What bothers me about KR is the public perception he creates. People think this is how a designer is supposed to look and act. Rather than just a regular person. No employer thinks twice about hiring an engineer. But a designer is sometimes a tough sell when this is the image that comes to mind, a weird guy in a white suit with goofy glasses and nail polish.
Saw the Cone at Retail >> yawner.
Can you elaborate on this? Always more curious about this kind of stuff.
it’s about time karim designs a product that doesn’t suck 
…heard that one in the office today…couldn’t resist…i do think the design is pretty dope - a shame it doesn’t work very well.
The word through the grape vine from a firend that has a friend who is a line manager there…
When contracted to do work with Target apparently Phillipe sent over some thumbnail sketches, color and material swatches, and a bill. When they came back to him and said they where having trouble manufacturing it at a reasonable cost and they might need to revise some designs, need more design work/options, or change some materials apparently he said thay must be made exactly as specified and he didn’t care about their issues… they figured out how to make them and took a loss on some products to keep the price down.
The word through the grape vine … When contracted to do work with Target apparently Philippe sent over some thumbnail sketches
I heard the same. I went to the opening presentation of his products (at Target, during an IDSA Midwest Conference) and as a backdrop they had dozens of sketches scattered across the floor and walls. The scribbled sketches were very loose, similar to the style that star architects make. I was told by an insider that those were the only drawings they got from him, and they had to complete the designs by referencing books on his other work to get the right look & feel.
If this is true, then kudos to the Target designers for pulling that off so successfully (despite the products not actually selling all that well…).
Starck may argue that they didn’t want to pay him to take the designs any further, but that is still very unethical.
IMO this hands-off design process and lack of responsibility is what sucks about the designer-star phenomenon.
I was at that reception in Minneapolis as well, and I remember one of my classmates (we were sophomores) looking so disheatened and when I asked him what was up he said something to the effect of,
THIS is what we’re supposed to aspire to!?
Also Ironically, Karim did some design for B&D before he set up shop for imslef.
heh. thats funny, was also at that reception and also remember feeling the same way.
the sketches weren’t even very descriptive. if i gave that to some of my peers they would laugh at me and tell me to come back with something they could use.
it was an odd thing to see as a student.
I’m glad to read I’m not the only one to feel this way when I see stuff like that… I’d love to see the development sketches and models the in house designers did at Target.
I think some designers are more interested in building a brand than designing. Marc Newson seems the exception in that class. He seems to get pretty into it, though a very talented designer here helped finish off his shoe, Robert Dolan, one of the best.
Don’t mean to get back on the original subject, but I just read through this for the first time.
Have you guys used the cone? A friend of mine has it, I didn’t use it, but I picked it up.
rollermt,
My biggest complaint would be ergonomics as well, and not only because it’s uncomfortable, but becuase gravity is trying to take the thing out of your hands. Maybe I was grabbing it at the wrong spot, but it seems to me that no thought was given to where the wieght would be once the internals were in place. A more involved designer would have been around during the prototype phase and said “CRAP!! we’ll have to give this plastic some texture.” These are the types of problems a real Designer would solve.
The proportions of it kinda suck too IMO. But My friend has it on her desk, not on the floor, this could be why it looked “Big” to me.
I agree that ergonomics and design go hand in hand, but sometimes it’s not that big of a deal. You pick this cone up for 10 seconds to pick up some cereal on the floor, who cares if your holding a cone and not this engineered handle? Id rather have the cone sitting in my living room or kitchen then the other two models, but the fact that it doesn’t even work rules it out completely. I bet if it had been designed by anyone other then KR then people wouldn’t have such a negative opinion on it…just a thought.
I would be just as negative about it…probably more so. I can accept that one very busy designer signs off on such a simple design. I can also accept that he doesn’t have time to follow up on the project to ensure that it meets the basic requirements as a product. After all, Karim Rashid is “changing the world”…he probably only 5 minutes for this entire project. However, I would expect far better from an in-house design team that had an intimate knowledge of the business’s clients, manufacturing processes and technologies.
Back to why I would be negative though… The plastics article on Core’s front page has reminded me of all the opportunities that plastics give designers. With such infinite opportunity to create form, I wonder why anyone would choose a simple revolution like that? Especially when sticking with that form makes the product so huge. Another thing I don’t like, is I wouldn’t want to show this thing anymore than a Dyson or B&D. It’s not good enough looking that if it were a sulpture, I would want it in my living room…and I thought that was the whole point.
I think the problem I, and a lot of others who have complained, have is that it is basically the opposite of ergonomic and semantic. Holding it for as little as 10 seconds should / could be practically effortless, but due to the cone + gravity equation, you can’t just let it dangle in your grasp or you will drop it. You must make a conscious effort to hold this thing.
There should be a test where you apply a soapy water solution to your hand and clench your fist as hard as possible to see how far you can launch your Kone.
There should be a test where you apply a soapy water solution to your hand and clench your fist as hard as possible to see how far you can launch your Kone.
I managed to launch it four feet 2 inches, and I’m starting to see the fun in this item. Maybe KR wasn’t such an unethically irresponsible designer after all…
Have you actually held one? My friend has one and I used it and holding it was no problem. Yes if your hands were wet then it would be…I’m not saying it’s this beautiful piece either, but it looks better then the other two. The dyson looks like it’s straight out of a ghostbuster movie, and that’s cool if you keep it in a closet. I just wouldn’t be ashamed to have the cone sitting next to a couch or in the corner or a room, that’s all. but since it sucks, I wouldn’t even waste my time.
And just because something is made out of plastic doesn’t mean it needs to have this organic, blobject shape.