RIP Robin Day, genius of design

British furniture designer Robin Day passed away on 9 November 2010 at the grand old age of 95. He was – and will continue to be – an inspiration to many other furniture designers.

© Michael Venning / National Portrait Gallery, London

Born in High Wycombe, he graduated from the Royal College of Art in interior and furniture design. Best known for his mass-produced, injection-moulded polypropylene stacking chair, Robin and his wife Lucienne Day were pioneers of British design after World War II.

Since creating the polyprop chair in 1963, more than 20 million chairs have been produced in forty countries around the world. Wow! The chair was also adopted by every school across the UK thanks to its stackable design and cheap production, all due to the innovative use of the wonderful new materials that became widely available during the 1960s.

He was quoted as saying “Commerce is against morality. Morality is going to lose every time” and “magazines and advertising are flogging the idea that you have to keep changing things and get something new. I think that’s balls – evil. But obviously that’s your livelihood” he was never a fan of ‘fashion’ in design much like some of the greatest designers in the world, but realised that the strongest way to say this was through his timeless designs.

A retrospective of Robin and Lucienne Day’s work will appear at the Pallant House Gallery from 26 March to 26 June 2011.

Now sit back and watch this great 10-minute film: Contemporary Days: The Designs of Lucienne & Robin Day from Design Onscreen:

Naoto Fukasawa works with Lamy

On a recent trip to Osaka, Japan I had the opportunity to meet with the designer Naoto Fukasawa.

One of the products that has recently been launched by the designer (who is well known for products for lifestyle shop MUJI (無印良品) was the ballpoint pen for Lamy.

The pen is triangular in shape which is a more comfortable fit to hold than the regular circular shape with a velvety surface for comfort grip.

Fukasawa has created the pen in his trademark colours of black, gray and orange with a blue also available. The Australian magazine, POL OXYGEN created a version of the pen with Fukasawa’s signature printed on to it which Fukasawa was not happy about.

The idea of a designer as a star may suit some designers such as Phillippe Starck or Marc Newson but this is not what good design is about. Fukasawa, taking inspiration from designers such as Dieter Rams, feels it is his responsibility as a designer to create long-life products and not to create a fashionable product to win over the adulation of the press and public.

This must be applauded.