Postmodernism in Graphic Design - Module 10

I really enjoyed this week's module and reading, as it is current about the state of design today.  As I was reading about the different designers, the one that popped out to me right away was Michael Graves. The reason is that I knew his name already, from his product line at Target. So I thought I'd do a little extra investigation.

Michael Graves

Michael Graves is a renowned architect and designer.  He also was a professor of architecture at Princeton for over 30 years. He has both an architecture, planning and interior design group, Michael Graves & Associates, as well as Michael Graves Design Group, for both product design and graphic design.  He has won over 180 prestigious awards for architecture, interiors and product design.  

Michael Graves


Since I knew his name from the Target line, I went on their website to look at his products.  This is what the Target website had to say about him:

"The Michael Graves Design Collection for Target is comprised of 200 kitchen, cleaning, storage and home décor products designed to meet your needs and enhance your lifestyle. Each piece is an inspired balance of form and function created to infuse our daily lives with great design and joy." (from the Target.com website)

 Mr. Graves himself said, "good design should be accessible to all."

 Just a couple of products in the line:

Potato Ricer

Plunger

Now I will be adding that potato ricer to my Christmas List, but I don't think I need a designer plunger. (After all the times I get on my daughter's case because she wastes money on designer handbags, I don't think a designer toilet plunger would go over well.)

"Graves has dubbed himself  'a general practitioner,' designing not only the interiors for the majority of his projects, but also a wide range of furnishings and artifacts, from furniture to lighting fixtures to jewelry and dinnerware, for companies such as Alessi, Steuben, Disney, Philips Electronics and Black & Decker, as well as many European companies." (from the Michael Graves website)

Before taking this course, I always thought of architects as architects, graphic designers as graphic designers, etc.  It is interesting to learn how good designers can apply their talents to many different types of design and projects. 


Quote and picture credits: Target Website; Michael Graves Website