DESIGN IN INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 6, 7 July 1938, Page 25

DESIGN IN INDUSTRY

COMMERCIAL ASSET

REACTION OF THE PUBLIC

There were many other questions to be considered, besides purely artistic ones, in modenn industrial design, said Mr. E. C. Simpson, 8.A., at the opening of the fourth of his series of W.E.A. lectures. "What is the attitude of the public towarcfr; good design?" he asked. "Are they favourable, antagonistic, or indifferent? The answer to this question is found in the sale of articles of good modern design. But the production of: such articles depends upon the manufacturer. Among these are a number whose response to questions of design' is to say, 'My goods may be bad in design; but first educate your public and then I will produce good design.' But the response of the public on the occasions when it has the opportunity to "buy articles of good design proves the fallacy of this attitude." " Instances of the marketing of articles of good design were provided by modern cheap glass, much of which was of a high standard. That it was largely of foreign origin was owing to the English manufacturer's inability to produce a competitive article. For so long had the* English manufacturer of glass neglected the question of design, that he was unable to make up the leeway between himself, and, for example, the product of the central European factories. A remarkable instance of the response of the public to good design was afforded by an English company making wireless sets. Faqed with decreasing returns the company spent large sums of money in producing a new cabinet designed by Cherrnaieff, an industrial designer of international reputation. The trade figures given by the lecturer showed the unexpected success of an extremely bold venture. THE ENGLISH MANUFACTURER. ■ The stability and the wealth of England immediately after the war .probably accounted for the slowness of the English manufacturer in coming into line with the modern movement to import into Industry the elements of art: and good design. An international in-> dustrial exhibition of 1930 showed the complete inability of the English manufacturer to compete, from the point of view of design, with the foreign competitor. So serious was this felt to be that the British Government though* fit, through the Department of Industries and Commerce, to -appoint a committee to investigate English industrial design and make recommendations for its improvement; It was felt to be a matter of national concern, and apart from Government investigation, was the subject of'inquiry carried on independently by the University of Birmingham; ~ The complexity of the problem of modern industrial design was made, more acute by the extensive scientific' discoveries of new materials;, A de-, sign form must be suited to f the material and the tool used. Today one was faced with a bewildering assortment of new tools/ entirely new materials, and old materials used in a new way. Among these' latter was glass, now being used in the form of bricks for walls. "These glass bricks had. the advantages of-'-transmitting- light -without being transparent and allowing vicibility. Their translucence was con-, trollable from 84 per cent, of the light falling on them to complete opacity, and being each one 1 a vacuum, did "not transm-'f heat and cold. Other new materials described and illustrated included steel tube furniture, plywood furniture, and plastics. Examples -of articles made of modern plastic mouldings showed the great range and-diversity of application of, this riew product. The methcfds qf its' manufacture, said the lecturer, neces-' sitated that shapes of plastic products should be simple, sheer, and stream-; lined, and the heavy expenses incurred in changing a mould prohibited anything but mass production of'stand-, ardised articles. . The illustrations used during the; lecture originated from widely separated countries, but showed an underlying solidarity among the various as-, pects of modern industrial design. Fur-: ther consideration of modern design will be given in two subsequent lectures. ' ;