Inspired

This weblog is intended to showcase industrial design as it appeals and inspires my own design. This is to serve as an alternative to ultra-modern, futuristic blogs that have a good place, but have perhaps lost a sense of the past that intrigues and inspires our contemporary outlooks. This isn't a lecture on history, it's just a re-acknowledgement of what came before. I'm acting as if I have something to say, this is true. I graduated from Notre Dame with a B.A. in industrial design and eagerly await the day I can contribute to the profession. While I tirelessly apply, I still need to learn. Join me! If there are people who want to start something industrial design centric please contact me.

Let's begin with a discussion of well-crafted furniture at the dawn of the industrial age: Art's & Crafts.

-Frank Lloyd Wright must have cherished this Morris guy-

Inspired by Art Nouveau, which in it's own right, is astounding craftsmanship and design. It is design that places a room in a cohesive world, like a treehouse places you in the trees and from all sides, you feel surrounded--so too Art Nouveau wraps around you and lives with the dweller. With all it's elegance and seemingly random attributes, it's hard to believe it is designed. It, more or less, simply happened. That is the sort of design we all should strive to create: what we create by our own volition.

-Feeling like a hobbit?-

More modern expressions of industrial design began with BrAun. The German company that set the stage for consumer product design. They enlisted a standard on men's razors that, back then would have been stunningly modern, and today--utterly classic.

-Mmm, what a delicious Bakelite casing-

These images and "revolutions" remain inspirations to my designs today. Maybe we can draw from these a raw internal philosophy: design has to be CRAFTED, NATURAL, SIMPLE, SENSE-PLEASING & ADAPTIVE.

What is crafted?
Old English: Strength & skill; in making things by hand.
The object should be built by humans-for humans, a given. But, craft can bring more to a design. Extra thought and precision put toward an object by a skilled and thoughtful designer will win me more than one produced in millions an hour by a wave of a hand. We have to know where craft meets industry. I think there are improvements to be made here, be it a signature by the final hand that touches it.

What is natural?
Middle English: Status born into; existing in or caused by nature; innate ability; inevitable.
So we can make synthetic fibers, does that mean we should? Yes, in some cases i.e. man-made diamonds (heck yeah I don't mind getting a "cheap" diamond if it was not retrieved from blood-diamond turmoil). Natural abides by a natural law, this object is inevitable, it's mark on the earth is small, but it's human impact is great (and good). I fully hope designers have a desire to build what is useful and resourceful. What is natural, lasts a good long time. Let's design to last.

What is simple?
Latin: Simplus; medicine from one plant; easy to understand and use.
This is straight-forward, but difficult. Oh, simplicity is a hard quality to design. Over thinking is part of the process, but stripping down ought to be too. We must hit all the bases before we can simplify. It's like a teacher understanding all aspects of her subject in order to retell it, simply.

What is sense-pleasing?
AKA- Beautiful. "Ew," is just not acceptable.

What is adaptive?
It's not really news to say that this Western world lives in uncontrollable excess. And so much excess makes me wish my clothes were also my bed sheets and my hamper was also my nightstand. Oh wait...it totally could be like that. We as designers and new-gen GREEN thinkers, have to come up with solutions like these. When the term "functional" or "practical" take over design, we get objects that do their part, but only one part. When we have one object that functions at one task, we have to have so many more to fill-in other tasks. Ex: Smart phones are really good at putting everything in one place. Can we do that as well for more items in our home. Consolidate.

My goal here, is to inspire industrial designers to want to change the status-quo. I envision a world where objects are fewer, last longer and mean more to individuals.

http://www.zjkimbe.com/en/cultured.php?gid=0&nid=64