Is it possible to be truly authentic?

Designers and artists all have their own way of working however have no choice but to let every piece of information around them sink in, to then regurgitate that information in their own way. Michael Bierut talks about this even in his own work in ‘Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design’

‘Did I think of it consciously when I designed my poster? No, my excuse was the same as Kaavya Viswanathan’s: I saw something, stored it in my memory, forgot where it came from, and pulled it out later-much later-when I needed it.’

This happens in various degrees in art and design all the time. Innovation is what design is built on. In the 1960s, Braun became renowned for its iconic designs for its devices created by Dieter Rams. Rams later wrote the ten principles of good design, of which went on to influence many designers. Jonathan Ive, Apple’s SVP of Industrial Design since 1997, is a good example.

Good design:

• Is innovative.
• Makes a product useful.
• Is aesthetic.
• Makes a product understandable.
• Is unobtrusive.
• Is honest.
• Is long-lasting.
• Is thorough down to the last detail.
• Is environmentally friendly.
• Is as little design as possible.

Braun T3 pocket radio (1958) and first-generation iPod (2001)

It is very clear that the Braun devices have influenced Apples. They have an undisputed modernist style influencing them in confirming principles of modernism holding value in contemporary practice.

Bierut, M. (2012). Seventy-nine short essays on design. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, p.198

Braun T3 pocket radio (1958) and first-generation iPod (2001). (2012). [image] Available at: https://cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/tumblr_lvfwsw1rFd1qzywsco1_500.jpg [Accessed 8 Nov. 2017].