Memphis 1981-1988

Ettore Sotsass loved to paint but trained as a architect , that didn’t stop his drawing thought, he thought of as an expression through his hands , he also carried a camera around, shooting everything from walls to kitchens he wanted to remember and understand the world, but many wouldn’t remember him for his photography or painting , he is known for his design work , he was one of the major forces of flood of design that came out of Italy after the war his first big break was with Olivetti when Sotsaas came along technology was booming, the machines where cold and large and scary, Sotass made them cool, attractive and user friendly, his Valentine type writer became iconic pop product. But he got bored of mass production.

 

He then travelled to India where he was inspired by the colour he then moved to America where he encountered pop art filling his mind with more colour, he wanted to take inspiration from his travels back to Italy , he did so and the story goes that one night after listening to a track from bob Dylan’s album he form the Memphis group , fluorescent colours, bold primary and pastel colors,and squiggly shape, this movement was inspired by Bauhaus and Fisher-Prices, we also see inspiration from  Pop Art and Art Deco. upon furniture made him inter nationally famous .

Fastforward 30 years or so to the 21st centurey , memphis is back and in full swing shoing up on the runway in furniture design, and has become a set tread of our egeration. 
Designers like Christian Dior use this style in Fall/Winter 2011/2012 collection. 
the ideas and styles the artists are using now is very simmilar to the characteristics of Memphis, useing lots of colour   more on the pastels and expreimenting more with wireforms. 
They used some of the original black and white patterens and eveloved them to 2d graphics.

product design - AWOL trends. 2015. product design - AWOL trends. [ONLINE] Available at: http://awoltrends.com/tag/product-design/. [Accessed 29 January 2015].


Anti-Design - The Art History Archive. 2015. Anti-Design - The Art History Archive. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/antidesign/. [Accessed 29 January 2015].

Ettore Sottsass / Design Museum Collection : - Design/Designer Information. 2015. Ettore Sottsass / Design Museum Collection : - Design/Designer Information. [ONLINE] Available at: http://design.designmuseum.org/design/ettore-sottsass. [Accessed 29 January 2015].