So are product designers so transparent? I had a strange experience the other week, I visited a persons house whom I did not know. Looking around, I could tell the person was in the design field from the contemporary super thought out schemes that only a designer would labor at. Then I started picking up a theme. Brushed aluminum, clean lines, concrete floor, sleek kitchen, contemporary light fixtures, simple forms. Further visual analysis.... a Juicy Salif (designed by Phillipe Stark) on a visible shelf in the kitchen..... mark rothko in the lounge.... bingo a product designer!!
So this prompted me to look up Stark again. When I was studying ungrad design Stark was one of my role models , just like anyone else I suppose, at the time it was the Juicy Salif (lemon squeezer), toothbrush and the Hot Bertta (kettle).
Then a friend of mine reminded me of the BBC series Design for Life, where Phillipe Stark hosts the show, entertaining design students on a mission to find the best design talent in Britain by way of a in a reality elimination game of design tasks.
I watched episode one, watching three right now. Pretty entertaining.
Philippe's thoughts on ecology with the role of design are refreshing and it's not the same thoughts from 10yrs ago, it's a matured Stark that doesn't want to fill the world with crap. Even though a few years back he managed to fill Target with injection molded useless landfill but thankfully it seems his ideas have changed.
Check out his series on Vimeo
One of the things that impressed me was I liked the fact that when asked about Design philosophy, Stark's response was no philosophy. "I don't have a design philosophy, I think it's a little too small, I try to have a philosophy for life" A designer can change the world through design.
His philosophy really comes out as Democratic design, affordable sustainable products that can benefit everyone.
Right on Philippe
