Ettore Sottsass, Olivetti, Thrift Stores and Me

Those who've followed BarryBlog, especially through the three years of rather regular postings from Fall 2006 until Winter 2008, know that I have a rather informed design eye, combined with a consistent thrift store routine, which gives me a great deal of opportunities to find important design items at thrift store prices. As an example, one afternoon I came across a rare Olivetti Praxis 48 typewriter by famed designer, artist and architect Ettore Sottsass. Just to rub it in for my fellow thriftsters, it was $4.99. It just so happens that Sottsass is one of my long-time favorite designers, since I cut my design teeth in the late 80's, right about the time Sottsass founded The Memphis Design Movement. During this formative time in my young design career, Memphis was at full stride and had influenced the design thinking of Mark Johnson and Lauren Ciesa at JCI (JohnsonCiesa) – the design firm where I worked at in East Lansing Michigan. During this time, the bold, whimsical colors and shapes where a complete departure from the bland work being done in Corporate America, where the archetypal color combination was burgundy and grey. Lauren always sprung for great office lighting, modern decorative arts and high end furniture, and that passion for well design items made a lasting impression.

Though Sottsass’s iconic Valentine typewriter has eluded me, I do have a couple other fine examples of his work in the form of the Olivetti Lettera 36; Olivetti Lettera 32; and Olivetti/Underwood 319. The Praxis 48 is among my most prized items in my growing collection of important design. I keep hoping I will come across a piece of his incredible pottery, but that would surprise me considering they routinely go for $5,000 on up.

So this afternoon, savoring a newly sore throat and achy body, I came across this great Sottsass film by his last collaborator, Enesco Corporation. Ettore’s design fire was not extinguished until his death at the ripe old age of 90.

If you have any stories of Sottsass, or have any of his design work in your collection, do share it here.

I am not certain if these last two recent posts are a sign of things to come, but for some reason I am feeling the desire to contribute, and realize how I still have plenty to add to the conversation. We’ll see.

George Nelson Exhibition at Vitra Design Museum

Anyone who reads my blog with any frequency knows I am a Herman Miller and specifically George Nelson admirer. In fact as I watched this video, I felt a real connection with him for the way he thinks, and his passion for the integration of design into all areas of business. He was a lifetime educator in and out of the classroom. He was a leading writer on design. He was also a designer. And an architect. And to me the most value he added to the world at large was his abilities as a thought leader. He was so ahead of his time. I suspect part of what made him successful was Herman Miller's leadership and their desire to have someone of his caliper involved in the decisions of the company. The rest of his success I'm sure can be chalked up to vision, passion, intensity, and a spirit to innovate that I bet was really contagious. Hope you enjoy this video as much as I have.



( via whatwedoissecret )

Frog Design: Design Coversations, not Products

I'm a big Frog Design fan. I read about anything these thought leaders have to say. I don't always agree, but in this case I couldn't agree more. So how do you apply this idea to a culture entrenched in products? You know, products with three sides...Front, Back and Inside.

Frog's marketing chief Tim Leberecht says..."When you start with the idea of making a thing, you're artificially limiting what you can deliver. The reason that many of these exemplar's forward-thinking product design succeed is explicitly because they don't design products. Products are realized only as necessary artifacts to address customer needs. What Flickr, Kodak, Apple, and Target all realize is that the experience is the product we deliver, and the only thing that our customers care about."

Read the entire article here.

Product Designer Dieter Rams: A Flickr Pool

Unbelievable. A Dieter Rams Flickr group! If you're a regular reader of BarryBlog, you have heard of him when I pointed out similarities between his and Apple's Jonathan Ive's work in my Seperated At Birth post.

Weird thing is the "Less But Better" quote is one I've been using for the last year and a half. Okay, did I get this from him, or did I come up with it on my own? Who knows. Dieter's a household name, not I.

Harry Wysocki: Mid-Century Modern 3D Art

Last summer my wife and I vacationed in Golden Colorado to visit my brother-in-law. During the week he generously gave us full use of his car while he was at work, and we took it to downtown Denver one afternoon to visit Antique Row on Broadway street. We came across a place called Hooked on Glass, which for the most part specialized in, well, collector glass of course, but in addition to a bunch of Heywood Wakefield items and other great mid-century decorative art , we found these 3D pieces of art. The minute my wife and I saw it, we knew these were special.

Upon returning from Denver, I began my research. Each piece is hand signed "Wysocki" on the back. I found a ton of work by him, mostly Americana puzzles and impressionism painting. Some of his work is selling for big dollar on eBay, so I decided to call him. Harry as very kind to have spoken with me, and he was fascinating to talk to. A graduate of the former Art Center in Pasadena, he had a long career as an ad man. To make a long story short, he told me the whole story behind these 3D artworks. He told me they were ideas he had for art while he was working at an ad agency. He wanted to try and prototype these out, so he went to a machine shop and had a mold made first out of wood, then he took that to a plastic extrusion facility and had prototypes made. He then took these to a company who specialized in making art for office furniture stores, which he tells me was a rather common place for art to be sold then, at which point he and this company produced rather short runs of the cat, owl, plus a third which I can no longer remember. Suffice it to say these are super rare, and from my conversation with him believe these may be worth several thousands dollars each. Harry is alive today and maintains a studio.

This is some information about Harry from his website.

A dichotomy exists in Wysocki's present works as expressed by his ability to paint impressionism along with his fascination for nostalgia. His many collectors appreciate his diversity. He describes his Americana paintings as nostalgia: a time before computers, hi-tech movies and fax machines, when traveling by horse and buggy were the mode of transportation. He finds a lighthouse, an old hotel, a railroad station, and then the historical research begins. He delves into archives, haunts old book stores, or talks to old-timers who remember "the way things were", and the painting begins to evolve. The finished portrayal is history, nostalgia, and fantasy.

It is really fun for my wife and I to spend time together looking for collectibles and treasures. And for me, I have even more fun doing research and at times speaking with the artists themselves to hear the story behind the treasures. The truth is, neither of us have the desire or resources to spend very often, but admittedly we do have a knack for finding deals. Big time deals. And it's something we enjoy together. These two pieces were the most we ever spent on art. $240. But if my research is correct, this could represent a $4,000-6,000 profit. Not bad for an afternoon spent doing what we really enjoy. Next time you see a garage sale, flea market or collectible market, stop in and see what you might find.

Steelcase. The Genius of Warren Snodgrass.

Learning and discover new things is thrilling. Recently I had an experience that although cool and fortunate at first, only got better. It went like this.

I recently came across a reasonably priced pair of Steelcase guest chairs designed by Warren Snodgrass. I have a knack for discovering hidden gems, and these immediately caught my attention. Simply put, they are a work of art. The blue fabric in the pictures I've posted didn't come out as well as I hoped, as the true color is a brilliant and vibrant blue, in a tightly woven fabric that appears brand new. In researching these beauties, I initially found them featured in a November 2007 Steelcase publication entitled "Wood Seating Specification Guide PDF" (page 73). In this publication I discovered the model was 474419W and part of the Encore Series of guest seating, with a U.S. base price of $962. Awesome! I also learned that they were designed in 1980, and found the tag underneath the chair which said these particular chairs were made in 1994.

With further research I discovered more about Warren Snodgrass. Having lived and worked as an art director in Grand Rapids Michigan for several years, I had significant exposure to the contract furnishing marketplace and I had heard of Warren. Not only has he designed products for Steelcase, but also for Haworth, Thonet and Stow Davis. As I researched further, I discovered Warren's personal webpage. As it turns out, he is spending his time with his lifelong passion for painting and sculpture in his art studio located in Ross CA. His studio looks incredible. Sounds idyllic. So with a desire to know more, I emailed Warren directly and asked him if he would be willing to shed any further light on these remarkable chairs. He was kind enough to respond. This is what he said in an email I received this evening:

Dear Barry– "We designed the chairs for Steelcase in 1980. It is nice to know they are still appreciated after 28 years. Our goal was to design a chair with clean classic lines that would stand the test of time. The frame was designed to be configured from a single piece of elliptical oval steel tubing which made it economical to produce without sacrificing esthetics. The chairs surround the conference table in my study and the poker table in my den. In addition they are part of the permanent collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art." – Yours truly, Warren Snodgrass

Thank you Warren for your transparency, and your willingness to share this first hand experience in creating these wonderful chairs. I especially appreciate your sensitivity to the balance between beauty and economy.

You know how when you or someone you know gets a new car, you start to notice similar ones from that point on? I'm sure this is what will happen to me as I begin to recognize and appreciate the incredible design of Warren Snodgrass. I am a big fan.

Why Not? Apple iPhone Take Note

This idea is smart. It is also funny how he edited the video to have some awkward expressions and delayed comments. The guy's voice reminds me of Demetri Martin.

iPhone Copy and Paste from lonelysandwich and Vimeo.

Product Design Excellence: AstroStudios

California ID group AstroStudios does some excellent work. They design great looking products and exhibit stellar beyond-the-box thinking. I especially like their work on Herman Miller's INTERSECT Work Island– Astro's first HM project. Hat's off to AstroStudios.

( via IDMagazine Digital Edition )

Motorola RAZR: Bad Design is Bad Business

According to a recent article by Business Week's Bruce Nussbaum regarding Motorola's RAZR phone, bad design is bad business. According to Nussbaum this is an indicator of the understanding or misunderstanding of design by senior managers of companies. Design is more than style, more than a fashion statement. If the product's promise can't deliver, your product/service will ultimately annoy the heck out of your consumers. And you will pay. Read the rest of the article here.

( via NussbaumOnDesign blog )

Product Innovation: Switchring

Introducing Switchring, a patented interchangeable ring with nearly endless design options and colors. A double-sphered base and wedge-shaped insert comes in three sizes with 100's of combinations to choose from. New designs released each month. Really cool idea. I LOVE the idea in product design to design a base product that has a consumable business attached. This ring is a great idea. It's also at a nice price-point. Also available as wholesale.

( via miosite )

BumpTop Prototype: Pushing the Desktop

Bumptop, an idea by Canadian programmer Anand Agarawala is a cool look beyond the current GUI desktop interface. The company is actively pursuing the development of a prototype into a complete desktop replacement that can be installed on any machine. We'll see. But for now, check it out in action.

( via NYT's Pogue's Posts )

Self Publishing Favorites

Self-Publishing is something that interests me. Over the last year or so a couple websites have piqued this interest, and I've slowly begun experimenting with a few. Some are significantly better than others, but they're all fun to experiment with in different ways. I generally consider the site a "best" if the account side of the user experience is easy to use, and if the commission is reasonable, among other things.

A recent conversation with a colleague prompted me to share these with the BarryBlog community. Those I'm sharing are just the tip of the iceberg—there are hundreds more out there. I would really enjoy hearing about other ones that you know about, with any background you have working with them. Leave a comment on this post and let me know about them.

So, here they are: Etsy, prickie, threadless, LuLu, ZAZZLE, moo, cafepress.

Design Firm: Ding3000

Ding3000 is a great design team, with an emphasis on product design. I have a ton of Billy Bookcases from IKEA, and they've designed a couple shelf accessories especially for the Billy line that are real fun. Peruse through their site and you'll find furniture, lighting, accessories and the like. Their work is really excellent.

( Thanks to my friend Nathan Stock for the heads up)