Category: IDES 142

An opinion piece

Canada has never been known for its design. Historically, influential designers came from Europe, and when New York took over Paris’s role as the major art city, those designers migrated to the United States and not to Canada. Personally, I think Canada lacks personality. We have no voice in the design world, and for the small amount of voices we do have, their success is better found in our neighboring country.

I also believe that indigenous design has never received the credit or platform it deserves. The indigenous design has long-lasting roots, a beautiful yet equally painful history, a distinctive style, and incredible craftsmanship. I would personally love to discuss and showcase work, but I personally don’t feel as though I have the accreditation to do so. I have extremely surface knowledge, and I do not come from a background that ties me to that culture. What might be a beautiful piece of art or design in my eyes, most likely has extreme spiritual, historical and sentimental value to First Nations that I would not be able to express.

I feel that our ‘important’ present-day designers have a certain stiff and corporate feel to them. Those feelings are probably caused by the little care I have for Canadian design and the fact that some things I see that seem to englobe Canadian design does not inspire me.

However, I do think that Canadian design is at a turning point, with multiculturalism playing a massive part. We aren’t there yet, but from my time at BCIT studying graphic design and my first year at Capilano in the IDEA program, I have been lucky enough to see multiple young designers from different ethnic backgrounds, all bringing something different and beautiful to the table. It is clear that new and young designers want to have fun and hopefully, that will be showcased as Canadian design in the coming future.

I own a book called “The look of the century” by Michael Tambini which is about the “changing progression in clothing, transportation, product, and architectural design during the twentieth century, providing information on the most important art movements, key designers, and interesting developments and innovations from each decade”. What I loved so much about it when I was younger was the fact that it was practically a picture book filled with unusual objects that amazed me.

My sister and I had even made a game for the book where we would flip a page as quickly as possible and point at the object that we would want in our imaginary home. The only rule was you couldn’t choose the same one. At the time, I obviously had no notion of any design movements, let alone post-modernism but looking back now, there was 1 piece of furniture that marked me. Out of every single thing in that massive book, it was my favorite. I loved the colors, the unusual shape but most of all the utility of it.

I now come to find out it was The Spacestor (fig.1) by Ettore Sottsass. A masterful post-modern shelf made by one of the most important figures of the movement. This recent discovery was a full-circle moment for me. Something I loved so much as a child was coming back to me through my studies.

Italy was the capital of the post-modern movement in Europe, and Sottsass was leading it. Post-modern was fresh and avant-garde. It was loud, messy, confrontational and contrasting. It was everything that modernism was not. The Memphis group, founded by Sottsass, conducted some of the most memorable designs, that some even considered the group to be in a movement of their own.

However, their style was commercially rejected. Europe was not yet over the minimalist and timeless look of modernism. Post-modernism was too drastic and different for commercial use. However, with time, what was once only popular in the Northern parts of Italy, had spread across Europe and had become approved by design enthusiasts and the general public. Figures like such as Karl Lagerfeld (fig.2) and David Bowie had both created huge personal collections of furniture from the Memphis Group.

Post-modernism became a sensation. With their design of the Bacterio Print (fig.3), the Memphis group became the visual symbol of the ’80s. It could be found everywhere. MTV, Baskin Robbins, and Taco Bell. However, it’s growing popularity became its demise. With its designs becoming more commercialized and main-stream, post-modernism was no longer avant-garde. It had lost its spunk and the philosophy surrounding its roots were no longer represented. By the 1990s, Post-Modern was seen as gimmicky and bad taste and was once again rejected.

Some say that there will be a comeback, with more designers looking to the past for inspiration, and the present popularity of the big bold graphic look, it wouldn’t surprise me to see post-modernism come back to light.

Work Cited.

https://spacestor.com/insights/postmodernism-design/

https://spacestor.com/insights/postmodernism-design/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/postmodernism-philosophy

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/articles/postmodern-design-complete-celebrates-20th-centurys-controversial-movement/

https://www.newhomesource.com/learn/postmodern-design/

Images

Figure. 1

https://spacestor.com/media/scaled_images/insights/2017/07/Carlton-room-divider_big.jpg

Figure 2

https://www.we-heart.com/upload-images/karllagerfeldmemphis1@2x.jpg

Figure 3

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9e/bd/62/9ebd62735a9a85bbf1fa99d5ba562858.jpg

Lindsey Lanpher

Very little is known about Lindsey Lanpher’s personal life. The only time frame that can be found is the list of her awards and jobs she’s had with her most recent job as creative director of BHH. Lindsey began as a junior copywriter for Brooklyn Brothers in New York and worked her way up the ladder. CEO of Anomaly, Mike Bryne named her “a writer’s writer”, describing her work as “powerful” and “sincere”, all of which I completely agree with. Her work is extremely immersive and has a great sensibility to the audience.

She can create environments familiar to us and connect them to the brand or the message. My favorite of her numerous advertisements is the television ads for HBO GO. It is problem-solving at its best. She takes a humorous spin on streaming on the go by showcasing a multitude of problems that are in the same space all of which can be avoided with the given product. From the targeted audience to the set of the shoot, every part is cohesive and brilliant.

Work Cited

“Copywriter / Creative Director / Writer / Lindsey Lanpher.” Working Not Working, workingnotworking.com/73230-lindsey.

“Latest Work: Hold Up.” Lindsey Lanpher, lindseylanpher.com/.

“Lindsey Lanpher.” RSS, www.adsoftheworld.com/creative/lindsey_lanpher.