What is High Design

High Design is a term I know internally from Philips Design, the former CEO Stefano Marzano used to use the term a lot in his communications.

It always resulted in a sophisticated yet simple design identity such as with the Sonicare brushes and Robust kitchen appliance series.

The overall approach with High Design is that it is driven from an abstract level, based on a multi-leveled roadmap, it is very research- and human-centered and integrates findings from different disciplines - artists, futurists, psychologists, user researchers, trendwatchers, marketeers and technologists.

That isn’t high design guys. That is strategic design.

Yeah I believe it is a term the CEO coined more for marketing purposes, though I got what it meant it was also the sense of sophistication that I have always associated with the term. Also we’re not talking about High-Level Design which is more related to strategic design thinking.

So can we call it an exclusive and artistic approach to creating objects of simple functionality that could also be made with low tech materials and processes?

Droog Design would then also be a good example.

Yes. I think Droog is the perfect example!

Would you agree the work Ross Lovegrove and his studio produce as high design?

I think his early work was a bit more commercial, but the bulk of what he is known for is probably high design. I think he, Phillip Stark, Karim Rashid, Marc Newson, they all flirt on the edge of high design. Some of their work solidly is (like the marble book cases I mentioned earlier) and some of their work is more mass market. I respect that about all of them. They have the ability to take their work up market or mass market.

Droog I think is more straight on as an example like Ralph mentioned.

the way i think about it -
Design that asks a question more than it answers = high design.

I think that is a good way to think about it.

since we are visual people:
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Just before the 18th century, those who considered themselves to be cultured and wealthy wanted to buy and share artworks that were of a higher class. They created the term ‘high art’, to signify that only cultured peoples would understand and appreciate it. They also include foods, like Foie gras and caviar, to be only appreciated by people with a high-culture appetite. High Design is a same thing. Very much for high-class peoples. High design stems from the idea that money is no longer important. The people who have High Design are so wealthy and educated, that the money does not matter. Only the design matters. This is High Design, and goes very much against the concept of Democratic Design - the idea that everyone can appreciate good design.

Karim Rashid would be a good example of high design - or something.

I find more pictures of him in different poses then actual items he designed…

Really? Karim Rashid has a ton of products that have hit the market, many of them are somewhat low cost products made for the masses, such as his Umbra products and the work has has done for Bobble.

I like a lot of Karim’s products, especially a lot of the low cost ones. He was early on that high design/low cost trend with Umbra in the 90’s before Target went national. Just get past the selfies. :slight_smile: I’ve met him and spent some time with him and was really impressed by his thinking and how amicable he is. I found him much more personable and friendly than other semi-superstar designers who you read about and he had more thought behind his design decisions as well.

Wow guys, I lost track and this thread really grew with a lot of insightful comments.

A few other familiar design terms where brought up and like Democratic Design and Strategic Deign and High-Level Design. They mainly make me think of other buzz words like Ergonomic Design, and Inclusive Design, but they all seem to be related to methodologies and desired outcomes.

Makes me think of a Core 77 article that talks about types of design rather broadly (link below),with a focus on the designers intent.

Not to be confused with design while being high.

But, judging by the results, the two are not mutually exclusive! :laughing:

We brought him to speak at my school my senior year, I was the IDSA president and was a little on the fence, but we had an amazing treasurer that really wanted to bring him and I told her if she could figure out the funding that I would support it. She found funds from all over and got different campus groups together and worked with Karim on his price and was able to make it happen, and I am very glad she did. Hearing his thinking and the logic and though behind his work I had a hard time finding fault where I once had. I took a Logic and Critical Thinking class a few years prior, and one of the things our Professor impressed on us was, “he who defines the terms wins the argument.” I couldn’t help but think about this the whole time Karim was presenting, he was really impressive in that regard and was very nice and fun when we went out for drinks after as well.

So High Design = Haute Couture basically

I think that is a good analogy in the fashion world. Basically something that might not be useful/functional in day to day life but might be proactive and referential to its own industry.

High-level design explains the architecture that would be used for developing a software product. The architecture diagram provides an overview of an entire system, identifying the main components that would be developed for the product and their interfaces.

Lifted straight from Wikipedia. Nice one Mr. “2 Posts”!