Bauhaus

Ah designers in hats, takes you back doesn't it. These lads and lady are masters and students of the highly influential Bauhaus school of design in Weimar in Germany. The school operated between the first and second world wars but was closed by the Nazis. You can see the influence they have had as a group on typography and furniture design if you have a look at their original designs below.

Take a seat.

I love this suite by Erich Dieckmann who trained at the very famous Bauhaus design school in Weimar.
Image via ffffound.

The Thonet chair from 1859, you know this one like you know the word cafe.

This is one of the most successful industrial designs of all time. Michael Thonet developed the process of bending timber using water and steam. That's how you can make a back and legs from a single piece of timber.

The Finn Juhl chair NV-45 above proves that some very cool things were happening in Copenhagen in 1945 when this was made.


 Check out designer Ron Arad's work with chairs.

Stage and set design from Pink Floyd to Ninja Tune

Here's a little thinking on stage and set design from a right up to date Amon Tobin stage set design back to Architects and designers Fisher Park who designed concert rigs for The Rolloing Stones and Pink Floyd.

Amon Tobin 'ISAM' Live (Extended Trailer) from Ninja Tune on Vimeo.

Ninja Tune. (2011). Amon Tobin 'ISAM' Live (Extended Trailer). [Online Video]. 13 September. Available from: http://vimeo.com/24502224. [Accessed: 27 June 2012].


Above a good look at the design process and some fantastic projected lighting effects.

Unknown, (1968), stage [ONLINE]. Available at: http://maisdjlileikaite.blogspot.ie/2010/12/inspiration-archigram-instant-city.html [Accessed 27 June 12]. 


The walking city above was an idea proposed by architect Ron Heron. The idea for the walking city concerns the mobility of large structures. In the 60's it was all theory and today it still is except in the world of big concert roadshow where armies of articulated trucks shift huge stage sets across continents.


From another angle modern concert set design has its historical routes in the nightime Son e Lumier shows from 1700's France where as the name suggests elaborate lighting shows (elaborate for the time) were combined with live music.


Below are the concept drawings and finished product for The Wall tour.

The Architects' journal: Volume 196, Issues 14-21 - 1992, (1992), 1980-1 - Mark Fisher - Teacher - "The Wall" [ONLINE]. Available at: http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=6921 [Accessed 27 June 12].

Film Title Design

Film title Design follows on well from Typography, Layout and Film Set Design.
Film title designers can, and do play an essential part in setting the tone of a film and two of the masters in this area are Thomas Cobbs and Saul Bass. Bass is perhaps best known for his work in the 1950's and 1960's on the films of Alfred Hitchcock. He used a cut out animation technique for the opening sequence of Anatomy of a Murder.




Have a look at the typograpy here in Thomas Cobbs opening sequence for the film Se7en. The script design works as a strong contributing element to what is a very sinister opening sequence. This piece sparked a new interest in film title sequence design. Both pieces, here and below are prime examples of film titles that could stand as films in their own right.




Saul Bass

 For a great film title resource have a look at Art of the Title

What makes good design?

What makes for good design? Well one man, the German industrial designer Dieter Rams, has I suspect given this question more thought than most of us. Ramms worked as a designer for the German domestic appliance manufacturer Braun for over 50 years and his work became known for his simplicity. Only the essentials are kept. The record player (remember those) below became known as "sleeping beauty" because when the lid was down it looked a little like a glass coffin. His ten properties of good design are listed below. They have become known as the "Ten Commandments" and could be applied to web design as well as to architecture. They are great observations, my favourite is "Good Design Makes A Product Understandable", it a thing, a building a web page, whatever should communicate something of its simplicity to its user.

Good Design Is Innovative : The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.

Good Design Makes a Product Useful : A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product while disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.

Good Design Is Aesthetic : The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products are used every day and have an effect on people and their well-being. Only well-executed objects can be beautiful.

Good Design Makes A Product Understandable : It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product clearly express its function by making use of the user’s intuition. At best, it is self-explanatory.

Good Design Is Unobtrusive : Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.

Good Design Is Honest : It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept

Good Design Is Long-lasting : It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today’s throwaway society.

Good Design Is Thorough Down to the Last Detail : Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.

Good Design Is Environmentally Friendly : Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimises physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.

Good Design Is as Little Design as Possible : Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity.


Have a listen to Rams discuss his work in the video below from the BBC,

GrabMore. (2010). Dieter Rams on The Culture Show. [Online Video]. 09 June 2010. Available from:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLMbDJ_nNfU. [Accessed: 25 May 2012].

Neon De sign of the times

These posts on design may well be posted in a riff format, as in what ever catches my eye as being something of quality design is my starting point for each post. Something worth sharing.

Signs are everywhere and a lot of the time we don't notice them, when was the last time really you looked up on the street? Although street signage clutter can be a plague leading to information overload. Where I live in Dublin traffic signs have been erected where they obscure traffic lights (bad design decision) but sometimes isolated sign design can work so well.

This fantastic piece (above) is via Eight Hour Day. To me  this sign as a piece of design it is very evocative. It says America, it says 1950's and it says showbiz. Granted the evocative feelings are there because this piece of design looks as if it has history. The 50's was probably when the use of neon hit its peak as the prime element in the design of illuminated signs and there are not many signs like these manufactured these days. As a result they are expensive to make and you would be hard pressed to let any town planners let you erect anything so dramatic these days in most cities. I think there is an element of craft in good neon work; by that I mean people manipulating materials directly with heir hands.

I should have a picture of this sign when it is fully illuminated but you know it looks as good in daylight, Sky blue against Sky blue

Are there any areas of design that you think I should cover?

Let me know in the comment box below.

Image via eighthourday.com