Great Designer :: Constance Spry

Constance Spry
Florist, Author + Social Reformer (1886-1960)
As a florist, social reformer, teacher and best-selling author, CONSTANCE SPRY (1886-1960) democratised home-making in mid-20th century Britain by teaching millions of people that – with a little imagination – they could beautify their homes with flowers plucked from hedgerows and scraps of wasteland.

Great Designer :: Enzo Mari

Enzo Mari
Product + Furniture Designer (1932-)
One of the most thoughtful and intellectually provocative Italian designers of the late 20th century, ENZO MARI (1932-) has proved as influential to younger generations of designers as to his peers as a writer, teacher, artist and designer of products, furniture and puzzle games.

Greaty Designer :: Jean Muir

Jean Muir
Dressmaker (1928 – 1995)
Legendary dressmaker JEAN ELIZABETH MUIR (1928 – 1995) made clothes that were both radical and classic, breaking the barrier between couture and ready-to-wear. The self-taught Muir made her name in the 1960s, creating a reputation for exquisitely tailored, timeless, feminine clothing. She has been hailed as the greatest dressmaker in the [...]

Great Designer :: Memphis

Memphis
Product + Furniture Designers (1981-1985)
MEMPHIS was a Milan-based collective of young furniture and product designers led by the veteran Ettore Sottsass. After its 1981 debut, Memphis dominated the early 1980s design scene with its post-modernist style.
Jasper Morrison remembers breaking into “a kind of cold sweat” and a “feeling of shock and panic” when he [...]

Great Designer :: THOMAS HEATHERWICK

THOMAS HEATHERWICK
Designer (1970 -)
One-part architecture, another-part product design, with an equal dash of sculpture and urban planning, Thomas Heatherwick’s body of work defies definition. The London-based designer has completed nearly 200 projects since establishing his studio in the mid-nineties, and with each new commission, merges engineering and design to give his projects a magical, transformative [...]

Great Designer :: Stefan Sagmeister

Stefan Sagmeister
Graphic Designer (1962-)
STEFAN SAGMEISTER (1962-) is among today’s most important graphic designers. Born in Austria, he now lives and works in New York. His long-standing collaborators include the AIGA and musicians, David Byrne and Lou Reed.
When Stefan Sagmeister was invited to design the poster for an AIGA lecture he was giving on the [...]

Great Designer :: Jasper Morrison

Jasper Morrison
Product + Furniture Designer (1959-)
JASPER MORRISON is one of today’s most influential industrial designers. Born in London, he is renowned for his ascetically elegant, quietly humorous style and has designed everything from a tray-table to a tram system.
Anyone who wants to understand Jasper Morrison’s work should flick through A World Without Words, the [...]

Great Designer :: Isamu Noguchi

Isamu Noguchi
Designer + Sculptor (1904-1988)
ISAMU NOGUCHI (1904-1988) was an American-Japanese designer who originally trained as a sculptor and brought a sculptural sensibility to everything he created: lighting, furniture, gardens and stage sets.
At a time when it’s commonplace to talk of the blurring of boundaries between cultural disciplines and of designers acting out the roles [...]

Great Designer :: J. Mays

J. Mays
Automotive Designer
As vice-president of design for the Ford Motor Company, J. MAYS is one of the world’s most influential automotive designers. Before joining Ford in 1997, the US-born Mays worked for Audi, BMW and developed the Volkswagen Concept One, which became the new VW Beetle.
One of J. Mays chief criticisms of his fellow [...]

Great Designer :: Ettore Sottsass

Ettore Sottsass
Architect + Product Designer (1917-2007)
ETTORE SOTTSASS (1917-2007) was a grandee of late 20th century Italian design. Best known as the founder of the early 1980s Memphis collective, he also designed iconic electronic products for Olivetti, as well as beautiful glass and ceramics.
Wherever he went, Ettore Sottsass carried a camera to photograph anything that [...]