Here are a few designs I fell in love with - and well , yes - may have spent more money than needed .
Almost any product from Alessi is a good example of operating on several levels . Originally a metal craft factory from Northern Italy , Alessi 5 keeps no designer on staff but commissions well-known architects and designers to turn their everyday kitchen accessories into whimsical , functional and attractive objects .
The Anna G . corkscrew , by Alessandro Mendini for Alessi , works smoothly and sits beautifully in my kitchen – and seemingly from her smile , getting on well with the bottles of wine with which she shares the shelf . It gets high points for both visceral and behavioral aspects .
The Philips / Alessi toaster , also by Mendini , has a streamline influence of the early 1920 ’ s and 30 ’ s , and what futurist doesn ’ t want to start their day with a modern ( retro ) feel ?
Another favorite of mine is the Louis Ghost chair designed by Philippe Stark 8 for Kartell . A humorous take on the ‘ emperor has no clothes ’ to the ‘ emperor has no throne .’ Here , the reflective and intellectual aspects of doing away with the stuffiness of bourgeois seating , with a modern transparent polycarbonate chair , are brought forward . I don ’ t know how comfortable these chairs are for long periods of sitting , but they do have one additional functional benefit – they add very little weight to small spaces .
Another characteristic of design that operates on many levels is the kind of conversation it strikes . People will talk about interesting designs . If you are creating new products or services this year , what can you incorporate into your design to make everyday experiences - like banking , using a software application , or doing laundry for that matter - something people will love and want to talk about ?
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People will talk about interesting designs .” references
1 . Jeffrey Campbell – because if you are anywhere near my age , you might not have heard of him : http :// www . jeffreycampbellshoes . com / collections /
2 . The Design of Everyday Things , Donald A . Norman , 2002
3 . Emotional Design , Donald A . Norman , 2004
4 . Emotional Design – Attractive things work better ( chapter one )
5 . Alessi – history / production - http :// www . alessi . com / en / company / production
6 . Anna G . Corkscrew : http :// www . alessi . com / en / 2 / 3354 / bar-and-wines / aam01-r-annag-corkscrew
7 . Alessi / Phillips Toaster : http :// vdm . io . tudelft . nl / fda / mendini / mendin95 . htm 8 . Phillipe Starck - http :// www . starck . com / en / 9 . Louis Ghost Chair : http :// www . dwr . com / product / louis-ghost-armchair . do ? sortby = ourPicks
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