Sample Board Online (SBO) the cool eco friendly design tool always has the best designs from the suppliers of quality interior design products. The Spazio Company featured on SBO is the supplier of some brilliant Philippe Starck chairs.
I finally watched the TV show Design for Life. The program is a 6 part series like an X Factor/Biggest Loser hybrid. During the show twelve British designers/students vie to win six months at the Philippe Starck studio in Paris.
Most people know Starck the famous designer one of his most famous designs the Louis Ghost Chair. He reveals some of his views on design; there are too many useless and non sustainable products. He encourages would be designers to look at the story behind the product.
Design he believes should help society toward a better life.
I totally agree with him. For a number of years now I have been interested in public and community health and design. At some stage I would love to do some research on the topic. I had even thought of going a Masters using this topic as a research project. But at this stage time and money have put the idea on hold.
In the first episode Starck sent the budding product designers to find items in a supermarket. The articles selected have to fall into one of three categories functional, ecological or gender. Each person was asked to find two objects within one of these categories.
With the functional choice a product considered to be functional and one not very functional needs to be selected. In the ecological category an environmentally sustainable product should be found and a non sustainable product should also be found. In the gender category a male and female related product should be selected.
The two people who do not accomplish this task successfully will be sent home. One of the main things this exercise revealed to me was the tenancy we have to go into panic mode when we are out of our comfort zone. I must admit I have been guilty of doing just that in similar situations.
It has a lot to do with confidence and self talk. If we are confident and positive we are more likely to relax and let the creative juices flow. Philippe wanted the searchers to think outside the box. This is difficult to do when we feel panicked.
The young man who seemed to most impress Starck and his team did not panic he was confident and was positive in his words. I did find him a bit cocky and over confident. It will be interesting to see how he goes with other tasks.
Another thing revealed during this exercise was the amount of time spent, writing, researching and procrastinating. Designers do need time to think. With experience the ability to think and make decisions quickly will come. But it takes time to learn this skill. It’s really about left and right brain thinking and the ability to tap into the creative side. Well that’s what I think.
I will follow the next episodes with interest.
‘Get the habit of analysis - analysis
will in time enable synthesis
to become your habit of mind'
Frank Lloyd Wright
