David Kelley - IDEO - 60 Minutes

 I hope you got a chance to view the wonderful interview of designer David Kelley, founder of IDEO last Sunday on 60 Minutes (See Video Below).  This video above gives a little further insight to him and his home from 60 Minutes Overtime.

Eva Zeisel Dies at 105

This past Friday, December 30, 2011 marked the end of a beautiful life and career of Eva Zeisel. I have blogged often about Eva, her passion, her life and her designs. The world will miss her creative "playful search for beauty". Design was always a pleasure for Eva who continued to design and release new lines and products. Design kept Eva youthful, discovering and pleasing us all with her immense talent.

Eva Zeisel was one of our most influential industrial designers. Ms. Zeisel had the first one women show at the MOMA and her creative visions are in the permeant collections of every major museum. Her work was non conformist, full of life and beauty. Her joy was creating products for the home and the past few years have seen a huge selection of her work in retail outlets and museum stories.

Please read the New York Times article and the Los Angeles Times article on her life.

Eva's spirit and creative passion will live on and I will think of her each time I use her products in my life. Thank you Eva for sharing your playful search of beauty with us all.

(photos via New York Times and Los Angeles Times)

Happy 105th Birthday Eva Zeisel

Remarkable in every way is Eva Zeisel. Today marks Eva Zeisel's 105th birthday which is remarkable but what is even more remarkable is Eva is still active as a designer. Yes, she works at a slower pace today but her passion stills flows out in creative products that fill the shelves of stores such as Eva Zeisel Originals (run by her grandson, Adam Zeisel, who stated he had a pleasant dinner with Eva this past week), Design Within Reach, Crate and Barrel, Room and Board, and The Orange Chicken.

“Design is pleasure for me”, Eva Zeisel has staed. This statement perchance is the secret to becoming an icon of design but it may also be the blueprint to living a long life. Eva Zeisel who turns 105 today was born in Hungry and found that her passion was to be a “maker of useful things”. Eva has designed thousands of products over her long life that beautify our lives. Eva’s work graces both the permanent collections of the world’s finest museum and the tables of every day life.

One of the keys to Zeisel’s success has been her consistent maxim of “the playful search for beauty”. Eva’s designs arouse the senses with their sensual curves and delightful lines that standout from the commonplace. Making designs that are fresh, intelligent, and discerning would be hard work for most but Eva has been doing it for the last 80 plus years.

Eva learned design and the craft of pottery in Hungry as a young woman. She completed her internship and used her experiences and designs to allow her to see the world. Seeking out opportunities, she selected the job that took her the farthest from her home in Budapest to Germany.

Eva was one of the first to design dinnerware for mass production in 1928 for Schramberger Majolikafabrik in Germany. She moved to Russia in 1932 to design dinnerware, bath fixtures and numerous household products. Zeisel was named the artistic director of the Soviet ceramics industry. In 1936 while working in Moscow, she was arrested by the Stalin regime and placed in a prison camp for 15 months. She was charged with “plotting against the life of Stalin”. Just as suddenly as she was taken prisoner, she was released with only the cloths on her back due to the influences of important European intellectuals that contacted Stalin. Upon Eva’s release in 1937, she traveled to Vienna. She married Hans Zeisel at this time and they both moved the USA as the Nazi movement grew in Austria and Germany.

In late 1938, Eva and Hans move to New York. Eva raised two children with Hans, their son John Zeisel and daughter Jean Richards. She started working on numerous designs and began teaching at the Pratt Institute in 1939, founding the industrial ceramics curriculum. Eva’s designs have been sought after over these many years. She has designed dinnerware and products for all the major china companies the world over in her career.

In 1946, Eva Zeisel had the first one women show at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). Her work can be found in every major museum collection around the world from MoMA and the Metropolitan in NYC to the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert in London. In 2005, Zeisel was awarded the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Eva has continued to design over the years, never letting her passion for design to dwindle. “I design better than before, I have so much experience” said Eva. At the young age of 101, she designed the One-O-One collection of tableware for Royal Stafford.

Eva’s work is available today at Eva Zeisel Originals run by her grandson, Adam Zeisel. Adam wrote earlier this week, “EvaZeiselOriginals.com is having a successful year. We have already added the Eva Zeisel Lounge Chair and Bird Shakers to the collection. My relationship with Eva continues to be strong and joyous.”

We all can learn a great deal for the wonderful career of Eva Zeisel. Design with passion, love your family and friends, laugh, and always look forward. Seeing, using and touching one of Eva’s exquisite and graceful designs might just be our way to drink from the fountain of youth that Eva Zeisel has discovered. May design continue to flow from your heart and mind, Happy 105th Birthday Mrs. Zeisel!!!

Eva Zeisel: Distinguished By Design from Jeremy Bales on Vimeo.

Industrial Design Stamps

The United State Postal Service has recently released this series of stamps to celebrate the Pioneers of American Industrial Design. The stamps feature 12 designers and a work from each. The mid-century designers that where selected include:

Peter Müller-Munk
Frederick Hurten Rhead
Raymond Loewy
Donald Deskey
Walter Dorwin Teague
Henry Dreyfuss
Norman Bel Geddes
Dave Chapman
Greta von Nessen
Eliot Noyes
Russel Wright
Gilbert Rohde

From the USPS site:

The Pioneers of American Industrial Design (Forever®) stamp pane honors 12 of the nation's most important and influential industrial designers. Encompassing everything from furniture and electric kitchen appliances to corporate office buildings and passenger trains, the work of these designers helped shape the look of everyday life in the 20th century.

Each stamp features the name of a designer and a photograph of an object created by the designer, as well as a description of the object and the year or years when the object was created. The selvage features a photograph of the "Airflow" fan designed by Robert Heller around 1937.

Art director Derry Noyes selected the objects that appear on the stamps.

The Pioneers of American Industrial Design stamps are being issued as Forever stamps. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

To get your own copy of this exciting tribute go to your local post office or online.

I love the stamps and but only wish that the USPS would have included Eva Zeisel in the group. It would have been a fitting tribute to her and her beautiful work. Let hope the stamps are so successful that the USPS does another series in the very near future.

Eames Chair

Enjoy this archival video on how an Eames shell chair is build. The film show how a simple form becomes a design classic.

How It's Made: Blow Molding

Everyday we use items that designers spend substantial time creating. One such item of design is the plastic bottle. The video above demonstrates how a blow mold process is used to create a plastic bottle. Hopefully soon, chemistry will enable a complete use of bioplastics in the forming of bottles to help make it truly sustainable design.

Designs of the Decade - IDSA

The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) has announced the Designs of the Decade. The round up includes Target's ClearRX designed by Deborah Adler, Herman Miller's Setu chair, and Defibtech's Lifeline Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) among others. To view the complete list and narratives go to the IDSA's Designs of the Decade site.

Happy 104th Birthday Eva Zeisel!

“Design is pleasure for me”, states Eva Zeisel. This statement perchance is the secret to becoming an icon of design but it may also be the blueprint to living a long life. Eva Zeisel who turns 104 on Saturday, November 13th was born in Hungry and found that her passion was to be a “maker of useful things”. Eva has designed thousands of products over her long and productive career mostly to beautify the surroundings in our homes. Eva’s work graces both the permanent collections of the world’s finest museum and the tables of every day life.

One of the keys to Zeisel’s success has been her consistent maxim of “the playful search for beauty”. Eva’s designs arouse the senses with their sensual curves and delightful lines that standout from the commonplace. Making designs that are fresh, intelligent, and discerning would be hard work for most but Eva has been doing it for the last 80 plus years.

Eva learned design and the craft of pottery in Hungry as a young woman. She completed her internship and used her experiences and designs to allow her to see the world. Seeking out opportunities, she selected the job that took her the farthest from her home in Budapest to Germany.

Eva was one of the first to design dinnerware for mass production in 1928 for Schramberger Majolikafabrik in Germany. She moved to Russia in 1932 to design dinnerware, bath fixtures and numerous household products. Zeisel was named the artistic director of the Soviet ceramics industry. In 1936 while working in Moscow, she was arrested by the Stalin regime and placed in a prison camp for 15 months. She was charged with “plotting against the life of Stalin”. Just as suddenly as she was taken prisoner, she was released with only the cloths on her back due to the influences of important European intellectuals that contacted Stalin. Upon Eva’s release in 1937, she traveled to Vienna. She married Hans Zeisel at this time and they both moved the USA as the Nazi movement grew in Austria and Germany.

In late 1938, Eva and Hans move to New York. Eva raised two children with Hans, their son John Zeisel and daughter Jean Richards. She started working on numerous designs and began teaching at the Pratt Institute in 1939, founding the industrial ceramics curriculum. Eva’s designs have been sought after over these many years. She has designed dinnerware and products for all the major china companies the world over in her career.

In 1946, Eva Zeisel had the first one women show at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). Her work can be found in every major museum collection around the world from MoMA and the Metropolitan in NYC to the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert in London. In 2005, Zeisel was awarded the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Eva has continued to design over the years never letting her passion for design to dwindle. “I design better than before, I have so much experience” said Eva. At the young age of 101, she designed the One-O-One collection of tableware for Royal Stafford.

Eva’s work is available today at Eva Zeisel Originals run by her grandson, Adam Zeisel. Adam wrote earlier this week, “EvaZeiselOriginals.com is having a successful year. We have already added the Eva Zeisel Lounge Chair and Bird Shakers to the collection. My relationship with Eva continues to be strong and joyous.” Her designs are also available at such major outlets like Design within Reach and Crate and Barrel along with many art museum stores and galleries. Eva is still actively designing today. She works with a Design Assistant, Olivia Barry, who helps translate her ideas and concepts into reality. Eva personally reviews the progress and designs during development. (See Video Below) Eva has also authored a book, Eva Zeisel on Design in 2004.

We all can learn a great deal for the wonderful career of Eva Zeisel. Design with passion, love your family and friends, laugh, and always look forward. Seeing, using and touching one of Eva’s exquisite and graceful designs might just be our way to drink from the fountain of youth that Eva Zeisel has discovered. May design continue to flow from your heart and mind, Happy Birthday Mrs. Zeisel!!!

Eva Zeisel: Distinguished By Design from Jeremy Bales on Vimeo.

(A film from Eva Zeisel's 102nd Birthday party and her working with her Design Assistant, Olivia Barry)

Bookshelf Porn

Last year we had the Chair Whore, now we have Bookshelf Porn. Bookshelf Porn is a site dedicated to all things bookshelves with images of innovated designs and traditional designs. It is an engrossing look at the many ways we all store our treasuries that call books. Their is nothing better then pulling out an old book and revisiting it; seeing it in new ways, gaining further understandings and seeing where the adventure takes you. I say, stock up and pile up your bookshelves with friends and treasuries.

Eva Zeisel Speaking on TED.com

To continue to celebrate Eva Zeisel's 103 Birthday today, watch and enjoy her from the TED conference in Feb. 2001. She speaks of her playful search for beauty, how she thinks of herself as a "maker of things" and how she got started as a designer.

Eva Zeisel - Happy 103 Birthday!!

The search for the fountain of youth has been going on for ages, it seems Eva Zeisel who turn 103 on November 13 has found it. If one was to ask Eva her secret, I am sure she would answer, Design, Passion, Family and Friends. Eva was born in 1906 in Hungry and studied art and pottery in her early years. She has helped shape the world we live in as an industrial designer. “I can’t stop thinking of making things,” said Eva in a recent interview. Eva is still designing and produced several new products that have come to the market.

I have long admired Eva's designs, her passion and zest for life. Her work is naturalist and futurist. Eva has been quoted as saying she is always looking for the "playful search for beauty" in her designs. I believe she has been very successful in this quest.

Eva was one of the first to design dinnerware for mass production in 1928 with the Schramberger Majolica Fabrik in Germany. She moved to Russia in 1932 to design dinnerware, bath fixtures and numerous household products. In 1936 while working in Moscow, she was arrested by the Stalin regime and placed in a prison camp for 15 months. She was charged with “plotting against the life of Stalin”. She was finally released due to the influences of important European intellectuals that contacted Stalin. Upon Eva’s release in 1937, she traveled to Vienna then to England. She married Hans Zeisel at this time.

In late 1938, Eva and Hans move to New York. She starts working on numerous designs and began teaching at the Pratt Institute in 1939, forming the industrial ceramics curriculum. Eva’s designs have been sought after over these many years. She has designed dinnerware and products for all the major china companies the world over in her career.

In 1946, Eva Zeisel had the first one women show at MOMA. Her work can be found in every major museum collection around the world from MOMA and the Metropolitan in NYC to the Victoria and Albert in London.

In 2005, Zeisel was awarded the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Eva Zeisel: Distinguished By Design from Jeremy Bales on Vimeo.

(A film from Eva Zeisel's 102nd Birthday party and her working with her Design Assistant, Olivia Barry)

Eva’s work is available today at Eva Zeisel Originals run by her grandson, Adam Zeisel. Her designs are also available at such major outlets like Design within Reach and Crate and Barrel along with many art museum stores and galleries. Eva is still actively designing today. She works with a Design Assistant, Olivia Barry, who helps translate her ideas and Eva personally reviews the progress and designs during development. Eva has authored a book, Eva Zeisel on Design.

We can all learn from Eva Zeisel. Design with passion. Live life with passion. Love your family and friends. The fountain of youth has been found in each of Eva's designs. Happy Birthday Mrs. Zeisel!!!

Old Computers

Check out this collection of old computer images. Can we call them older computers since the images I am showing are computer I remember working on? Great collection of what was and what was is always an inspiration for what will be. Review all the images at this link.

Designing in Guyana

A friend of us at aNEW designs and former drawing buddy of Jacqueline at Pratt, William Gordon just had an article published on Core77. The article titled, "One Factory, One Forest: Design, Ecology and Micro-Economic Development in Guyana" explains about William's designs and having them produced in Guyana. The article explores the process of a design, materials and production in Guyana. To read the full article go to this link at Core77.

Great article William and it looks like you had a great adventure. We are looking forward to seeing the FAXON chair on our next visit to NYC.

Stamps by Design

The Royal Mail of Britain will be issuing this great series of stamps to celebrate British Design. The stamps will be available in the UK on January 13th of 2009. The stamps show some of the UK's great design contributions from the mini skirt, to the Concorde to the Mini. In 2008, the USPS released a series of stamps celebrating Eames Design and 2009 looks like it will be just as good with the Royal Mail. Here is to the continued celebration and acknowledgements of our craft!

(via Creative Review)