SNOWHOME: Still A Design Store

The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being.  But only well-executed objects can be beautiful. Deiter Rams

Since Matt & Helen have been SNOWHOME, you might have noticed that we don't push the "D" word very much when we talk about what the shop does or stands for.  That is not because some sort of indifference but because we feel "Design" as a term carries a more than a little very unhelpful baggage.  It is something you feel you have to know about: to be able to understand and discuss quoting various styles, periods, designers, makers, merits and de-merits.

For us design is not about labels or exclusivity, we believe everything should be well designed from a humble pencil to a statement light.  Good design results in products that are relevant for today, that are a joy to use, stand the test of time and are created with quality and care for the product, the people who create them, the people who will use them and the impact they have on the world. 

Design - good design - is still central to what we do at SNOWHOME.

 

A little light reading?

Possibly or maybe not going back on my statement above, some "light reading" - there might be a written test, by the way. OK, we fully admit we hadn't knowingly encountered Enzo Mari, Deiter Rams or Achille Castiglione before idling away some time looking for some sense that what we took design to be had more backing than our intuition, although we were aware of some of their work when we found them referenced.  But if this piques your interest, your search engine is your friend.

When asked ‘What is Good Design?’ the Italian artist and furniture designer Enzo Mari said - very plainly and simply: 

• Good Is Sustainable

• Good Is Accessible 

• Good Is Functional

• Good Is Well Made

• Good Is Emotionally Resonant

• Good Is Enduring

• Good Is Socially Beneficial

• Good Is Beautiful

• Good Is Ergonomic

• Good Is Affordable

 

From a similar era, in the late 1970s, Dieter Rams (the German head of design at Braun during some of their brightest years) was becoming increasingly interested in the world of things that surrounded him – “an impenetrable confusion of forms, colours and noises.” As a designer, Rams was aware that he played an important role in the world he was helping create, he asked himself an important question: is my design good design?

Good design he believed is subjective and can't necessarily be measured. However Rams attempted to express what he believed to be the most important principles for design.

Here is a brief overview:

1. Good design is innovative

2. Good design makes a product useful

3. Good design is aesthetic

4. Good design makes a product understandable

5. Good design is unobtrusive

6. Good design is honest

7. Good design is long-lasting

8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail

9. Good design is environmentally-friendly

10. Good design is as little design as possible

Principles have become iconic and have inspired designers across the world.

 

"Design shouldn't be trendy.  Good Design should last over time, until it wears out"

And on being a designer (and therefore on design itself) the same speaker celebrated Italian architect, furniture and product designer Achille Castiglione, told students:

"If you are not curious, forget it. If you are not interested in others, what they do and how they act, then being a designer is not the right job for you."