Model of the 1962 Republic Apollo LEM proposal. Loving the type on this. The bottom two images are concepts by competing manufacturers.
On July 25, 1962, NASA invited 11 firms to submit proposals for the LEM. Of the 11 invited, 9 submitted proposals. The firms that submitted proposals were Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop, Ling-Temco-Vought, Grumman, Douglas, General Dynamics, Republic, and Martin Marietta. Grumman was the winner. This model is owned by the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Long Island NY.
The “Kitchen Satellite” by Luigi Colani, 1969. An exercise in extreme ergonomics, Colani’s kitchen was designed to have everything at arm’s length. The kitchen pod would connect to the main house. This is sort of the domestic equivalent of Vince Clarke’s dome studio, which it is my dream to replicate in my backyard, should I ever have one.
So apparently there is this guy in Switzerland who either owns or has access to many of the most iconic product designs from the 60’s and 70’s. He also takes amazing pictures of them, and posts them in high resolution for us to enjoy / print. This man is a hero.
I always wonder though, would having these artifacts make me happy? Would being surrounded by the objects of my desire actually fulfill my need for order and beauty? Or would I obsess; constantly dusting and arranging them symmetrically on walnut desks made by George Nelson? Probably all of the above, but for now one can only dream.
Whenever I get to lusting over design like this I start thinking about the nature of appreciation. What abstract facet of the human condition allows us to seek and covet objects which may not necessarily provide any meaningful function or benefit our daily lives? I can’t tell you how many fellow designer’s homes I have visited to see various defunct or otherwise unused products neatly displayed on shelves, never again to serve their intended purpose. Why do we surround ourselves with these relics? Devices which through some perverse twist of fascination have been stripped of their intrinsic usefulness and rendered as some fetishized monument to our personal design sensibilities, gathering dust on a mantle.
That’s probably reading way to deep into things so I’m going to take the easy answer and say it’s simply the act of art appreciation. There is just something about the fact that these were originally designed as functional objects that throws a wrench into the whole concept of approaching them purely as works of art. At any rate, I want every single thing up there, in my house, now.
Linda McCartney married Paul in 1969 and was a professional photographer who shot intimate portraits of some of the most influential artists of the 60s.
Linda was house photographer at the Fillmore East concert hall and shot numerous musicians including the Stones, Doors, Frank Zappa, Kinks, the Who, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Beatles etc.
A collection of her photographs titled Linda McCartney’s Sixties: A Portrait of an Era was published in 1993. Sadly, Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer two years later and passed away at the McCartney Ranch in 1998.
Not a whole lot of info on this one as the page is in Japanese, but Wakui Works has some nice shots from 1960’s Japan featuring Eames / Herman Miller furniture in it’s natural habitat. Whenever I see shots like these I imagine the lucky people who found all this discarded in an alley somewhere around 1994.
I just came across UK based illustrator Mike Lemanski’s work today and I’m so glad I did. A quick browse through his portfolio will leave no doubt this guy is on top of his game. I’m really enjoying his application of the 60’s playful illustration vibe without falling overboard into kitsch. Can’t wait to see more from him.
Absolutely killer illustrations by Matthew Lyons. My first assumption was that these pieces were very old, and the work of a grizzled old artist, who had developed exceptional skill and craft over years and years of animation grunt work. I was incorrect. Matthew is actually a 21 year old student at his final year at the Loughborough University in England. He’s clearly a natural. Not only is his eye for color and composition spot on, he also clearly has a vast imagination. I want to get in my spaceship and explore each of the scenes he has presented.
I am not one for motorcycles, but it’s an ad like this that makes me reconsider my position. Sign me up to be one of the motorcycle bad guys in the Bourne films.
What about that logo! I like it — maybe a little unwieldy, but it does a good job conjuring their product. I guess it’s hard to evaluate at this point given its classic status. As far as I know, Pirelli was in the business of tires and not bikes. Either way, Gerhard Forster makes the thing look damn cool. I love the charcoal-like texture in the shadows; similar to some of the Robert Longo work I wrote about a few weeks ago.
