As we relish 2011, let's look back at last year's designs that made us scratch our heads and say, "whuuut?".
Just a disclaimer though: This list was based on negative comments garnered at design sites, as well as my own subjective mind, so not everyone will most likely agree. So let's get this rolling!
5. Fruit Template by Nendo
We cannot call a product design "good" if it doesn't serve the problem of function. And that applies with Nendo's Fruit Template. What if the apple is too big? Or we want to put a pineapple instead? Nendo has been great in their conceptual projects but this one is a miss because it's too conceptual for a fruit bowl. Oh, good thing only 100 pieces of this product was made. So only 100 filthy rich people can 'enjoy' this.
4. Nemo chair by Fabio Novembre
The minute it turned the corner, we know it's designed by Fabio Novembre. His Neo-Baroque and sensual style is always spot-on. This chair is perfect for modern-classic houses, or even for posh places.
Except that the designer forgot to consider the design of the front of the chair -- an alien of some sort that has a set of eyes so piercing it will haunt us in our dreams.
3. Cabana shelf by The Campana Brothers
This man-sized shelf covered with fireproofed raffia is one of the most talked about (and giggled at) at the 2010 Milan Design Week. Kudos to the Brazilian brothers for making this unique and ingenious shelf.
Imagine having this shelf in your home. Then one night, you get up to drink a glass of water. And from the dimly-lit room you stand, you can see a faint shadow of Cousin It of Adams Family peering from your living room. Yikes.
2. Gap Logo Redesign by Trey Laird of Laird and Partners
Tinkering a beloved 20-year old logo can be dangerous. That's what the Gap people realized after trying to give the old icon "a more contemporary, modern expression," as Gap spokesman Bill Chandler said. The new look so turned off consumers that sales of its Pure Premium line plunged 20%, prompting the company to scrap the packaging.
1. Chairless by Alejandro Aravena
Swiss furniture design giant Vitra made the biggest innovation at the 2010 Milan Design Week. That's because they produced the most minimal and modern chair ever to be made in design history. Enter Alejandro Aravena's Chairless chair.
Its ironic and quite amusing that a big furniture company produced a "non-furniture" product and celebrated the act of "sitting" itself instead of "seating".
Inspired by the nomadic Ayoreo Indians of Paraguay, " It’s a chair that’s not a chair, an action that has become a product", as Aravena himself describes, "When we want to drink we instinctively put our hands together and create a kind of bowl, when we want to see into the distance we put our hand above our eyebrows shading our eyes, and when we sit on the ground, we intuitively put our arms around our legs".
Great concept. Except that you'll look stupid sitting in it.
Just a disclaimer though: This list was based on negative comments garnered at design sites, as well as my own subjective mind, so not everyone will most likely agree. So let's get this rolling!
5. Fruit Template by Nendo
We cannot call a product design "good" if it doesn't serve the problem of function. And that applies with Nendo's Fruit Template. What if the apple is too big? Or we want to put a pineapple instead? Nendo has been great in their conceptual projects but this one is a miss because it's too conceptual for a fruit bowl. Oh, good thing only 100 pieces of this product was made. So only 100 filthy rich people can 'enjoy' this.
4. Nemo chair by Fabio Novembre
The minute it turned the corner, we know it's designed by Fabio Novembre. His Neo-Baroque and sensual style is always spot-on. This chair is perfect for modern-classic houses, or even for posh places.
Except that the designer forgot to consider the design of the front of the chair -- an alien of some sort that has a set of eyes so piercing it will haunt us in our dreams.
3. Cabana shelf by The Campana Brothers
This man-sized shelf covered with fireproofed raffia is one of the most talked about (and giggled at) at the 2010 Milan Design Week. Kudos to the Brazilian brothers for making this unique and ingenious shelf.
Imagine having this shelf in your home. Then one night, you get up to drink a glass of water. And from the dimly-lit room you stand, you can see a faint shadow of Cousin It of Adams Family peering from your living room. Yikes.
2. Gap Logo Redesign by Trey Laird of Laird and Partners
Tinkering a beloved 20-year old logo can be dangerous. That's what the Gap people realized after trying to give the old icon "a more contemporary, modern expression," as Gap spokesman Bill Chandler said. The new look so turned off consumers that sales of its Pure Premium line plunged 20%, prompting the company to scrap the packaging.
1. Chairless by Alejandro Aravena
Swiss furniture design giant Vitra made the biggest innovation at the 2010 Milan Design Week. That's because they produced the most minimal and modern chair ever to be made in design history. Enter Alejandro Aravena's Chairless chair.
Its ironic and quite amusing that a big furniture company produced a "non-furniture" product and celebrated the act of "sitting" itself instead of "seating".
Inspired by the nomadic Ayoreo Indians of Paraguay, " It’s a chair that’s not a chair, an action that has become a product", as Aravena himself describes, "When we want to drink we instinctively put our hands together and create a kind of bowl, when we want to see into the distance we put our hand above our eyebrows shading our eyes, and when we sit on the ground, we intuitively put our arms around our legs".
Great concept. Except that you'll look stupid sitting in it.
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