Symposium 3: Making High Quality Design Available to the General Public

February 12th, 2010

Reading: Danish Democratic Design (1800-2000): A Tender Birth of Democratic Design Culture by Jarl Heger

Presenters: D. Heller, H. Kelfer, K. Ryan & J. Treitman

1. Do you see a merge between politics and design in Denmark? If so, why is it successful?

I’ve only been in Denmark for a month, and with no previous knowledge about politics and design my knowledge base to answer this question is limited, however I do believe there’s been a merge in politics and design within the country. In the article Danish Design – A Structural Analysis, author Anders Kretschmar notes that the Danish government has begun to encourage designers to work internationally. During class we were informed that the government’s incentives had been successful.

It is encouraging to see that Danish designers have become more recognized globally, however success doesn’t come without a few drawbacks. To begin, we’ve seen more designs copied by discount stores such as Tiger. In my opinion these knock-offs discredit the designer, as someone else is now making profit from their once original creation. At the same time, the abundance of affordable good-looking products made popular through the merging of politics and design may further inspire others to design. Is it good or bad? I think the answer to that question depends on how much of an elitist you consider yourself.

Coatrack from Tiger (first photo) mimicking Eames' (second photo) famous 1953 design.

Tiger [http://www.tigerstores.co.uk/products/1/tiger_home/1000887/coat_hook_/]

Eames [http://www.furniturestoreblog.com/2008/11/22/modern_coat_rack_by_eames.html]

2. Choose something that you have bought here in Denmark. Is it well designed? Why did you buy it? Is it a product of democratic design?

My first weekend in Denmark I accompanied my family on their Saturday shopping trip. Preparing for a ski vacation, we stopped at a winter sport shop. While browsing the camping equipment I came upon a spork. I’d eaten with disposable sporks since kindergarten, but decided it was a wise idea to purchase a reusable one for my packed lunches. Too often I use disposable silverware at work. With access to a sink it’s silly to contribute to landfill waste on a daily basis.

[http://www.lightmyfire.com/data/images/green-apple-spork-popup.jpg]

The spork is green, sleek and very functional. Its gentle curves feel good in your hand and the duality of its two ends provide the user with a knife, fork and spoon. The only downside is you can’t change between the fork and spoon without cleaning off the other side. I haven’t used the spork yet. I hope it woks well. One thing is certain, it will reduce landfill waste three plastic silverware pieces at a time.