ikeonic design

April 2, 2005 8:49 AM

The 21 most significant influences on contemporary design? British magazine Icon makes a list with IKEA at #1 and blogs at #9. Readymades, Rei Kawakubo and Easyjet are also in there. Have at it.
posted by liam (21 comments total)

This is rubbish. I am sure that the Bauhaus movement still has more influence then a Nintendo DS. Neville Brody was the god of modern typo - no word of him either.
posted by homodigitalis at 8:54 AM on April 2, 2005

You'd think a magazine devoted to design would be able to come up with a website that is pleasing to the eye.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:22 AM on April 2, 2005

*hehehe* No, that would defeat the purpose.
posted by dabitch at 9:25 AM on April 2, 2005

I can't help but feel like Apple belongs somewhere on that list.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:30 AM on April 2, 2005

Apple ... what?
posted by homodigitalis at 9:51 AM on April 2, 2005

Apple belongs on every design-related list. At the TOP of every list, because APPLE IS GOD, PEOPLE The iPod is the greatest invention since the steam engine!
posted by delmoi at 10:14 AM on April 2, 2005

Also, what's up with their design? It's so bizzare. Is it supposed to look like someone did their CSS while drunk?

Or were they hopped up on some "designer" drugs? (get it?)
posted by delmoi at 10:15 AM on April 2, 2005

Neville Brody was the god of modern typo - no word of him either.

I can't help but feel like Apple belongs somewhere on that list.

Brody agrees.
posted by liam at 10:18 AM on April 2, 2005

I think the influence of blogs on design shouldn't be understated. I remember 6-7 years ago when so many websites would be arranged liked magazines (think addict.com). You would have multiple columns with "important" stories at the top in a large font and other stories buried in "sections", and the whole page would be updated at once with dozens of new items every week or so.

The reverse-chronological "blog" format is so much more suited for the web (going back even to the NCSA What's New) but I think so many sites avoided that format (for a while) because it was nothing like any traditional print format, they were trying to imitate magazines. (Aintitcool.com recently had a confusing redesign then reverted back to a more blog-like format).

I also read this interesting article that touches on the blog format's influence on tv news..."If you go to a popular news blog like Fark, you'll notice that every category is given equal importance, whether it's a hard news flash because a tsunami just hit or Duke's unbeaten streak has come to an end. They're all given the exact same level of importance. Then you go in and make your own decision about whether or not a tsunami is more important."
posted by bobo123 at 10:28 AM on April 2, 2005

Although I am not a Stevologist I have to gove Apple and the whole Desktop Design movement it's credit where it's due.

Desktop Publishing ... or the whole technology of digital sampling, copy and paste changed our (design) culture dramatically: the way we write, communicate and most of all design.

I come from a printing background - and that has changed a lot since the 1980's. Including all the design, publishing and advertising agencies.

So in terms of design it would be rather fair to be very specific:

* PageMaker: for changing making layouts forver

* Illustrator: for opening a new way to illustration and infographics

* Photoshop: for manipulating images

* WordStar: (and not bloody office) for text editing

* Leonardo (ISDN-cards): for speeding up data exchange between designers and printshops.

* Fontographer: for allowing designers to create their own fonts

* Postscript: for making print output much easier

Did I forget anything?
posted by homodigitalis at 11:39 AM on April 2, 2005

> You'd think a magazine devoted to design would be able to come up with
> a website that is pleasing to the eye.

It's a British design magazine.
posted by jfuller at 12:01 PM on April 2, 2005

If Icon itself is any indication, then I'd like to nominate Wired.
posted by ChasFile at 12:46 PM on April 2, 2005

Damn, that is a crappy layout.

Also... blogs? I know blogs are hot with the media right now, but they don't really belong on that list. I'd drop them and add Target, for bringing design to the 'burbs. (A good thing, IMO.)
posted by BoringPostcards at 1:12 PM on April 2, 2005

I didn't stop and look for too long. That site is just a darn eyesore.
posted by sjvilla79 at 3:07 PM on April 2, 2005

I'm glad I am not the only one who's eyes were offended by that site design. I didn't even make it through the whole list, as I figured that anyone who thought that site design was a good one probably didn't know enough about design to make lists of significant influences.
posted by Orb at 7:08 PM on April 2, 2005

'Ikeonic design' is a really useful phrase. I'm filing that one away.
posted by painquale at 8:22 PM on April 2, 2005

Apple belongs on every design-related list. At the TOP of every list, because APPLE IS GOD, PEOPLE The iPod is the greatest invention since the steam engine!

I don't own an iPod, I haven't used a Mac since high school, and I work for IBM. I'm hardly one of the world's great Apple boosters. But I look around and I see a whole hell of a lot of electronics out there that were influenced by Apple design. George Foreman grills now come in fruity coloured translucent plastic. For the people who used to have all stainless steel appliances and but wanted their kitchen to match their home office, I guess.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:49 PM on April 2, 2005

is the 'icon team' text supposed to be on top of the image(s) like that? otherwise its firefox bunk. otherotherwise yikes.
posted by Satapher at 11:18 PM on April 2, 2005

Yup. The text is supposed to have white behind it and crop into the images. I think the designer thought it was cool. I've seen it done in print images and it makes me cringe there as well. On the web it's twice as horrid. I'm guessing it's a nod to old wax and paste.
posted by dabitch at 4:26 AM on April 3, 2005

print imagges -> print mags.
posted by dabitch at 4:27 AM on April 3, 2005

Interesting list, but no attempt to be comprehensive or coherent -- more of a troll to spark discussion (as they implied in their preface). I'd put the computer cut-and-paste feature on this list.
posted by QuietDesperation at 11:32 AM on April 3, 2005