Michael Cannell of the NY Times recently published a very interesting article on designers and how they are impacted by a slowing economy. Cannell makes a case that the designer of modern and contemporary decorative arts need to understand the current economic restraints and start to cater to a more functional and cost conscious consumer. Cannell takes an historical approach to the decorative arts, design and economy. Mentioning the impact on design by way of the great depression, and other periods of the 20th century when there economic distress.
Cannell states the design world could stand to come down a notch or two — and might actually find a new sense of relevance in the process. That was the case during the Great Depression, when an early wave of modernism flourished in the United States, partly because it efficiently addressed the middle-class need for a pared-down life without servants and other Victorian trappings.
Design tends to thrive in hard times. In the scarcity of the 1940s, Charles and Ray Eames produced furniture and other products of enduring appeal from cheap materials like plastic, resin and plywood, and Italian design flowered in the aftermath of World War II.
Modernism’s great ambition was to democratize design. Ikea and Target have shown that the battle for cheap design can be won. The emphasis will most likely shift to greater quality at affordable prices. This time around it will be the designer’s job to discourage consumers from regarding that $30 Ikea side table as a throwaway item.
The article has some very interesting ideas. I am not so sure I agree with all of Cannells concepts, and would think most designers would prefer the artistic freedom to design without being constrained by the economic times. But if that is the reality of the period, I also agree, that designers can, and should be very creative and work within the means of the times.
To read the NY Times article, click HERE.
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