Design History
- Two book comparison Task
- Oct 13, 2015
- 4 min read
Design History.
How would you learn about deign history? Books? Well even in books, there are many different ways in which they are written, to discuss the topic of design history. Books can be based on the craft. They could also be based around a company, culture, books can even be counter factual.
Our task this week was to do some research on design history and compare and contrast two books of design history written in two different styles. For this task I have chosen to read and evaluate “An Eames Primer” written by Eames Demetrios (based around the designer). The second book I have chosen is called “Design of the 20th Century” written by Charlotte and Peter Fiell (spaced throughout time).
An Eames Primer takes us through the life and inspiration of the iconic Charles and Ray Eames. This book is written by their grandson, Eames Demetrios, who is now the director of the Eames Office in Santa Monica, California, since 1993. This can be both a pro and con as this gives the Eamses an emotional stand point which is presented to the reader with insights to which that they would never have known through reading a book in dedication by a journalist.
“This book does not focus on third party endorsements. They are used from time to time, but the world has enough books and quotes and facts that acknowledge Charles and Ray’s stature. Instead, I think it is time to look a bit more deeply at the seamless connection in all their work and how and - to some degree- why it was achieved.”
Even though the Eamses are most famous for their work in chairs; they have produced work in all areas including film, photography, painting and architecture. This would be an obvious choice of structure that or in the order of which their creations were produced. However, this is not what Demetrious chose to do. In fact it is a rather complicated structure. The order of the chapters as you are reading it does not make much sense but as a whole it does. He starts off discussing some of the most recognised pieces produced by his grandparents e.g. The Newton Deck of cards. This chapter (2) introduces the work that they did with IBM and continues to mention this throughout the entirety of the book.
Chapter 4 is all about the Eames Chairs: A 30-Year Flash (Part 1). The story of the creation of Eames Chairs begins here but takes a break while Demetrios discourses the family history. First of Charles’ father and his up-bringing moving onto his first marriage and child. Following the beginnings of Ray Kaiser (aka future Mrs Eames). It talks again of her family and then of her career/study in painting and finer arts.
One of my favourite quotes from Ray Eames is in an interview where she is asked “How did it feel to give up your painting?” to which she relies “I never gave up painting, I just changed my palette”
The book moves on to talk about Charles trip to Mexico and his return to Cranbrook before circling back to the relationship between Charles and Ray and the beginnings of the epic design partnership. The book then goes back and finishes the 30-Year Flash. And continues, moving on to their work in educational resources and the developments of their company.
Design of the 20th Century is a book which I found much more interesting and legible. It, obviously, is a book which is focused on the iconic designs of the 20th Century. Because it is only iconic designs, there is no particular order, but it does focus on the design era surrounding the design. Fiell goes into more detail about some eras over others. Having said this, the reader is able to refer to the timeline at the back of the book in order to get a better understanding.
Some of my favourite designs from the book include Henry Beck’s London Underground Map, Des Pas, D’urbino & Lomazzi’s Blow Chair and the oh so iconic Memphis Carlton Bookcase designed by Ettore Sottsass.
The London tube map is an epic design that is taken for granted everyday by Londoners and by tourists. Henry Beck was a trained engineer draughtsman who mapped the London Underground system in 1993 using a diagrammatic approach. Around this time the London Transportation system was growing rapidly and the old maps were getting harder to read. The genius behind the tube map then and now is that Beck designed it with the representation of space rather than geographical distance. To make it easier to read, aside from the colour coding of the lines, Beck used an octagonal grid to ensure the spaces and angles between the stops were equal and consistent (at 90 or 45 degrees)
Model No 32/0289 Wall Clock, for Junghans, 1957 was designed by Max Bill. The simplistic modern design of the clock was Bauhaus influenced. Bill believed that “products based on mathematical laws had an aesthetic purity and thereby a greater universality of appeal.”
The Sixties. Pop culture. The era of the Joe Chair (aka the glove chair). De Pas, D’ Urbino and Lomazzi are three designers who designed the Blow Chair which was the first mass produced piece of inflatable furniture. The Joe Chair was actually named after the American baseball legend Joe DiMaggio and inspired by Claes Oldenburg.
Of the two books I prefer the Design of the 20th Century because I found the structure and the way it was written made it much easier to read. An Eames Primer was not only confusing in terms of the order the events were written in but also because Eames Demetrios tended to drift away from the design inspirations taken from their lives but delved in a more personal level. I must admit, it was nice to know how they met and How Charles proposed to Ray through a letter, but overall I was not interested in those aspects of their lives when trying to learn about Design History.
When trying to understand/ research how design has evolved throughout history I would recommend to read the Design Source Book by Penny Sparke (Keep Posted for a Review of this book)
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