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On the BBC Culture show this week was the Great British Design Quest, created together with the London Design Museum. The program featured twenty five of the best of british, and now it’s up to the british publicto vote for the best in 20th Century Design.
Now, of course one would expect some sort of backlash from the public about the items which have been chosen, but people should try and understand the reasons behind why each of the items has been chosen as a part of the list.
- Aston Martin DB5
- London A-Z
- Sinclair Calculator
- Raleigh Chopper
- Concorde
- Dr Martins Boot
- E-Type Jaguar
- The Face Magazine
- Grand Theft Auto
- K2 phone kiosk
- Anglepoise Lamp
- Mini
- Mini Skirt
- British road sign
- Penguin Paperback
- Sgt Pepper album cover
- Power, Corruption and Lies
- Catseye
- Routemaster Bus
- Supermarine Spitfire
- Tomb Raider
- Dyson Vacuum Cleaner
- World Wide Web
- Underground map
- Verdana typeface
Now the last thing i want to do is start talking about what i think shouldn’t be on there and what shouldn’t, but i think that the list represents a view of Classic British Design. I took a little step into the message boards over at the voting page and most of the posts were from people wishing to add further items to the list.
Among the items which people have been suggesting is the iPod and the iMac. Now although Jonathon Ive is british and yes he did recieve an award from the Queen, I don’t think people realise that he was part of a team which designed these products. The team was assembled by Steve Jobs within an american company. The iPod and the iMac are both very americanised products. And although made in China (!!) they still constitute an export of America.
So what does constitute great British design? Well I think it should be down to products which are recognised universally as British. The products on this list are known for being british and known in households throughout the world for their unique Britishness. This is a list of polular products covering the masses, not the idealised list of a “special interest club”. I have great respect for those people who chose the list, it must have been an incredibly hard decision. Obviously this is why we’ve been enlisted to vote for the winner!
Well, to cast your vote head on over to the vote page!
