Angry Dictator » Industrial Design

The Best a Man Can Get

PJ Doland — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 13:45:35 +0000

The innovators over at Gillette are bringing to market a razor with six blades to follow up their successful Mach3 product line.

Satire is officially dead.

Bastardization Is the Most Sincere Form of Flattery

PJ Doland — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 19:33:10 +0000

Do you hear that sound? It’s Mies van der Rohe spinning in his grave after seeing this clunky Barcelona chair ripoff from Thomas Moser Cabinetmakers.

Moser produces some wonderful pieces–including the Gloucester Rocker, which is already a classic.

But the whole Vita Collection is a travesty of furniture design. I hope they somehow manage to reign in David Moser’s “forward vision” before we end up seeing more of this crap.

More Fiber

PJ Doland — Fri, 13 Aug 2004 02:46:59 +0000

We picked up an Eames fiberglass-shell chair with an Eiffel-tower base today. Modernica is making them from the original molds used in the fifties.

The one we got is bright green, but you get the basic idea from this photo.

Where Did I Put the Rubber Hose?

PJ Doland — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 14:35:24 +0000

I bought Erin another unmatched chair for her birthday last week. It’s for our dining room table, which is being designed by a sculptor who is a friend of ours.

You’ll probably recognize this classic design from your favorite police drama. It’s a mainstay of interrogation room chic.

Plastic Dining Chairs

PJ Doland — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 01:33:16 +0000

The little lady and I are in the process of selecting random unmatched chairs to use at a dining room table. We’re buying a few at a time and our intent is to stick primarily to mid-century and current contemporary design. Yesterday we ordered the following, which should be delivered in the next few weeks.

We’re also considering the following possibilities:

Any other ideas?

Gehry’s ‘Mulligan’

PJ Doland — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 23:42:17 +0000

I’m generally a big fan of Frank Gehry’s work, but I’m with Mike Ulmer of the Toronto Sun when it comes to Gehry’s new rendition of the World Cup of Hockey championship trophy:

When Gehry pulled the covering off the trophy, it was like someone had tugged the burlap bag off the Elephant Man.

Don’t Pop Your Cork Over It

PJ Doland — Thu, 15 Jan 2004 19:05:53 +0000

Design Within Reach recently sponsored a contest where they challenged designers to “fabricate a chair using champagne cork materials from no more than two champagne bottles.”

Here are the finalists.

Wouldn’t You Really Rather Have a Buick?

PJ Doland — Wed, 08 Oct 2003 04:19:10 +0000

Is anyone else a little creeped out by the new Buick advertising campaign?

“Hi, I’m Harley Earl and I’ve risen from the dead to build you a great car.”

Form With Less Function

PJ Doland — Wed, 03 Sep 2003 05:35:22 +0000

I’m all for “innovative” industrial design, provided said “innovation” actually results in some real advantage over more conventional design.

Virginia Postrel linked to an I.D. Magazine review of a “cool” new tissue dispenser composed entirely of a stainless steel ring. The ring rests atop a stack of tissues. As tissues are lifted, the tissue on top is partially raised.

This design offers no functional benefit over more conventional alternatives. In fact, there are at least four functional drawbacks to the design that come immediately to mind:

Even the designer concedes that the ring results in “diminished portability.”
The bottom tissue is always contaminated through contact with the surface upon which it rests. As a result, hygiene dictates that the design always wastes a tissue.
If you do lift the final tissue through the ring you risk scratching the surface below with the stainless steel ring.
What will direct contact with popular lotion-infused tissues do to the finish of a fine piece of furniture?

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote that “Perfection (in design) is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when there is nothing more to take away.”

The tissue holder is a clear case of taking away a bit too much.