Pop Design.

The term pop design was formulated in the 50’s. This term referred to the popular culture. The independent group whose members were Richard Hemiton, Eduardo Padozzi, Reyner banham and peter and Alison Smith was founded in 1952 in the city of London.

                Good design was very popular in Germany and beautiful design was produced in Italy, however this was before the emergence of Pop design. Designers were given the possibility to experiment with design and colours due to the development of artificial materials like polypropylene.

Verner Panton’s Panton chair was the first chair to be made from a single piece of plastic. It was designed in 1967 and it marked a turning point in 20^th century design. He came up with the idea of making a chair by using one piece of plastic after he visited a factory that made plastic buckets and helmets. The chair followed the curves of the human body and its shape created a strong structure. However the chair was difficult to make due to the fact that finding the right material was not easy. However Vitra took up the challenge. Nowadays the chair is back into production and the Panton Chair is considered to be a turning point in modern design.

Panton Chair.

Pop design also brought about protests against established designs. The main inspirations of the pop design culture were space travel and science-fiction. There was also a rebellion against traditional norms.

                In America we can find designers like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein who were inspired by low art.  They based their designs on the youths and stuck by the saying “use it today sling it tomorrow”. The material plastic was very popular and as said earlier the design was aimed at the youth market, making it cheap, fun but inevitably of very bad and poor quality. There was a boom in contemporary art and there was also the creation of PVC.  Designers De Pas and D’Urbino and Lomazzi created the blow chair which was made out of PVC in 1967. This design reflected a culture of ephemerality which means that the design will only last for a short time. Later on in America and Britain, the Hippie movement and flower power emerged and new artificial materials were invented. These seemed like playful materials to work with for designers.

Andy Warhol's Perrier covers.

 

                 The packaging, advertising and comics were all aimed at the youth market and this encouraged the younger generation to buy objects which were cheap. The carnival like colours struck the eyes of the youths and this still happens today. When a child sees an object with vibrant and carnival like colours and a childish and appealing font he/she would want to buy it. 

Lichtenstein's Packaging.

 

References:

Nest.co.uk. 2014. Vitra Panton Chair Classic. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nest.co.uk/product/vitra-panton-chair-classic. [Accessed 29 November 14].

Behance. 2011. Arrid Pop Art Package. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.behance.net/gallery/3780568/Arrid-Pop-Art-Packaging. [Accessed 29 November 14].

The Die Line. 2013. Perrier Limited Edition: Andy Warhol . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2013/7/10/perrier-limited-edition-andy-warhol.html. [Accessed 29 November 14].

Be an Eagle. 2012. Campbell’s & Andy WARHOL : a case of opportunistic marketing? - See more at: http://www.beaneagle.be/packaging/campbells-andy-warhol-a-case-of-opportunistic-marketing#sthash.ZlfXMM2Z.dpuf. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.beaneagle.be/packaging/campbells-andy-warhol-a-case-of-opportunistic-marketing. [Accessed 29 November 14].