Product Design Essay

Philippe Starch design rustic modern furniture where as Ron Arid design many different styles of furniture. I feel that Philippe Starch is a well thought out person who designs furniture that would stand out well in any area and Ron Arid; I feel that he is almost the same except he has his own thoughts and aspirations. I am going to start my essay with the history of the chair.

The Chair has been an article of state and dignity rather than an article of ordinary use for many centuries and indeed for thousands of years. It wasn't until the 16th century that the chair became common.The number of chairs which have survived from an earlier date is extremely limited; most of such examples are of clerical or seigneur origin. Chairs in Egypt appeared to have been of great richness and brilliance, decorated with ebony and ivory or of carved and gilded wood and then covered with expensive materials and supported upon representations of the legs of beasts. The earliest monuments of Nineveh represent a chair without a back but with attractively carved legs ending in lions' claws or bulls' hoofs. The chair of Maxima in the cathedral of Raven is believed to date from the middle of the the Century.

It is made of marble, has a high back and is round and is carved in high liberation with saints and scenes from the Gospels. The smaller spaces are filled with carvings of animals, birds, flowers and leaved decoration. The chair speedily came into general use soon after the idea of privilege faded. We find that almost at once began to reflect the fashions of the hour. No one piece of furniture has ever been so close an index to regulating changes. It has varied in shape, size and strength with the fashion not only of women's dress but men's too.

Philippe Starch was born in Paris, France in 1949 and remembers spending his childhood around his father's drawing boards spending hours sawing, cutting, gluing, sanding and so on. He spent a whole lifetime taking apart and putting together whatever comes to hand. He studied at the Cole National Suprehire des Arts Dcorsairs in Paris from 1966- 1968. He started his first company in 1968 designing inflatable furniture.

From the beginning of the sass's he has been very successful in creating designs which have been made by huge companies.Starch is also an interior designer as well as a product designer. In the late sass's is when he began to become famous for his profession and was when he was asked by President Integrand to change life at the Ellssees Palace and changed the Cafe Cotes into El Cafe in 1984 which became famous because of the three legged chair he designed for the interior. He was commissioned to design the Cole National Suprehire des Arts Dcorsairs in Paris, the Control Tower at Bordeaux airport and a waste recycling plant in Paris metropolitan area.

In the sass's he had devoted much of his life to product design.I like that he likes to work with cast aluminum and a streamlined, organic, horn shape in his designs. His inspirations came from his father who was an aircraft mechanic and inventor and his designs all have science fiction novel names. The W. W. Standing Aide, usually known as The Standing Aid Stool which was sketched for a film director called Wimp Wonders.

It is very sculptural and looks more like a piece of statue than a chair. The 'Standing Aid' stool is made from varnished sand cast aluminum and is 97x56x53cm in size, smooth and turquoise blue in color. The 'Standing Aid' stool cost around E 500.I think it doesn't look very stable and looks very flimsy because of the small spindle legs. Philippe describes it as looking like a sprout (which is probably where he got the idea from). It doesn't look like it could hold much weight on it at all and has a small sharp area on the leg at the bottom which could be a foot rest but looks like a small bud waiting to bloom.

Ron Arid was born in Tell Aviva, Israel in 1951. Ron first studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Art from 1971 - 1973 and then moved to London to study at the Architectural Association, London from 1974 - 1979.He later opened One Of Ltd with Caroline Thurman in 1981, a design studio with workshops and showroom which was firstly based in Covent Garden but then later moved to Chalk Farm in London. In 1989 he founded Ron Arid Associates also with Caroline which was a design and architectural practice in Chalk Farm. In 1994 he opened Ron Arid Studio in Italy and also in 1994 he was a Guest Professor in Household, Vienna until 1997 and is a Professor of furniture design at the RCA in London.

IN 1994 he was guest editor of that year's issue of the 'International Design Year Book.I love the way that some of is work is shown in some design/architectural books and magazines and museums such as the centre Georges Pompadour, Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the Vitro Design Museum, Germany because some of these places are were I would like to visit when I am older and now I have another reason. Ron Arid designed the interior for Tell Aviva Opera House and some early furniture such as the Rover Chair in 1981. The Well - Tempered Chair which was made in 1986 was made of Tempered Steel; this marks the beginning of his career as a genuine industrial designer.Vitro was the first company to sell his work technologically but in molded plastic.

The Italian manufacturers chose Ron Arid as a favorite to lead a series of partnership. He is known as one of the most innovative and interesting designs of his generation on the international scene. The Bag Chair Transformer which was made in 1981 was made of Vinyl and filler with polystyrene. I love this chair because it looks like you can Just 'plank in any room and anywhere in that room. You can get it in many colors as well which is even better.

The 'The Bag Chair Transformer costs around E Comparisons/ Contrasts between the Designers I Have Chosen Philippe Starch and Ron Arid have a few things in common but not much. They have both been around for a while and are both recognized for their styles of design. Although, Philippe Starch likes to use cast aluminum and his inspirations come from strange science fiction stories etc and his father where as Ron Arid would prefer to use Tempered Steel and his inspirations come from the world around him such as mankind and the environment.I personally haven't seen any adverts for designs by either of the designer's that I chose to do my essay on and I had never heard of them either until I started my research, so I wouldn't know how they advertise and how the adverts differ/ are same. When I was researching the designers above I thought that they were designing almost the same style of furniture but then I realized that they had different aspirations and different inspirations.

So if I must say so, I think that Philippe Starch and Ron Arid are not completely different designers but a little because of their inspirations and products that have been sold.I feel that Ron Radar's The Big Easy chair would be my favorite because it is Just right for children and for money buying a small flat because of the size and you don't need to put anything together when it is bought and you can put it anywhere because it comes in different colors. Although this is my favorite from Ron Radar's collection I do also like some of Philippe Stacks collection products such as The Royalty Long Chair. I have always thought about product/interior design and have been told that I would make a good designer.

My Personal Opinions and Survey Chair design is an important aspect of my life because I like things to contrast with the area that the object is in. I like modern things but I also like some old things. I did a survey with some of my next door neighbors asking them of their opinions. Here are their answers: Q.

Is Interior Design Important to you? A. Not particularly! Q. Is Your Home Modernized in Some Areas? A. Yes, the New Study is modernized with Interior from 'kea! Q. Is your Home Old Fashioned in Some Areas?A. Not really because the house is modern as it was built in 1990! Q.

Do You Buy Interior for Your House From Well Known Companies? A. Yes we bought the interior for the study from Kea and the three piece suite in the living room is from CSS! I have found that, from the survey and from being in my friends' houses, that the area in which I live in is very modernized with houses that aren't very old and is mainly made up of young families anyway so that doesn't really surprise me.