The post-war period: 1945 to 1970s

The post-war period, and particularly the 1950s, witnessed deep changes in politics, the economy, and design. In Germany, Italy, and Japan the main focus was on recovery and their efforts were on basic needs—food, shelter, rebuilding their economies, their countries, and their governments. The United States, on the other hand, survived the war relatively unscathed, which allowed it to quickly establish itself as an economic and design leader well into the 1950s. Post-war, the influence of American culture (i.e. design, music, movies) spread wide into Europe, particularly to Germany and Italy—Coca-Cola^® and Lucky Strike cigarettes quickly became symbols of a new international lifestyle. In China the Communists seized power with the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. After more a century of fighting on China’s territories, the conditions for the development of a national industry and economy finally existed in the mid-1950s, some two centuries later than many Western nations.

The food, clothes, and fuel shortages caused by World War II resulted in something of a post-war wave of consumption in the early 1950s. Around this time, however, most key needs had been met and industry found itself having to revive consumer demand through new models, forms, and technical improvements, particularly in the United States and Western Europe. In an effort to safeguard continual sales and sustain the escalating economy, the role of advertising increased. The sales of automobiles and domestic electrical appliances boomed during this time, and the rapid development of television and transistor technology promised continually growing markets. Notable designers of this time included Henry Dreyfuss, Norman Bel Geddes, and Raymond Loewy. Although Japanese electronics manufacturers appeared as early as the 1950s as competition to American manufacturers, the American economy was prosperous and looked optimistically to the future.

The Marshall Plan of 1947, designed to aid European economic recovery, provided Germany and other countries with a share of more then $12 billion. With this financial support Germany began the German Wirtschaftswunder (“Economic Miracle”). Perhaps the most significant design-related development in post-war Germany was the establishment of the Ulm Academy for Design in 1953. Max Bill (1908–94), the first director, saw the Ulm Academy as a successor to the Bauhaus in its teaching, philosophy, methodology, and politics and, more generally, the belief that design had an important role to play in society. From the early 1960s to its closure in 1968, under the leadership of Tomás Maldonado (from 1964 to 1966) and Herbert Ohl (from 1966 to 1968) the Academy focused its design program on technical problem-solving and the theory of information and technical systems. Near its eventual demise the academy worked in close collaboration with companies such as Kodak and Braun.

Italy, after World War II, emerged as one of the foremost design nations. The flexibility of the Italian workforce coupled with relatively low wages and financial aid from America helped Italy become a major design force in post-war times. While American design tended to be market-led and German design tended to be theoretical, Italian design after the war was characterized by improvisation and a culture that did not separate art, design, and economics. Arguably the best-known products to appear from Italy were the Vespa scooter and the Fiat 500, although furniture and fashion soon became Italian export successes. A number of leading Italian furniture companies were established around this time, including Zanotta, Cappellini, Arflex, Kartell and Cassina.

“Good Form”: Mid-1950s to 1968

In the early 1960s, “Good Form” was characterized by functionality, simple forms, utility, durability, timelessness, order, clarity, solid workmanship, suitable materials, finished details, technology, and environmental responsibility. This stylistic principle, which emanated largely from the Ulm Academy, began to stimulate serious criticism of functionalism by the mid-1960s. Advances in technology, transportation, communication, materials, manufacturing processes, and even space travel, inspired designers to experiment in the creation of new products and systems. By the late 1960s, consumer taste and designers’ ideologies combined into a counterculture that stood against mass consumption. During this time design drew more and more energy and ideas from the student protests in Europe and the United States, from pop art, pop music, and film. Italy emerged as the leading design nation in the world. Prominent designers of this time included Dieter Rams, Marco Zanuso (1916–2001), Richard Sapper (b. 1932), Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007), Mario Bellini (b. 1935), Verner Panton (1926–98), and “Cesare” Joe Colombo (1930–71).

Many of these designers made a name for themselves through their experimental work with the new man-made materials being used in furniture and product design of the time, such as polypropylene, polyurethane, polyester, and polystyrol. Some of the most iconic design pieces ever created were produced during this period: Joe Colombo’s 4860 stackable plastic chair, Verner Panton’s Panton chair, Mario Bellini’s Divisumma 18 electric calculator, Richard Sapper’s Tizio lamp, and Ettore Sottsass and Perry A. King’s Valentine typewriter.

Valentine typewriter, designed by Ettore Sottsass with Perry A. King for Olivetti & Co., 1969. This iconic “anti-machine” machine was designed for use “anyplace but an office.” A design classic, it expresses the mood of its time with its new mobility in a light, modern, plastic casing made from ABS.

Experimentation and anti-design: 1965–76

The oil crisis of 1973 and subsequent price controls and rationing was a turning point for design. Until then, plastic was viewed as modern and high-tech, but it quickly became seen as cheap, tacky, tasteless, and environmentally harmful. Set against the economic turmoil of the early 1970s, protests against the war in Vietnam, and student unrest in major European and American cities, the role of design in capitalist societies was being increasingly questioned. Many designers at this time perceived their roles as pawns of industry, perpetuating value systems that no longer served a useful social purpose. Some opted to work independently and experimentally for themselves, and many incorporated political statements and embraced social concepts into their work.

A number of the leading design counter-movements were formed in Italy. By the end of the 1960s, a new generation of Italian designers were dissatisfied with their working conditions and with the consumption-led “good form” of many designed products. These designers protested against established design norms and the obsession with consumption. The main centres of this “radical design” movement were to be found mainly in Milan, Turin, and Florence and included the design groups Superstudio (established in 1966), Archizoom Associati (1966), Gruppo 9999 (1967), Gruppo Strum (1966), and Alchimia (1976). By the mid-1970s, most of the counter-movements had disbanded and Italian avant-garde design languished in uncertainty until the start of the 1980s.

Pratone, designed by G. Ceretti, P. Derossi and R. Rosso, 1971. The chair is made from polyurethane foam and is intended to recreate the effect of lounging about in a large grassy meadow.

High-tech miniaturization: 1972-85

High-tech design brought together materials and prefabricated industrial elements in new relationships to create furniture and other products. High-tech is an acknowledged stylistic term to describe designs that emphasize technological aspects in their appearance. A famous example from the world of architecture is the Pompidou Centre in Paris, where the internal fixtures and fittings were positioned visibly on the exterior of the building. High-tech products drew upon visual references from the worlds of science, technology, and/or electronics in their appearance, such as Norman Foster’s Nomos furniture system or Matteo Thun’s Container Cabinet (1985).

BeoSound 9000, designed by David Lewis, was launched by Bang & Olufsen in 1996.

Nomos Desking System, designed by Foster and Partners in collaboration with and manufactured by Tecno, 1987. The idea originally dates back to 1981 when the architects wanted something that could be used for a number of different functions—a meeting table, drawing board, or a stand to display models.

Design in Asia: 1930s–70s

Shanghai, which had functioned as the key trade port of China since the mid-nineteenth century, became even more significant by the 1930s as the main advanced manufacturing hub of the country. Cotton spinning and weaving were two of the most important industries based in the city, together with a rapidly developing printing and graphic design industry. The main design industry at this time concerned the packaging and printing of wrapping paper, comic cards for cigarette packs, and cardboard box packaging for products such as matches, soap, needles, and thread. Shanghai became known as the “Paris of the Orient,” but this golden age was wiped out suddenly by the Japanese occupation of 1938.

Product design developed at a much slower rate than other forms of design in China, such as graphic design and interior design. This is chiefly because China continued to experience dramatic shortages in domestic products up until the 1980s. Up to this point the main concern for the country was to produce large quantities of goods; the manufacture of most products in the 1950s was the responsibility of engineers, who were in charge of everything from mechanical function to appearance. Occasionally artists, known as Mei Gong or “art workers,” would be brought into the factories to decorate and beautify products. Design was deemed less important and many manufacturers used the same design of products—such as telephones, pens, electric fans, and bicycles—for two or three decades without making any changes.

The Chinese motor vehicle industry was set up in the late 1950s in Changchun, Jiling province in Manchuria, with financial assistance from the Soviet Union. The first product manufactured there was a 1.5-ton Jiefang truck that was based heavily on the prototype of the Soviet Union GAZ truck. It was in production from 1957 to 1984 without any change of design (breaking the Ford Model T’s record of continuous production between 1907 and 1925). In 1958, China began producing its own cars with a model called the Dong Feng (East Wind), made not on a production line but manufactured individually in a workshop in Beijing. China’s car production continued to develop and, in 1962, the country produced its first limousine, the Hong Qi (Red Flag), influenced by the design of the Russian Seagull limousine with its V8 engine, heavy, wide body, black paintwork, and bulletproof glass windows. In the early 1960s, the first totally original Chinese-designed car, the Shanghai, was produced by engineers with no artists involved. Similar in appearance to the Russian Volga car, the Shanghai had a very bad maintenance and repair record and production of it ceased in the early 1980s. At present, a number of joint automotive production ventures exist with Chinese and foreign manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Skoda.

By the end of the 1960s, two key South Korean companies began to make significant advances in electronic product design and development. The first was Samsung Electronics, which, in 1969, started producing televisions, cell phones, radios, computer components, and other electronic devices. The other was LG Electronics, established in 1958, which has since made a number of advances in the design and manufacture of many digital home appliances such as radios and televisions.

Meanwhile, in other parts of Asia, Sony is one of Japan’s most recognized companies in the West and is synonymous with high-tech electronics and good design. The company was originally established as Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering in May 1946, but in 1958 it changed its name to the Sony Corporation. A large part of the success of Sony is attributed to the inspirational chairman, Akio Morita. From its modest beginnings, Sony has developed into a multinational brand leader with one of its most famous products being developed in 1979—a personal stereo system called the “Walkman” followed later by products such as the Watchman (1984), a television counterpart of the Walkman, the Camcorder (1983), a hand-held video recorder, and the Discman, a portable CD player.

Walkman, 1981. The first Walkman was built in 1978 by engineer Nobutoshi Kihara for the Sony co-chairman Akio Morita. Morita wanted to be able to listen to music during his frequent traveling. The original Walkman was marketed in 1979 as the Walkman in Japan, the Soundabout in other countries including the USA, the Freestyle in Sweden, and the Stowaway in the UK.

Casio watch, 1999. Casio is a multinational electronic device manufacturing company founded in 1946, with its headquarters in Tokyo. It is best known for its calculators, audio equipment, cameras, and watches. In 1974, the company released the Casiotron, a watch that featured a fully automatic calendar.