IDI Creative Axis - Institute of Designers in Ireland

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28 DESIGN WEEKPainting the town orangeBy Conor ClarkeRather than be the only measure of the Weekwe felt that it was very important to widen thebase and, as you know, last year we broughtall the design bodies and other potentialstakeholders on board to share in theopportunities and the responsibilities.The result was a week of great intensity witha much more professional structure to it, interms of management and presentation. Wewere very lucky to have been able to partnerwith the Dutch Design event and all the spinoff that it generated. Conor Clarke, with hisinimitable presence, made this possible alongwith the Dutch Embassy. It was hugelystimulating and acted as a very interestingcounterpoint to our own design output. It wasalso the occasion to bring MinisterO’Donoghue on board with all the attendantspot lights. The possibility of linking withother design groups in future Design Weekswill be a priority. As usual so much happenedthrough the generosity and enthusiasm of agreat team, in the great IDI tradition, howeverthis is not a long term option for an event ofthis kind and we will certainly be seeking moreconcrete support and funding from theappropriate bodies – who are they I hear youask! All will be revealed.! We now know thatprayers, pieces of string and selotape are notlegal tender!Hopefully you all benefited from some partof the Week and it will continue to be a priorityto have stimulating events for the variousprofessional design disciplines. The responsefrom so many was how challenged they wereby experiencing other disciplines! It is also agreat opportunity to promote awareness of allaspects of the value of design to a much wideraudience who are all, in some way or other,patrons of design – be it the cornflakes packetor the latest home entertainment system!.This is a slow burn but will grow. This is theplatform from which to reclaim the muchmaligned term “Design”. We are also keenthat potential new designers are exposed tothe possibility of the different disciplines andthe creativity day has been a resoundingsuccess in this regard.As with all babies, you love them to bits andwant the best for them. We look forward to thetime when this baby will be doing its own thingas a grown up – and maybe inviting us out for adrink!. Nappies might have been disposed ofby now – thank God – but there is still a goodbit of growing yet so we will are keen to receiveany amount of good parenting advise from youall, who might have lots more ideas andexperience to draw on.‘The Foreign Affairs of Dutch Design’. It seemslike a strange title for an exhibition, but whenyou realise it comprised of work done by Dutchdesigners for foreign clients, or in some casesmultinational clients based in Holland, then itmade sense. In many ways it was a refreshingshow of work; no nominations, no awards, nosour grapes – just a showcase of the very bestin Dutch visual communication, product andspatial design. Clear, cascading typography byThonik explained the work on a beautifullydesigned display system by Gilian Schrofer.And it wasn’t just flat graphic panels, realproducts were there; the Senseo coffee maker,the Bugaboo pram from ‘Sex and the City’ andthe Sexy Relaxy chair by Richard Hutten. Itwas inspirational. It made you glad to be adesigner. With your head full of ideas youwanted to get back to the studio and do better.The exhibition was an initiative of theAssociation of Dutch Designers (BNO), theDutch Design Foundation (Premsela) andsupported by EVD, a division of the DutchMinistry of Economic Affairs. Over the pastone-and-a-half years the exhibition had beento London, Cape Town, Berlin, Amsterdam,Budapest, Munich and finally Dublin.There are 46,000 designers in theNetherlands and they contribute €2.7 billionto the economy. This is no accident, thenumber of jobs in the Dutch creative sectorgrew by 25% in the past ten years due to agovernment policy which fully embraced thepower of design, both culturally andeconomically.We were very privileged to get thisexhibition to Dublin. Andrew Fallon suggestedthe idea to me and with the help of Bert vander Lingen and Ruth Connaughton at the RoyalNetherlands Embassy we made it a reality. Ittook a year of careful planning and thecommitment of a small group of motivatedpeople, in particular David Smith (IADT),Ian Doherty (ICAD), Arthur Duff (IDI ) andShane O’Toole (Irish Architecture Foundation).Foreign Affairs was a catalyst for a wholeseries of satellite events – talks andworkshops by Koeweiden Postma (Graphics),Kesselskramer (Advertising), MVRDV(Architects), Warehouse (Multimedia),Natasha Drabbe’s Re-f-use (SustainableProduct Design) and a showcase ofcontemporary furniture design byHella Jongerius and Marcel Wanders.These events added a distinctly orangeflavour to DesignWeek 06 which for the firsttime in its ten year history stepped up tointernational status. And what a week it was!The Dutch events attracted over 2000 people.Wim Crouwel turned up along with 100 or soinvited guests at the excellent ‘Exhibition inMono’ organised by Image Now in associationwith on-line design store Blanka, and that wasbefore Design Week had even officiallystarted. 140 people at the opening of ForeignAffairs with a further 750 visitors over thecourse of the week, 220 people atArthur Duff
DESIGNWEEK29The Morrison for Koeweiden Postma andKesselskramer, 800 people at the Gaietyfor a mesmerizing and truly inspirationalpresentation by Winy Maas of MVRDVArchitects, 70 people at NCAD for WarehouseMultimedia, 100 people at DIT for NatashaDrabbe’s lecture on sustainable productdesign, 60 people at IADT for Gilian Schrofer’slecture on exhibition design and a hugeturnout for the ICAD Upstarts exhibition atCreative Inc., notably attended byJacques Koeweiden and Hugo van den Bos.For once our many creative clubs – ICAD,IDI, GDBA, RIAI and the Irish ArchitectureFoundation – came together under one bannerto showcase creativity. Everybody was into itand everybody had a part to play. I can’tremember a more positive buzz around thecity for things creative.Once again it took the Dutch to provide thevision and inspiration. In one way or anotherthey have been prodding us into action heresince the early 1950s. It was therefore verygratifying to hear an Irish Government Ministerfinally acknowledging the contribution ofJan de Fouw to the Irish creativelandscape. And indeed heartwarming to seeNorman Mongan acknowledging the immensetalent of Piet Sluis at the screening of Oranje& Green at the Netherlands Embassy.It was a Design Week to remember. I hopewe can do it again, but it will be very difficultto find the same support and commitment wereceived from the Dutch in putting it all together.The success of the Foreign Affairs exhibitioncould be mirrored here by a positive showcasefor Irish creativity. ICAD, IDI and the GDBAhave their award shows and they have animportant role to play in raising standards, butwe are not seeing a representative showcase.Many are tired of creative competitions.Perhaps it is time for an exhibition that simplycelebrates Irish creativity and sends a positivemessage to our government about the culturaland economic power of design.Conor Clarke is a Director of Design Factory.Dutch Design;Talking to Marcel WandersBy Eleanor FleggTo mark its tenth anniversary, and with helpfrom the Royal Netherlands Embassy, IrishDesign Week went international in 2006 withan impressive calendar of events that includedthe travelling exhibition, The Foreign Affairsof Dutch Design. ‘The exhibition is focusedon objects that were designed for foreignclients or that were a huge success abroad,like the Haircare range from Remington orthe Philishave from Philips,’ explainedNatascha Drabbe of the Dutch designfoundation. ‘You have to remember thatDutch design isn’t just about witty conceptualdesigns, it’s also about the ordinary objectsthat people encounter in their everyday lives.’The Dutch may have succeeded in thedesign of unglamorous everyday objects, butthey’re equally distinguished in cool andfamous design. Among their superstars,Marcel Wanders is close to the top of the pile.He was voted designer of the year 2005-2006by the Elle Decoration Design Awards and hisdesigns are on display in illustrious places likeMOMA, New York. Wanders is probably mostfamous for his Knotted Chair (1996). Itbecame, as Wanders describes, ‘an icon ofwarm and romantic design.’ The chair is madefrom knotted rope that has been impregnatedwith epoxy resin and hardened. The chair issurprising because the material that youexpect to be soft and pliable is actually rigidand can support weight. It’s also cocking asnook at design snobbery because the knotsare created using macramé – that terminallyun-hip eighties habit of creating horribleobjects in knotted rope.There’s an element of the unexpected in allof Wanders work, but he doesn’t like to call ithumour. ‘I’ve always been sceptical aboutjokes when it comes to designing products.Jokes are funny the first time, the second timethey are not so funny, and the third time theyare not funny at all. A piece of furniture musthave a long term value, it’s not something toloose interest in, but a if product is trulyinnovative it will have an element of surprise.I make you believe that you know the answer –but really the answer is the opposite of whatyou think.’Wanders’ VIP Chair is an example. ‘It lookslike an elephant, more or less immoveable,with big thick legs. The surprise is that, whenyou push it, you discover that it’s on wheelsand moves really easily. The feeling that youget when you experience this resembles thatwarm feeling that you get when you hear ajoke, but it’s more subtle and more lasting.It’s like an unexpected welcome.’The Knotted Chair wasn’t included inThe Foreign Affairs of Dutch Design, whichconcentrated on twenty-first century designs,but its successors were on display. Theseinclude Wander’s Crochet Table (2001) –a perfect white cube of rigid crocheted fabric –and the innovative Carbon Chair (2004),which Wanders designed with Bertjan Pot.The chair, which weighs just over 2 lb, is oneof Wanders favourites. ‘The chair is made ofcarbon fibre, a plastic associated with aircraftContinued overleaf >
Page 1: IDI Creative Axis
Page 4: 2 IDI NEWSIDI Publications 2006By C
Page 9 and 10: EDUCATION7Shaping Perceptions -Oppo
Page 11 and 12: REGIONALNEWS9Students who successfu
Page 13 and 14: PAST PRESISDENTS11takes us into a s
Page 15 and 16: FRANK RYAN13through the foundation
Page 17 and 18: EVENTS15father of thematic exhibiti
Page 19 and 20: RICHARDSEYMOUR17do’. To demonstra
Page 21 and 22: EVENTS19Is Rome burning? Are design
Page 23 and 24: EVENTS21Report on Intellectual Prop
Page 25 and 26: DESIGNINNOVATION23grow, the researc
Page 27 and 28: EYE25however, is that they have a v
Page 29: CANDY27Oliver Jeffers and many many
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