Gruppo 9999 Italian Architecture and Design Group
2022-10-04
Gruppo 9999 was a group of radical architects founded in Florence in 1968 by Giorgio Birelli, Carlo Caldini, Fabrizio Fiumi and Paolo Galli. Read More →
Jules Cheret (1836 – 1932) – The Father of Modern Poster Art
2022-10-03
Jules Cheret was a French painter who became a master of Belle Epoque poster art. Over the course of his long life, Cheret produced more than 1000 posters. His extravagantly colourful designs were used to regularly promote upcoming theatre productions. He is regarded as the father of the modern poster.Read More →
Mission Furniture – Design Dictionary Term
2022-10-03
The term mission furniture was first popularized by Joseph P. McHugh of New York, a furniture manufacturer and retailer. The word mission references the Spanish missions throughout colonial California. The style became increasingly popular following the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.Read More →
Glyphs – Road to International Understanding
2022-10-03
Glyphs are graphical symbols that are more or less universally used. The Ancient Greeks had a word for most of today’s needs, the glyph is a Greek word meaning carving. Glyphs should carve a road to international communication by breaking down language barriers.Read More →
Murrine ancient glass technique – design dictionary
2022-10-03
When a glass cane is cut into thin cross-sections, coloured patterns or images created in the cane are revealed as murrine. One well-known design is the flower or star shape, which is known as millefiori when used in large quantities.Read More →
John Makepeace (b.1939) British Furniture Designer
2022-10-03
He started designing furniture in 1961. In 1964, he set up a workshop in Farnsborough Barn, Banbury, moving in 1976 to Parnham House in Dorset. He established the Parnham Trust and School for Craftsmen in Wood in 1977.Read More →
Shirley Craven (b.1934) British Textile Designer
2022-10-03
Shirley Craven (b.1934) was a British textile designer. She studied at Kingston upon Hull and the Royal College of Art, London. Craven ‘pioneered an aesthetic more akin to painting than textiles’, breaking ‘all the rules’.Read More →
Dan Friedman (1945 – 1995) American Graphic Designer
2022-10-02
Dan Friedman (1945–1995) was a prolific graphic and furniture designer, artist, writer, and educator. Friedman’s work posed a radical challenge to tradition and commodification in design practice. His work is held in the collections of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and the Museum of Modern Art.Read More →
International Silver Company (ISC) American Silversmiths
2022-10-02
The International Silver Company was founded in 1898 by a group of independent silversmiths from New England. Ashbil Griswold, who established his pewter shop in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1808, is credited with starting the early records of this industry.Read More →
Max Ingrand (1908 – 1969) French artist and decorator
2022-10-01
Maurice Max-Ingrand (1908–1969) was a French artist and stained glass artist. He was captured by the Nazis during World War II but returned to France in 1945. In 1968, he established Verre Lumière, one of the first businesses to manufacture halogen lamps.Read More →
Milan Triennial XII (1960) – School and Home
2022-09-29
On May 5th, 1959, the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) authorised the Milan Triennial XII. The Palazzo dell’Arte served as its location, and it lasted from July 16th to November 4th, 1960. School and Home was the theme.Read More →
Moquette – fabric for public transport
2022-09-29
Moquette is a tough woollen fabric used for upholstery on public transportation all over the world. The fabric is typically composed of 85% wool and 15% nylon and is created using the weaving method known as jacquard. It has excellent thermal characteristics, keeping you warm in the winter and cool in the summer.Read More →
Marion Dorn (1896 – 1964) American Textile Designer
2022-09-29
American textile designer Marion Dorn (1896–1964) is best known for creating wall hangings, carpeting, and rugs, but she is also known to have created wallpaper, graphics, and illustrations.Read More →
Giovanni Pintori (1912 – 1999) Italian Graphic Design
2022-09-28
Giovanni Pintori (1912–1999) was an Italian graphic designer best known for his advertising work with Olivetti. His posters for the Lettera 22 and Olivetti logo are renowned for their use of geometric shapes and minimalist design. Read More →
Poster for Nikon (1957) by Yusaku Kamekura
2022-09-28
Yusaku Kamekura’s poster emphasises the brilliance and clarity attained with the Nikon lens and the technical perfection of his client’s camera by using brilliant optical patterns and powerful, white letter-forms against an intensely dark background. Read More →
Design Classics – Influential Design Examples
2022-09-28
A design classic is readily recognisable and elicits a range of emotions in individuals, including nostalgia and inventiveness.
The following are some of the posts I have completed on objects, architecture that may be considered classic designs.Read More →
Junichi Arai (1932 – 2017) Japanese textile designer and producer
2022-09-27
Junichi Arai (1932 – 2017) was a Japanese textile designer and producer born in Kiryu, Gunma. As the sixth generation of a mill-owning family, Arai grew up with fabrics being woven for obis and kimonos. He held traditional weaving methods in high regard and the skills that only the human hand can have in the art of fabric making. Read More →
Johannes Itten (1888 – 1967) Swiss designer colour theorist
2022-09-27
Itten was a founding member of the Weimar Bauhaus, along with German-American painter Lyonel Feininger and German sculptor Gerhard Marcks, under the guidance of German architect Walter Gropius.Read More →
Jacqueline Groag (1903 – 1986) Czech textile designer
2022-09-27
Jacqueline Groag (1903 – 1986) was a Czech textile designer and ceramicist. Born in Prague she studied in Vienna at the Kunstgewerbeschule during the 1920s. In 1937 she moved to Paris where she designed dress prints for Jeanne Lanvin, Elsa Schiparelli and others.Read More →
Soichiro Sasakura (b.1949) Japanese Glassware Designer
2022-09-27
He worked for Sasaki Glass, for which he designed the 1988 San Marino glassware range.Read More →