American Design (1958) – Part 3 of 3
Posted on 05. Aug, 2009 by Greg Sicotte in Design
As the stylists surround our lives with functional forms of beauty, so they surround themselves in an atmosphere of aesthetic challenge. For the studio of design is an inspiration of itself where men and women, representing a variety of talents, join their efforts and materialize their dreams. To give us a better understanding of the basic elements which go to make up the American look, let us look at an example of how styles and designs are created and developed.
Working in an artistic atmosphere men and women of taste and imagination come together to take on the task of creating a design with will express the American look. To every stylist, engineer, draftsman, and clay modeler, as well as the specialists on color, fabrics, and metals, the creation of a new design is a complex process and a tremendous challenge worthy of their most exhaustive effort. And because the newest designs must be kept confidential until just the right moment, the stylists work in rooms that are constantly locked.
And here the dream begins. As the basic concepts of the design problem are defined and outlined, in the broadest terms the objectives are stated and clarified, appraised and evaluated, and thus a design theme, an imaginative, but practical goal is established and agreed upon. Now there is only the stylists creativity, his courage to dream, his knowledge and his experience to bring forth a beginning, a starting point, a place of departure. And from such dream work of individual stylists there emerge, finally, a number of concepts which, although varying greatly in specific treatment, still conform to the established limits of the overall design theme.
Now the choice narrows down to one or two concepts which combine the best styling features of all the other efforts. With the basic concept established, the design must now undergo an intensive period of improvement, refinement, changes, and revisions. Emerging, at last, as the culmination of ideas developed in many minds through many months.
The stylists convert the smaller sketches into full size renderings and line drawings which once again develop and refine the design theme. New dimensions now are added to line to translate the stylists concepts from drawings to full bodied forms. To model the detailing for the finished design a pliable material is needed. And the form is sculptured into a faithful bodily expression of the full size line drawing. Contours are established and held true to the exactions of templates which accurately transfer the dimensions for conforming surfaces. At the same time, the individual art forms of decorations are sculptured in clay for a continuing development of the three dimensional theme.
Now the dreams are presented for approval.
Only a short step behind the exterior concept is the design theme of the interior and its concepts of compliment in color. Textures must harmonize with colors, and fabrics must be durable as well as artistically compatible with the overall interior theme.
Each design concept, exterior as well as interior, is now translated from clay to plaster, from plaster to fiberglass. Thus the ideas, the concepts and the dreams of the stylists come to life in the form of full scale components modeled in fiberglass. To give us the blend of functional beauty, now comes the final transformation into metal, glass, fibers, and fabrics. Modern technology has supplied the American stylist with new materials of intriguing likeness and great strength. The distinguishing marks of the new American look are in art forms, in colors, and in the expressive changes of surface which bring out the new textures and the interplay of new materials.
Designs in straight delicate lines, designs in graceful curves, designs of strength without bulk; beauty of function as well as beauty of form.
Indoors or outdoors, wherever we go, or wherever we stay, now and in the future, we can all depend on the stylist to beautify everything we need. From the eye appeal and swift effectiveness of the smallest utensils in the kitchen of the future, to the serene grandeur of our glistening structures, the hand of the stylist is ever designing changes to improve our life of the future.
Thanks to the American stylist. Yes, thanks to the men and women who design.
