The List: Design
Even
in the late 1980s, when vinyl albums and singles were still
widely available in record stores, choosing the large,
ungainly format over the more portable tape or CD was often
viewed as old fashioned, or
even eccentric. Vinyl was the medium of your father or
grandfather, and it's crackly, hissy sound was no match for
the clarity of CDsf course, this latter assertion, like many
widely held beliefs from the 1980s, (such as thinking that
Thatcherism would work, or that being a New Romantic was a
good idea) was ultimately wrong....click
here for more
Sometimes
the simplest designs are the best. Minimalism may have its
detractors, but when executed properly, and in the right
circumstances, it is an aesthetic philosophy that can result
in the production of wonderfully elegant and functional
items.
And few items can be as elegant or as minimalistic as the
Fender Telecaster - the guitar that helped to change popular
music forever, and which has earned a place on The List both
for the purity with which it marries form and function and
for the overwhelming influence it has had on Western culture
over the last half a century
Developed in the 1940s and first produced commercially in
the early 1950s, the Telecaster, as we know it today, with
twin pickups and a truss rod, was originally called the
Broadcaster until a dispute with Gretsch forced Leo Fender
to change the name. Although it was not the first solid
bodied electric guitar, it was the first that sold in any
meaningful quantities, and, by dint of its simplicity, was
relatively easy to mass produce. ...
click
here for more
Where do we start? These are iconic works of art that you
wear on your feet, every day should you so desire, which has
got to be cool.
It all started with Marquis Mills Converse,
who, in 1908, founded the Converse Rubber Shoe Company after
identifying that sport was something that allowed the
‘American Dream’ to become a reality for people of all
backgrounds, no matter whether they were privileged and
educated or not... click here for
more
This is classic design in its truest sense. Patented
originally in 1932 by George Carwardine, whilst attempting
to develop a new kind of spring in his spare time, the
anglepoise lamp was then licensed to Herbert Terry and Sons
of Redditch, the company that would continue to produce
anglepoise lamps to this day. Carwardine had realised that
the springs he had developed could be applied perfectly to a
‘limbed’ lamp which allowed for the user to position it in
any direction and for it to remain in that position until
moved again.
An automotive factory owner by trade, Carwardine had
concluded that such an adaptable lamp would be of use not
only to his employees but also to direct light onto his own
desk and paperwork. The first lamp, version 1208....click
here for more
The word 'speedboat' does not conjure up particularly glamorous
images these days. Small, constructed from glass fibre, and
usually the same anonymous shade of beige as the average
caravan, they seem to be the vessel of choice for people who
enjoy towing sizeable objects behind their cars for long
distances.
But there is one particular type of speedboat that will
forever transcend the tarnished image of the breed - the
Riva Aquarama... click here for more
