thousands and thousands of cranes made by people from all over the world to honour her, and to remember the tragedy of the war, the A-bomb.
SASAKI, SADAKO
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American artist, singer, songwriter, poet, guru, visual artist and many more1946-
‘In art and dream may you proceed with abandon. In life may you proceed with balance and stealth.’
Apart from composing and singing beautiful stuff, she knows a lot about design.
For instance, here is a precious link where she explains a couple of things to the youth.
Here the link to hear ‘Horses’, her first album (1975). Punk-rock at its best!
She is so cool that she is featured on one of the postcards’ stamps.
SMITH, pATTI
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Jewish-Romanian born American cartoonist, illustrator and graphic designer1914-1999
Born from a Jewish family in Romania, he lived most of his life in New York. Even if you don’t know his name, you might have seen his well-know ‘View of the World from 9th Avenue.’ Here, a very nice link to start exploring his masks.
Steinberg pops up here and there in our journey.
STEINBERg, SAUL
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Book written by Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa2007
If you don’t like to read paper books,design is for you.
Although every year thousand and thousand books are published on this subject, most of them are trash.
Once a good book is printed, we must read it.
Rather than explaining ourselves, here we go with the description from its authors:
‘The designers have compiled 204 everyday objects in search of ‘super normal design’: alongside examples of anonymous design like the Swiss Rex vegetable peeler or a simple plastic bag, there are design classics like Marcel Breuer’s tubular steel side table, Dieter Ram’s 606 shelving system, or Joe Colombo’s Optic alarm clock of 1970... (keep reading at this link)’
SUpER NORMAL: SENSATIONS OF THE ORDINARy
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Objectearly versions from 1880s
If we were to represent what is design in one single object, this knife would be one of our first choice.
A tool, a multipurpose tool. Something you keep in your pocket to change the world (and its most minimal detail).
It has become a cult object. If you carry one in your pocket, you become part of a secret society (with all the positive and negative connotations).
Relevant fact: In the design world, Switzerland rules. It’s given. If something is Swiss, we pay respect andnod our heads.
SWISS ARMy KNIFE
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Diagram
The vertical part of the T are things you know well and deep, while the horizontal part of the T is the skill to go broad, dealing with other people carrying other kinds of knowledge.
The best person to ask about this is Tim Brown, the CEO of IDEO, one of the most important design companies in the world.
Read this interview on the subject. Lots of interesting stuff.
T-SHApED DIAgRAM
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Canadian singer-songwriter1945-
One of few who managed to maintain a successful career, a nice life and a sharp mind.
Here is the link to his website.
You can start to listen to his recent Dead Man theme song.
Next you can go to Harvest, an early album of his.
yOUNg, NEIL
