"Do something nice"
Design What does design achieve in times of sensory overload? What is a logo still worth? Andreas Panzeri spoke to design expert Michael Erlhoff.
Design What does design achieve in times of sensory overload? What is a logo still worth? Andreas Panzeri spoke to design expert Michael Erlhoff.WW Michelangelo was a great artist. But he also designed weapons. We recently presented a beer can for Kronenbourg by design artist Philippe Starck. Is that like a literary figure making an advertising claim? Michael Erlhoff The theme is design in everyday life. On the one hand, we need object worlds that move us and provoke us a little. But the intelligence in design must also go other ways. We need to think about it: How can I design processes? How can I develop product reductions? This is an internal contradiction within design. Traditionally, designers have always been asked to make something beautiful. But we have actually long since reached the stage of overproduction. We should have known by now: If there are a thousand things, then I turn away, because it is so tedious to choose something from the thousand again.
The word design is everywhere. Soon, accountants will probably also want to call themselves financial designers. Isn't the term design becoming overused?
We have to assume that in the English-speaking world, all design and conceptualization has always been called design. Research design, for example, in the natural sciences. That is a completely normal term. We are a bit beaten by the fact that we formulate what used to be form design very imprecisely. I'm not that depressed about it. It's a symptom of the fact that - however misunderstood - the design debate exists. Twenty years ago it wasn't there, nobody knew the word design. Let's be glad that it has become known in the meantime. Now we have to take it as a platform and have a reasonable understanding of it.
Raymond Loewy designed such concrete symbols as the shell or the double red dot for Lucky Strike. Today, everything seems more diffuse. Are the big shapes or symbols used up or no longer in demand?
That is correct. It's been a long time since such striking symbols have come onto the market. Today, a brand is no longer characterized by just one symbol. It is now possible for brands to suddenly become two brands, for example in the case of a fashion label. This continues to happen. We have a much more secure relationship with the brand, which can no longer be represented by a symbol. Everything has become much more complex.
The web has had a lot of influence on graphic design recently. Where do you see upcoming trends, for example images and shapes from Japan?
The Expo logo at the world exhibition in Hanover made it clear: How do I get flexible structures into a form? We have learned such flexible structures from the web. I am no longer so fixated on having a single clear logo. We work much more with derivations, where you still have the feeling that it's the same thing. As far as future influences from Japan are concerned, it's hard to predict. I am shocked by the level of graphic design in Japanese magazines, for example. At most, I would say that something of the world of these manga and other strange figurative resolutions might stick. But these processes of exchange are very slow.
Starck's blasphemous appearanceDesigner Philippe Starck has been honored with the Lucky Strike Designer Award 2004 in Berlin.
Every year since 1991, the Raymond Loewy Foundation International has presented the Lucky Strike Designer Award, which honors international designers for their life's work. Donna
Karan, Karl Lagerfeld, cameraman Michael Ballhaus, graphic designer Kurt Weidemann and the Phoenix Product Design agency are among the previous winners.
Last Thursday, Philippe Starck joined the illustrious circle in Berlin. The Frenchman is known as the "designer of souvenirs" with everyday objects such as citrus juicers, kettles, knives, televisions and chairs.
As expected, Starck proved to be an enfant terrible in Berlin. He canceled scheduled interviews at short notice. In his acceptance speech, he also used witty words to blaspheme against design and appearance. For him, the greatest designer was the creator of the Kalashnikov. He called the prize donors hypocritical when they spread a disease with cigarettes and then want to cleanse themselves with a foundation. Nevertheless, Starck accepted the prize money of 50,000 euros. "Sorry, it's not against your father," he apologized to Raymond Loewy's daughter as he scurried off early.
Loewy, who gave his name to the foundation, recognized design as a decisive marketing factor and, in addition to the double-sided red dot for Lucky Strike (1941), also designed the Shell shell, the BP logo and cars such as Studebaker.
In addition to the big stars, the Loewy Foundation also honors young designers in over ten countries. In Switzerland, the CHF 30,000 prize will be awarded on November 24 at the Zurich School of Design. 95 graduates from design schools have applied for the award.
Design icon for the kitchen: Starck's citrus juicer.
Prizewinner and provocateur: Philippe Starck.
> Michael Erlhoff is President of the Raymond Loewy Foundation, jury member of the Lucky Strike Design Award and Professor of Design Theory in Cologne.
The word design is everywhere. Soon, accountants will probably also want to call themselves financial designers. Isn't the term design becoming overused?
We have to assume that in the English-speaking world, all design and conceptualization has always been called design. Research design, for example, in the natural sciences. That is a completely normal term. We are a bit beaten by the fact that we formulate what used to be form design very imprecisely. I'm not that depressed about it. It's a symptom of the fact that - however misunderstood - the design debate exists. Twenty years ago it wasn't there, nobody knew the word design. Let's be glad that it has become known in the meantime. Now we have to take it as a platform and have a reasonable understanding of it.
Raymond Loewy designed such concrete symbols as the shell or the double red dot for Lucky Strike. Today, everything seems more diffuse. Are the big shapes or symbols used up or no longer in demand?
That is correct. It's been a long time since such striking symbols have come onto the market. Today, a brand is no longer characterized by just one symbol. It is now possible for brands to suddenly become two brands, for example in the case of a fashion label. This continues to happen. We have a much more secure relationship with the brand, which can no longer be represented by a symbol. Everything has become much more complex.
The web has had a lot of influence on graphic design recently. Where do you see upcoming trends, for example images and shapes from Japan?
The Expo logo at the world exhibition in Hanover made it clear: How do I get flexible structures into a form? We have learned such flexible structures from the web. I am no longer so fixated on having a single clear logo. We work much more with derivations, where you still have the feeling that it's the same thing. As far as future influences from Japan are concerned, it's hard to predict. I am shocked by the level of graphic design in Japanese magazines, for example. At most, I would say that something of the world of these manga and other strange figurative resolutions might stick. But these processes of exchange are very slow.
Starck's blasphemous appearanceDesigner Philippe Starck has been honored with the Lucky Strike Designer Award 2004 in Berlin.
Every year since 1991, the Raymond Loewy Foundation International has presented the Lucky Strike Designer Award, which honors international designers for their life's work. Donna
Karan, Karl Lagerfeld, cameraman Michael Ballhaus, graphic designer Kurt Weidemann and the Phoenix Product Design agency are among the previous winners.
Last Thursday, Philippe Starck joined the illustrious circle in Berlin. The Frenchman is known as the "designer of souvenirs" with everyday objects such as citrus juicers, kettles, knives, televisions and chairs.
As expected, Starck proved to be an enfant terrible in Berlin. He canceled scheduled interviews at short notice. In his acceptance speech, he also used witty words to blaspheme against design and appearance. For him, the greatest designer was the creator of the Kalashnikov. He called the prize donors hypocritical when they spread a disease with cigarettes and then want to cleanse themselves with a foundation. Nevertheless, Starck accepted the prize money of 50,000 euros. "Sorry, it's not against your father," he apologized to Raymond Loewy's daughter as he scurried off early.
Loewy, who gave his name to the foundation, recognized design as a decisive marketing factor and, in addition to the double-sided red dot for Lucky Strike (1941), also designed the Shell shell, the BP logo and cars such as Studebaker.
In addition to the big stars, the Loewy Foundation also honors young designers in over ten countries. In Switzerland, the CHF 30,000 prize will be awarded on November 24 at the Zurich School of Design. 95 graduates from design schools have applied for the award.
Design icon for the kitchen: Starck's citrus juicer.
Prizewinner and provocateur: Philippe Starck.
> Michael Erlhoff is President of the Raymond Loewy Foundation, jury member of the Lucky Strike Design Award and Professor of Design Theory in Cologne.
