Hartmut Esslinger (b.1945) a German Industrial Designer

Sony Walkman Hartmut Esslinger

Hartmut Esslinger (b.1945) is a German industrial Designer.

Education

He studied electrical engineering at the University of Stuttgart and Industrial Design at the College of Design.

Biography

In 1969, Esslinger established frogdesign in Altensteig, an industrial design consultancy whose first client was Wega Radio; became involved in the Japanese market when Wega was bought by Sony. Wega Radio’s 1978 Concept 51K hi-fi was notable for its sleekness. In 1982, frogdesign opened a branch in California, with clients including Apple Computer, NeXT, Olympus, AT&T, AEG, and other Silicon Valley firms. He subsequently, established an office in Taiwan.

Clients in Europe included Konig und Neurath (office furniture), Villeroy et Boch, Rosenthal, and Erco. Esslinger’s design work incorporated Functionalist forms with colorful Post- Modern influences, and was a mixture of the approaches of Dieter Rams and Ettore Sottsass, with an emphasis on the former. The studio established its own design award, the ‘frogjunior.’

Sources

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL

More German Designers

  • Anchor Blocks – 19th Century construction toy

    Anchor Blocks – 19th Century construction toy

    Anchor Blocks were a German system of building blocks that were popular as a children’s construction toy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, notably in Europe. Dr F. Ad. Richter in Rudolstadt, Germany, began developing and manufacturing the system in 1879. The concept was based on the FROEBEL block system, which significantly impacted…

  • Peter Behrens (1868 – 1940) – German architect/designer

    Peter Behrens (1868 – 1940) – German architect/designer

    Peter Brehens (1868 – 1940) was a German graphic artist, architect and designer. He studied at the Karlsruhe and in Düsseldorf and Munich.Read More →

  • Peter Behrens (1868 – 1940) – German architect and designer

    Peter Behrens (1868 – 1940) – German architect and designer

    Peter Brehens (1868 – 1940) was a German graphic artist, architect and designer. He studied at the Karlsruhe and in Düsseldorf and Munich.Read More →

  • AEG – German Lighting Firm – Est. 1883

    AEG – German Lighting Firm – Est. 1883

    Engineer Emil Rathenau founded AEG as the Deutsche Edison Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektrizitäts (DEG) two years after seeing Edison’s lighting at the Paris Exposition Internationale de l’Electricité in 1881.Read More →

  • Ingo Maurer (1932 – 2019) – industrial designer – Poet of Light

    Ingo Maurer (1932 – 2019) – industrial designer – Poet of Light

    Ingo Maurer was a German industrial designer who specialised in the development of lighting fixtures and installations. “Poet of Light” was his nickname.Read More →

  • Margaret Leischner (1908 – 1970) German textile designer

    Margaret Leischner (1908 – 1970) German textile designer

    She began teaching weaving at the Bauhaus in 1931. She worked at the Dresdener Deutsche Werkstatten in 1931, designing woven textiles, and was the head of the weaving department at the Berlin Modeschule from 1932 to 1936. She worked as the head designer for Gateshead, a British fabric manufacturer.Read More →

  • Friedrich Adler (1878 – 1942), German sculptor and designer

    Friedrich Adler (1878 – 1942), German sculptor and designer

    First designer to work with bakelite Friedrich Adler (1878 – 1942) was a German designer, educator, and artist. He was well-known for his work in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco genres of metals design. He was also the first to employ bakelite in his designs. He created his designs with a wide range of…

  • Million Mark Note – Design Classic

    Million Mark Note – Design Classic

    The Bauhaus was the most well-known design school of the 20th century. Herbert Bayer created notes in denominations of one million, two million, and two billion. The designs exemplify the ideology of hardline Modern Movement graphics.Read More →

  • Herbert Bayer (1900 – 1985) – Universal Typeface – Bauhaus Master

    Herbert Bayer (1900 – 1985) – Universal Typeface – Bauhaus Master

    The universal typeface, 1925, was a geometric alphabet based on bar and circle and was designed by Herbert Bayer. READ MORERead More →

  • Theodor Bogler (1897-1968) German ceramicist and designer

    Theodor Bogler (1897-1968) German ceramicist and designer

    Theodor Bogler (1897 – 1968) studied at the Bauhaus and the University of Munich. He designed a 1923 mocha machine in ceramics for serial production. His earthenware kitchen containers by Velten-Vordamm ceramic factory were shown at the Bauhaus Exhibition.Read More →

  • Arzberg Porcelain – prestigious German design

    Arzberg Porcelain – prestigious German design

    Arzberg is regarded as one of the most prestigious porcelain design houses in the world. The definition of good design. Arzberg combines aesthetics, functionality, and durability.Read More →

  • Frei Otto (1925 – 2015) German Architect designs that soared

    Frei Otto (1925 – 2015) German Architect designs that soared

    The late German architect Frei Otto’s work can be seen all over the world in pavilions and sports stadiums. His impact on the Olympics is huge, from the design of Rio’s Maracana stadium to the tent-like roofs he made for Munich in 1972. He influenced a generation of British architects, including Norman Foster, Michael Hopkins…

  • Hermann Junger (b.1928) Bauhaus influenced jewellery

    Hermann Junger (b.1928) Bauhaus influenced jewellery

    Hermann Junger was one of the best goldsmiths in Germany. His creative jewellery had a big impact not only in Germany, but also all over Europe and the U.S. He studied at the Staatliche Zeichenakademie, Hanau.Read More →

  • Christian Dell (1893 – 1974) German metalworker designer

    Christian Dell (1893 – 1974) German metalworker designer

    Christian Dell (1893–1974) was a German silversmith. Dell was born in Hesse’s Offenbach am Main. In the 1920s, Dell ran the metal workshop at the Bauhaus University, and his designs are, in line with the Bauhaus style, characterised by modern shapes and functionality. After his successful stint as an industrial designer, Dell returned in the…

  • Erna Zarges-Dürr (1907-2002) – German silversmith

    Erna Zarges-Dürr (1907-2002) – German silversmith

    Erna Zarges-Dürr (1907-2002) was a German silversmith. She was professionally active Pforzheim, Leipzig, Berlin. and Stuttgart. Between 1924-27, she trained at Bruckmann und Söhne, Heilbronn, as the first women in the silversmiths’ department. From 1927, she studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule, Pforzheim, under Theodor Wende and others. Read More →

  • Hermann Zapf (1918 – 2015) German Typographer and Calligrapher

    Hermann Zapf (1918 – 2015) German Typographer and Calligrapher

    Hermann Zapf (1918 – 2015) was born and educated in Nuremberg. Gudrun Zapf-von Hesse, a calligrapher and typeface designer, was his wife. Palatino, Optima, and Zapfino are some of the typefaces he developed.Read More →

  • Trude Petri-Rabin (1906 – 1989) German Ceramicist

    Trude Petri-Rabin (1906 – 1989) German Ceramicist

    From 1927 she studied porcelain at Verinigdten Staatsshulen für freie und angewandte Kunst (United State Schools for Free and Applied Arts), Berlin, and Staatliche Porzellan-Manufakture, Berlin (Royal Porcelain Factory, Berlin).Read More →

  • Otto Zapf German product and furniture designer

    Otto Zapf German product and furniture designer

    Otto Zapf has created an essential system of furniture designs. Including the Zapf Office System by Knoll and 7500 workstations by Pacific Telesis. He and Dieter Rams designed their first furniture in the 1960s and 1970s.Read More →

  • Franz Rickert (1904-1991) German Silversmith

    Franz Rickert (1904-1991) German Silversmith

    He worked as a silversmith from 1926 and became one of the most important silversmiths in Munich and an outstanding enameler. 1935-72, he taught at the Staatsschule (later Akademie) fur angewandte Kunst in Munich. In the 1950s and 1960s, he designed numerous religious objects.Read More →

  • Ferdinand Kramer (1898 – 1985) German Architect and Designer

    Ferdinand Kramer (1898 – 1985) German Architect and Designer

    Kramer’s father was the owner of the most well-known of Frankfurt hat shops. In 1916, immediately after school, Kramer was drawn into military service and remained a soldier through the end of the First World War. The following year he trained at the Bauhaus for a few months before quitting, disillusioned with the technical level…

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.