The Web and Modern Design - Panton Chair - Case Study Example

s the assignment was due The Web and Modern Design Interpretation gets shaped by or otherwise it shapes objects in unique ways depending on the context or the agenda or analysis of interpretation. Interpretations exhibit a fascinating and complex relationship based on the variety of contexts. The structure and function of an object can vary a great deal based upon the context of their interpretation. In his book, The History of Modern Design, David Raizman narrates design as a creative deed and an enterprise influenced by the social, technological, and economic antiquity. In this narration he includes an elaborative study of decorative art objects and their designs from the eighteen to the twentieth century. One such object is the Verner Panton chair. In this report, analysis of three other web sources would be carried out, elaborating about the same object and compare those analysis with that of the book. The discussion will be about the nature of websites, information they present, the intended audience, correlation with the context of the book, additional resources for exploration provided by them, how their presentation facilitate our understanding about the object discussed in the book, and how the role of the designer fits into the discussion of design. In the book, Raizman discusses about the role of plastics and other strong polymers in the process of injection molding, which was normally used in the design of chairs in the 1960s (Raizman 331). He discusses about the design of Panton chair designed by Verner Panton, a Scandinavian designer. This was a stacking chair made of fiberglass-reinforced polyester which was manufactured by the Herman Miller Company. The Verner Panton chair’s design conserved an organic and sculptural quality evocative of the biomorphic patterns of the contemporary furniture designers of that period (Raizman 332). This chair’s intended audiences were the people of the postwar (Second World War) decade. When one analyzes this Panton chair through other websites, it provides key perspectives. The website of the Vitra Design Museum (http://www.design-museum.de/en/collection/100-masterpieces/detailseiten/panton-chair-panton.html) elaborates Panton chair design with design parameters, which are slightly different from the information that is provided in the book. Though both the sources explain that this chair’s design motto was to abolish the traditional wooden chairs of those days, the Vitra Design Museum’s website claims Verner as a Danish designer who broke the Scandinavian tradition of wooden chair making (“Panton-chair Verner”). The design parameters were 88.5 x 50 x 74 size with a seat height of 43 cms and the material used is varnished high-resistance foam whereas according to the book the chair’s height is 83.2 cms made of fiberglass-reinforced polyester (Raizman 331). The Vitra Design Museum website gives additional information about how Verner Panton started to design the chair drafts and how the evolution of plastics captivated and motivated him to design the Panton chair (“Panton-chair Verner”.). Special design details regarding the lower curved portion of the chair which provided a surplus and afforded space for placing the legs conveniently are discussed in this website. This website also discusses the initial stability issues of the chair’s design and how Verner fixed those problems. The final serial production of the Verner Panton chair was introduced by the Bayer Leverkusen Company which introduced it in seven attractive colors. This website also gives information regarding how the chair’s design was improvised with the Thermoplast injection molding technology which replaced the former expensive production process (“Panton-chair Verner”). This website also give additional information regarding some design flaws which made Vitra to stop the production of this chair and returned the license back to Verner. Verner had previously made the design concepts of this chair accessible to a limited audience in spite of the fact that bulk production did not seem looming (“Panton-chair Verner”). Comparing the narrations of the book and website, we could infer that the book provides only meager information regarding the object while the website provides abundant information regarding the design of the Verner Panton chair. In addition, the website also provides additional background information regarding the production processes of the Verner Panton chair. The Verner Panton website (http://www.verner-panton.com/furniture/archive/7/) is a sale plus auction website. It demonstrates various models of the Verner Panton chair right from its original production in1967 to till date (“Furniture: Panton”). This website lays emphasis on the production technology of this chair which has made this design much popular and iconic. This website gives elaborate information regarding how Verner came into acquaintance with Willi Fehlbaum, the managing director of Vitra and about the driving forces that led him to design this chair. This website also provides an interesting information that the Verner’s chair was initially introduced in four different models, different types of plastics, and adopting different kinds of production technologies. Aesthetic and financial reasons were quoted for the selection of different kinds of materials in the design of this chair. The production history explaining the evolution of five series right from 1967/68 to till date is discussed in a detailed manner in the website (“Furniture: Panton”).The first series chair in 1967/68 was made of fiber-glass reinforced polyester resin. The second series model between 1968 and 1971 was made of polyurethane rigid foam. The third series model between 1971 and 1979 was made of colored thermoplastic polystyrene otherwise known as ‘Luran S’ (“Furniture: Panton”). Due to some flaws in the design of this model, the production of the chair was temporarily halted from 1979 to 1983. The fourth series model from 1983 to 1999 was made of painted polyurethane rigid foam (“Furniture: Panton”). At present this chair is made of polypropylene. The initial intended audiences were the people who survived the Second World War. The chair is designed at present intended for even small children from three years of age. While the book gives information just regarding the production year, this website explains in detail the various series and models of this Verner Panton chair. This website also provides several pictures and video illustrating the design of the Panton chair, and that content provides better understanding of the chair’s historical background as well as the design. The hive modern (http://hivemodern.com/pages/product226/vitra-verner-panton-chair) is also a sales website which gives a lot of ideas about the Panton chair. This website even quotes the words uttered by Verner Panton who says that, his primary intention of designing such a chair was to provoke people to utilize their imagination and make their ambience more exiting. “Most people spend their lives living in dreary, beige conformity, mortally afraid of using color. The main purpose of my work is to provoke people into using their imagination and make their surroundings more exciting” (“Panton chair”). This website correlates to the concept presented in the book by which it explains the injection molded technology used to manufacture the Verner Panton chair. Both the book and this website discuss about the single piece architecture used to design this chair and how its design has made it the iconic chair of the twentieth century. In addition this website discusses about the awards and prices won by this chair for its unique design including its cantilever base, ‘S’ shape, flexible materials, and colors (“Panton chair”). This website’s intended audiences are the people of today who would wish to purchase online. In addition, the website provides suggestions regarding the maintenance of this chair, particularly how exposure to the sunlight could damage the appearance and color of the chair. This website also produces extensive information regarding the manufacturer Company, Vitra and about the designer, Verner Panton, and many more (“Panton chair”). This website also provides attractive pictures of this chair which would be a stimulating factor for the viewers, that is, it would create a tendency among the viewers to buy it by placing their orders. Altogether the book and the three websites discuss about the same object that is, the Verner Panton chair. But the interpretations regarding the object in all the four sources are not the same. The book just provides a formal design description of the object. The websites though correlate with the context of the book; all of them project the object in numerous other ways like product evolution, manufacturer details, designer details, intended audience, and many more. So, the common thread connecting the four sources is the ‘Design’. The primary role of a designer is to create a product which could be sold to the customers through which business could be improved. The role of a designer demands the incorporation of effective and efficient generation and progression of new design ideas into a process that would lead to the development of the new product. Only when designers conceptualize and assess their innovative ideas, new and tangible products are evolved. Designers have the most responsible role of combining science, art, and technology so that only new products for people’s use could be evolved. In earlier days due to lack of technical support, designers had to spend a lot of time in designing a product or object that would require a lot of man power for production. But the technological advancements of today would greatly facilitate designers who can better communicate, analyze, and visualize their ideas in developing new products for people’s use. Works cited “Furniture: Panton- chair.” Verner- Panton, n. d. Web. 28 Apr 2015. “Panton chair.” Hive modern, n. d. Web. 28 Apr 2015. “Panton-chair Verner Panton.” Vitra design museum, n. d. Web. 28 Apr 2015. Raizman, David. History of Modern Design. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2011 Read More