Pop Design

Pop Design is the term used in the 1950's which referred to popular culture with later introduction of a group called The Independent which was founded in London in 1952. The members of this group were Richard Hamilton, Edwardo Paolozzi, Reyner Banham and Peter and Alison Smithson.

The pop culture was against the normality and  in design this era was filled with experimentation and other elements which contrasted the normality in design. Before the introduction of Pop Design in the 1960's  Germany and Italy were very famous to develop and produce very good design but during the time of Pop Design some designers started to think as anti design which led to different contrasting ideas in the design industry. They went all out against the traditional design which was famous during the time.


Joe Colombo:

Tube chair - PVC, Foam and fabric. 1955

Joe Colombo was an Italian painter and sculptor and a positive thinker designer who wanted to create something new. he used to experiment with different materials which were uncommon in product design in that time which were materials such as Fiberglass, PVC and Polyethylene. He wanted to create a new environment in domestic life.

one of the materials which exited Colombo was plastic as he visioned the possibilities of the material in product design. During his time in 1950's Italian designers urged manufacturers and shown them the great possibilities of increasing sales when product design is used in the manufacturing process of products and apart from the function the aesthetics are very important for the client. We can look at the result in today's manufacturing world as every product is specifically designed by an industrial designer.

During the same time two other designer were experimenting in new techniques of using traditional material. Ray and Charles Eames are the pioneers of wood bending. They were experimenting with the bending of wood at the same time that other designers were experimenting with new material such as plastic.The difference in Ray and Charles Eames work is that their furniture is rather formal which contrasts the products that were being made by designers such as Joe Colombo.

The Eames lounge chair

Today we have some designers that combine the techniques of both designers and input their discoveries in materiel in their work. Tom Dixon  is a clear example as he uses wood bending in some of his products and even plastics. Although he uses plastics for his work his designs are far from the ones that Joe Colombo used to design as they are more on the side of Ray and Charles Eames.

Tom Dixon Chair

Reference:

Pop Art and the Independent Group. 2013. Pop Art and the Independent Group. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.warholstars.org/warhol1/10independent.html. [Accessed 28 December 2013].

Joe Colombo / Design Museum Collection : - Design/Designer Information. 2013. Joe Colombo / Design Museum Collection : - Design/Designer Information. [ONLINE] Available at: http://designmuseum.org/design/joe-colombo. [Accessed 28 December 2013].