Walter Darwin, Desk Lamp
The desk lamp was designed by an American designer Walter Dorwin Teague. It was designed in 1939 in America and manufactured by Cambridge Massachusetts Company. The desk lamp is a reading lamp normally placed on top of reading tables. The first desk lamp was made of aluminum and plastic, but it has been modified into various styles to fit the reader’s comfort and also for bedside lamps although the initial design still remains. This innovation remains influential in the lighting industry as it spearheaded the design of custom-made lamps whereby today we have lamps that are specifically designed for specific purposes and occasions.
Henry Dreyfuss, 500 Model Telephone
The electric telephone model 500 was designed by Henry Dreyfuss. It was designed in 1949. The 500 model telephone was designed in America. It improved the previous 302 models by introducing a plastic coating with printed dial numbers on the plate and moving them on the outside to enable the user to see the dialed number spinning back thus avoiding miss-dialed calls. It was cheap to produce. Its durability has enabled this design to be in use up-to-date. It introduced the G-type handset which has been retained by most telephone manufacturing companies up to now.
Henry Dreyfuss, Mercury Train
Henry Dreyfuss also designed the mercury train in 1936 for the New York Central railroad. Mercury train was a daytime passenger train that operated between the Midwestern cities of Chicago and New York. It was made of brushed aluminum and silver. Its design has continued to undergo improvement to the current types of passenger trains. However, it remains one of the pioneering innovations in inland transportation systems.
Henry Dreyfuss, Thermos and a trey
Henry Dreyfuss designed a thermos and tray in 1935. The thermos was made of aluminum, steel, and glass while the tray was made of plastic. These were also made in America for the American thermos bottle company. The thermos was an improvement of the previous designs, but it was also improved by other designers contracted by the company. The thermos was designed to keep liquids hot or cold while the tray was used for placing the thermos on a table.
Philippe Starck, Ara lamp
Ara lamp was designed by Philippe Starck in 1988. It was designed in France where Philippe worked for Flo’s manufacturing company in Italy. It is a desk lamp used for reading. It is made of metal, steel, and chrome. Like Walter Dorwin’s desk lamp, Ara lamp is used a lot by interior designers for the decoration of rooms. The difference between the two lamps is the design, but they serve a similar purpose.
Philippe Starck, Juicy Salif
Juicy Salif was also designed by Philippe Starck. It was designed in 1990 in France for Alessi an Italian company for manufacturing kitchenware. The initial design was aimed at squeezing lemons over a squid. According to the designer, Philippe, the aim of designing juicy Salif was to start conservations rather than squeeze lemons. It is still in use even today for squeezing fruit juice from citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons among others. The advantage is that it does not require sieving after squeezing since the juice is pressed out into a glass.
Philippe Starck Dadada
Philippe Starck also designed the Dadada stool. It was designed in 1993 in France for the XO-design manufacturing company of France. It was made of polypropylene plastic. It is light and can be used in outdoor and indoor sitting. The design was aimed at improving comfort when sitting mostly for the children and the old people. The design has pioneered many other designs of plastic stools that are in use in the entire globe.
Tejo Remy, Milk Bottle Lamp
Tojo Remy designed the milk bottle lamp. It was made of twelve recycled milk bottles clustered together and 15-watt bulbs. The milk bottles are first blasted with sand, shaped to the desired design, and later covered with a chrome top. The Bottle Lamp was designed in the Netherlands as a project for the Netherlands’ based Droog Design Company. The milk lamps are used for lighting rooms. They were designed in 1991 in America. The milk bottles hang on electric cables from the ceiling to form a chandelier.
Edgar William Brandt, La Tentation
Edgar William Brandt designed the La Tentation. It is a fine bronze and glass floor lamp with a snake-like design for the stand. It was designed in France for Verrerie de Nancy manufacturers. It was designed in the year 1925. It is used for reading and bedside lamps like the Walter Darwin desk lamp and Philippe Ara lamp. The only difference is the design. The La Tentation was not a unique design as far as the originality of the idea was concerned, but the architectural knowledge invested in its design was of great importance as it pioneered the combination of lighting and decoration. The design had a massive emphasis on decorations as opposed to its predecessors.
Jean Prouve, Antony Chair
Antony’s chair was designed by Jean Prouve in 1950. It was designed in German for the University of Strasbourg. It was manufactured by his company called Vitra located in Germany. It was made of molded plywood fitted on a steel frame. These seats are still in use to date and they are best suited for personal use in a lounge or living room or placed in a waiting area. Jean is also documented for designing the sound cloud.
Flaminio Bertoni, Ami 6
Flaminio Bertoni designed the Amin 6 also called Citroen Amin 6. It was designed in 1964 in France for a French automobile manufacturing company called Citroen (Malcolm, 75). It was an improvement of the previous Citroen Amin. It had a reverse-raked rear window. It had a top speed of 88mph.
Flaminio Bertoni, TPV toute petite voiture
Flaminio Bertoni also designed TPV (Tres petite voiture). It was smaller than Amin and was equalized to the German competing vehicle of that time called Volkswagen. It could carry four passengers and luggage of forty kilograms. It was designed in 1969 in France for the French automobile company, Citroen (Malcolm, 92). It was light and spacious with the front wheel designed for controlling. Having a front-wheel design allowed the car to waste minimal fuel-powered energy in terms of mechanical energy due to the short distance between the engine and the propelled wheels. Besides, front wheels and an engine in front allowed the propelled wheels to have maximum grip due to engine weight. It was also a low-cost, simple to use vehicle that could be driven even off-road because it had an easily serviceable engine and adjustable height.
Robert Opron, Ami 8
Robert Opron succeeded Flaminio at Citroen in designing vehicles. He designed the Citroen Amin 8 (Malcolm, 103). It was a saloon car designed as an improvement of the previous Amin 6 and Amin. The changes introduced in the new design were the front part and the back that were sloped-in. It was designed in 1969 in France for the same France automobile company, Citroen. It was the first car to be fitted with front inboard disc brakes.
Robert Opron, GS
Robert Opron also designed the Citroen GS. It was designed in 1970 in France for the same France automobile company, Citroen (Malcolm, 150). It was the most advanced car during its launch with improved comfort, safety, and aerodynamics. It is the car that Citroen Company recorded the highest sales in their then history of sales. It had a fastback rear, three lateral windows, and a large boot since the spare wheel was placed on top of the engine. It was criticized to be underpowered after launching it into the market. It was also produced in three other countries apart from France which were Spain, Portugal, and England.
Emaryseidel, Candle Stick
The candlestick telephone heads were designed probably designed by Emery Seidel in the late 1920s and early 1930s. This was a great innovation in the sense that it was the first desk phone design that did not require the user to change sitting position as far as the ergonometric position was concerned. Designed in a mixture of plastic and aluminum, most of the candlestick phones came in one color, black with the dial numbers coming with a contrasting whitish color which increased their visibility tremendously. The candlesticks phones can still be found in some places but are mostly confined to museums as newer innovations have replaced them.
Works Cited
Malcolm, Bobbit. Citroen DS: Design Icon. New York: Veloce Publishing Ltd. 2005. Print.