Cath Kidston

Cath Kidston is recognised as a key designer of fabrics, clothes, bags and accessories. But in a modern economic climate and gadget obssessed society, expanding her products from purely textile to gadget and electronics accessories was an intelligent business decision.

She has now created a range of iPhone and iPod Touch hard cases, as well as cases and 'pockets' for other popular items such as Blackberry's and Nintendo DSi consoles. This explosion of new products from Cath Kidston is a good way for her infilitrate the electronics and gadget market without straying from her decorative and textile roots too far.

In a business sense, diversifying the range of products that she produces increases the recognisability of her products as the brand identity is in the patterns and (usually floral) designs she sells. Therefore, not only is she expanding the areas of the market that she reaches out to, ut she is also increasing cnsumer awareness of her brand.

Overpriced?

This example of novelty product design is salt and pepper shakers fitted in an embrace. The designer recognised on the article on design-milk.co.uk is Scott Henderson who names it 'Hug'. It is selling for $29 at 'Generate'. However, whilst visiting relatives in the south west of France I first saw this product for 3 euros in a small town market. This was five years ago. Furthermore, two years ago I found the same product in Urban Outfitters for £8. Thus, this raises the question; Are products priced for certain markets in an extortionate manner due to where they are sold and who they are sold to? Is this right or fair? Is this ethical design?

Levi - 'Care to Air' Design Challenge

In partnership with the Myoo Create community, Levi Strauss & Co. is running a competition for designers everywhere to respond to the challenge of how to design the world’s most innovative, covetable and sustainable air-drying solution for clothing. They’re offering prize money for the most effective solutions, as well as an audience with experienced designers and eco-innovators.

I feel this is an important and well briefed competition as every-day energy consumption is one of the most easily improved forms of energy use. Thus, I am attempting to design my own form of clothes air-drying and enter the competition. Personally, I believe that designing with a conscience is not only important, but also unavoidable, however much some critics claim to find 'eco-design' boring and over-played. These articles demonstrate the importance of this kind of innovative project:

'Clothes lines boom as we wash our hands of tumble dryers'- Mail Online, 19th Aug 2009.

'As a Seventies must-have mod con they helped banish another element of those wash day blues.
But the tumble dryer has never been a perfect solution. Aside from occasionally shrinking your favourite jumper, they were never particularly cheap to run - nor eco-friendly. Which, in these straitened times, might explain why so many of us are turning back to the peg and clothes line. There has been a 20 per cent rise in sales of outside airers and humble washing pegs as families realise that ditching the tumble dryer is not only green, but bank balance-friendly too. According to the Energy Savings Trust an average of £60 can be saved on electricity bills every year by simply turning off the tumble dryer. If everyone in the UK who uses one - 60 per cent of households do - that would make a total saving of £720million. It would also reduce carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to taking 960,000 cars off the roads. But it seems it's not that easy for us to step back in time. Separate research found that one in five of us would be too embarrassed about hanging out our ' Bridget Jones' pants or control underwear in front of the neighbours. Over two fifths admit to having hidden underwear behind larger items when hanging it outside and many more women than men do this. The survey, carried out by Opinion Matters this year, also found that one in ten are too embarrassed to hang underwear outside at all. That said there are always show-offs. It seems there are 11 per cent who like to put their lingerie where it is most visible so that they can show off. Nicola Wood, buyer for outdoor drying at B&Q said: 'Investing in a washing line is one simple step we can all make for a greener life. 'We have seen increasing sales on washing lines and pegs, but it seems that letting it all hang out turns some cheeks red.' B&Q sells over 5,000 outdoor rotary airers, the modern day equivalent of the washing line, and 15,000 pegs a week.'

'Tread lightly: Switch off your tumble dryer'- Guardian.co.uk, 2nd May 2008.

'According to National Statistics, almost 60% of households now own a tumble dryer. That means more than 14m households are using electricity to dry clothes, when they could save that energy by hanging them outside. An average drying-machine cycle uses just over 4kWh of energy and produces around 1.8kg CO2. If all households with a tumble dryer dried one load of washing outside each week, instead of by machine, they would save over a million tonnes of CO2 in a year.
There are three types of tumble dryer on the market in the UK: electric venting, electric condensing and gas. Venting ones release hot, damp air outside, while condensing ones transfer surplus water to a storage tank in the machine and release heat indoors. The latter type uses the most energy, but contributes heat to the house. Gas tumble dryers are the most energy-efficient of all, producing around half of the CO2 emissions of an electric equivalent. However, only one company produces front-loading gas models in the UK and less than 0.5% of UK tumble dryers currently run on gas.
Whereas it is now easy to find fridges with an A or A+ rating for energy efficiency, tumble dryers are still mostly languishing in the C rating band or lower. The Energy Saving Trust endorses only three products, and only one of those has an A rating. The other two have a C rating but are recommended because they have an auto-sensor that stops them working once the clothes reach a specified level of dryness. Comparing the energy uses of different household appliances over the course of a year shows just how energy-hungry even the most efficient tumble dryers are. According to Carbon Footprint, an A+ fridge-freezer used 24 hours a day will produce 116kg CO2; an A-rated washing machine used 187 times will generate 51kg CO2; and a dishwasher used 135 times at 65°C will create 84kg CO2. The A-rated tumble drier recommended by the Energy Saving Trust, used 3 times a week, will generate over 160kg CO2 per year. Eco Washing Lines has a wide range of products for drying clothes indoors and out. If you can't dry clothes outside, invest in an airer to use inside your house. Ceiling ones work best because warm air rises. But if you don't have a suitable lofty location, try a floor-standing or wall-mounted one. Most home heating systems run on gas, so it is still better to dry your clothes inside the house in winter than to dry them by machine. You'll not only save energy and money by ditching the dryer but your clothes will last longer too.'

'Watch3' by Steven Götz

Götz latest design, the 'Watch3' is a limited edition product and only one hundred have been manufactured for sale. Although the price and target market is for those who luxurious and frivolous are marketed to, this watch has been designed to improve the readability of the face. Therefore, the hours are printed on the underside of the crystal in white and are only visible when the black hour hand passes under them. To add readability in the dark, the entire white surface of the dial is covered in Luminova, a non-radioactive, nontoxic, phosphorescent paint based on the luminescence of deepsea fish allowing it to glow in the dark, whilst still being 'eco-friendly'.

Aesthetically, the design of this watch is perfect for me as I love the black and white colour scheme and contrast of materials and colours often features in my own work. However, I tend not to be able to purchase items of this value! Alternatively, the main focus of this, for me, is the way that Götz has cleverly, but very simply, improved the ease and accuracy with which the user can read the time. Only having one of the twelve numbers visible is an innovative idea that I have never seen in a watch with an analogue face before, and as well as being fully functional and useful, I feel it also adds to the originality of the aesthetics of the product.

Happy Pills

When reading through the Design Milk website, which features many articles on new and old designers and fresh design around the globe, I discovered an article from 2007 about a new design group called 'Studio M' who's first major project had been a sweet shop in Barcelona called 'Happy Pills' The concept of the shop and branding is slightly risky in relation to political correctness and sensitivity in some critics eyes, however I love it and really enjoy how kitsch and quirky the designer's take on society and the realtionships between food and happiness and medication .


Firstly, the designers clearly recognise that we, as humans (often particularly females) relate sweet foods and indulgence to happiness. Therefore they are mocking our seeimg need to medicate 'unhappiness' with (what many people refer to as happy pills) anti-depressants when we often claim to gain uplifted spirits and happiness from food and drink. Also, this example of post-modern irony has been frowned upon by some critics, I however find the idea and innovative concept very interesting and aesthetically eye-catching. If this aspect of the branding is not going to draw consumers in, I can't think what would.

Art Deco

Art Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts and film. At the time, this style was seen as elegant, glamorous, functional and modern.

For me Art Deco architecture represents pure glamour and elegance. The Luxurious buildings in New York and Miami make me want to re-live the era in which it was created. The geometric patterns and shapes influence my own designs as I tend to design products that are heavily angular and constructed with striking shapes such as circles, squares, triangles etc.

Memphis Design

The Memphis-Milano Movement was an Italian design and architecture group started by Ettore Sottsass that designed Post Modern furniture, fabrics, ceramics, glass and metal objects from 1981-1987. Although they are the polar opposite, in relation to design ethics and principles, to the Bauhaus, they are also one of my favourite design movements.

The group was founded by Ettore Sottsass led on 16 December 1980, and resolved to meet again with their designs in February 1981. The result was a highly-acclaimed debut at the 1981 Salone del Mobile of Milan, the world's most prestigious furniture NEWY fair. The group, which eventually counted among its members Alessandro Mendini, Martine Bedin, Andrea Branzi, Aldo Cibic, Michele de Lucchi, Nathalie du Pasquier, Michael Graves, Hans Hollein, Arata Isozaki, Shiro Kuromata, Matteo Thun, Javier Mariscal, George Sowden, Marco Zanini, and the journalist Barbara Radice, Sottsass left the group in 1985 and it disbanded in 1988 after the last 1987 collection.

The members of the Memphis group believed in the priniciple of kitsch and faddish products. They designed and produced expensive, extravagant, often pointlessly garish and bright products that were entirely based on aesthetic appeal, rather than the function. This opposes the Bauhaus argument that form should follow function. Sottsass and his fellow designers believed that design should be fun and frivolous.

Many people do not like Memphis design as it is not particularly well thought out and does not promote accessibility to design for the masses. However, the bright, colourful and schocking pieces designed in Sottsass self proclaimed, 'New Interantional Style' appeal to many art and design critics and are recognised as influencial in the design world.

Personally, although I believe that design should have purpose and function, I also feel that each designer should express their personality through the products they create and that souless design is boring. Therefore, I have professional respect for the Memphis design group and see them as a heavy influence in my own design ethics.

The Bauhaus

As my biggest design influence, the Bauhaus design school and its related work has affected many aspects of how I view products and how I design. Furthermore, as a BSc Product Design student in the 'School of Architecture, Design and The Built Environment' at Nottingham Trent University seeing how other generation were taught art and design is interesting and eye-opening.

To ignore the influences of this design movement is almost impossible for any product designer, photographer, artist, sculptor, industrial designer, architect or graphic designer.

Most importantly, for me personally, are the design ethics and principles of the Bauhaus:

'Form follows function.'

'Design should be accessible by the masses.'

These principles are refelected in my own designs.

Marianne Brandt is one of my favourite female designers. Here is an ashtray she design whilst at the Bauhaus in 1924. It was designed to be manufactured in both cheaper and more luxurious materials so that, in monetary terms, it was available to the masses of Germany.