This is another designer I will be closely looking at after Frank Lloyd Wright and George Nelson. I will be looking at a French designer also known as Philippe Starck.
Short Biography:
Philippe Starck was born on the 18th of January
1949 in France. His father which was an aircraft engineer, encouraged him to
study and open his own company. His father considered invention as a ‘duty’
which influenced Starck to do the same.
He studied at Ecole
Nissim de Camondo in Paris and eventually opened up his own company with
inflatable objects. Starck was not restricted to one specific aspect of the
design field as he was involved in a range of design from interior to boats and
household objects.
He founded his first industrial company that was called
Starck Product but then renamed Ubik. He collaborated with known design
manufacturers in Italy such as Alessi and Kartell.
In 1983, he started becoming more known to the public as he
worked on a project that included the refurbishing of the private apartments in
the Elysee palace. Starck has more than 10,000 designs in which he has put his
input in.
Starck expanded to furniture design, decoration,
architecture, street furniture, kitchen, floor, lighting, clothing,
accessories, graphic design, air, space etc. He was very involved with various
aspects of the design industry.
Starck is known for the organic and fluid lines in his
interior designs. He also worked as an architect even though the public knew
him for his interior designs. His goal was to develop alternative materials to
create a more ecological way. He even released a chair called ‘Zartan’ which
was made out of natural materials and a chair called ‘Broom’ which was an
anti-waste chair made of materials collected in lumber and plastic plant
factories. He also had collections with vegan fabric.
These are some of the art pieces he created:
These are probably my favourite designs Starck has made. I really like the transparency in the designs and I like how he incorporates coloured transparent glass to form this outcome. I think that transparency is something that will attract a younger audience as it is modern and in fashion. Transparency can also be related to purple as purple symbolises trust. I can use transparent elements in my design to act as a link with purple.
I like how he uses the transparent layer as an outline to the coloured layer as it looks more intricate and complex. I will definitely look into transparency and how I can implement it in my own designs as I feel like the outcome would look very modern. I can envision the purple shade followed by a transparent outline and I really like it.
In this design what specifically stands out to me is the pattern created. The chairs shape is fairly basic and seen in various designs, however, the pattern makes it unique. Additionally, the pink colour on the inner side of the chair matches well with the design and makes it stand out. The pattern has a lot of detail which makes it look busy. I would expect to see this chair in a high-end fashion store as the main purpose of this chair is to serve as a statement. To elaborate on this, as the chair is so busy and uses such bold patterns, the surroundings of the chair would most likely be simple in order to make the chair the focal point.
I could perhaps consider creating a pattern on the chair. However, I have to always keep in mind that these designs are for university students. Creating an intricate pattern like this might not be beneficial in the end as people might dislike it. This can limit my potential buyers. Additionally, statement chairs like this one will not match with all room aesthetics. Perhaps I could consider a pattern more simple and subtle.
Similarly to the first design, transparency in furniture excites me. When the light hits the chair, the reflections created will look magical. Especially with the tinted colour surface, the reflections would also have colours which would create a nice atmosphere. I also like the shape of the chair as it looks spacious and comfortable. I like the head guards at the top of the chair as they provide the user with a surface to place their heads and sleep. Additionally, I like that this chair does not have any individual arm rests, however, the naturally curved shape of it creates some. I like how solid the bottom part of the chair is as it does not have individual legs. Individual legs are seen in most chair designs and I want to get away from that basic design, so this might be a good approach.
Transparency is definitely a feature I would like to include in my designs and I want to explore it a lot in my development stage.
This is a similar design to what I was considering for the shelves in my cupboard. I was thinking of creating individual cubes to act as shelves.
Looking at this specific design, I like how the legs look with these symmetric shapes as they look like cartoon characters to me. I could envision some faces on these designs to act as characters. The one that attracts me the most is the individual cube. Looking at this individual cube made me understand that creating cubes might be a good idea as they look very aesthetically pleasing. The other designs look very bulky to me which makes the individual cube stand out more. However, I mentioned this in my initial idea, users will have the opportunity to rearrange the cubes and create own unique shapes. I find this idea interesting and I do think that I can develop it and make it look good.
Looking at this design made me realise that I did not explore the possibility of including a side table that could also act as a arm rest. Students tend to drink coffee or tea a lot during the day to keep them alert for their classes. I could potentially add a side table with an option to store your drink. These side tables are very discrete as they are out of transparent material. I like the thought of a side table that can act as an arm rest. I can explore this in my development ideas.
I also like the nice harmonic contrast created between the white and the yellow. These are summer colours that can make the space they exist in look bigger. It will make the room brighter and this will be more inviting to the user.
When I mentioned that I want to explore more shapes in my development stage, this is what I meant. I want to explore 'odd' shapes that would not be usually seen in designs. However, the way this chair is made makes me think of red blood cells.
Additionally, the minimal back support that it provides is curved which may be harmful for the posture of the user.
However, I do think that this is a unique design that stands out from the rest. Once again, I would envision this in a modern house with complex shapes inside to match with the aesthetics. I would not envision this in a student accommodation.
The square or rectangular design might be more suitable in a student accommodation, however, I will look at this in detail during my development stage.
This is a design for chairs that I definitely did not even think about when I started drawing my initial ideas. I like how naturally curved this is which makes it very pleasing and inviting. I like the egg-shaped design. However, I feel like this would be more suitable for watching movies and relaxing rather than studying. I want to create something that can also be used for studying and I feel like this design would not increase productivity. Additionally, the small apartments might seem smaller with such designs as they are very bulky.
I will definitely look at this shape in my development stage and see how it goes.
Overall, this research was very beneficial as I noted down multiple features that I want to include in my own design.
At the end of this post you say you 'noted down multiple features' for your designs - what were they? Starck's designs are extraordinary - particularly his use of plastic, both tinted and clear. If you used tinted plastic, there would be an advantage in being able to see what was inside, but at the same time could make your product look cluttered.
ReplyDeleteIn these three research posts, each designer you featured has used different materials - you aren't talking about the materials as much as you could - have you considered which you are going to use for your designs?