I was gifted the book “Masterpieces of British Design” by Charlotte and Peter Fiell several years ago. It sits on my shelf, taking up quite a lot of room, but often gets flicked through on lazy Sunday afternoons. It’s large book which displays a variety of design work from the 18thcentury to the present day in chronological order, including a foreword by Sir Terence Conran. What interests me about the book, and makes it worthy of some reflection on my blog, is not necessarily the products included, but why they are were chosen. What makes design a “Masterpiece”?
On the very first page is printed:
Masterpiece- a work that is excellent, or the best example of a creator’s work
British- an adjective referring to the countries that make up the United Kingdom or British Isles, and its people
Design- the conception and planning of an optimum solution to a particular problem
These definitions define the criteria that every design must complete to be placed into the book. I wanted to cast a critical eye over the book’s contents, however, it proved to be a difficult task. Several of the designs that the book discusses have already featured on this blog. For instance Sir Kenneth Grange features twice in the book; firstly, for his Kenwood’s Chef food mixer (1960) and secondly, for the Kodak Instamatic 33 camera (1968). Another designer to feature in the book and in my blog is Tom Dixon; his Jack light (1994) and Copper Shade hanging light (2005) are both gifted a place in this book. The London Underground logo, map and identity are also featured in both.
That being said, I do enjoy the timeline of the book as it highlights some of the early instance of truly great design that can be forgotten in conversations of iPhones and Airblades. Through the industrial revolution many designs spring to mind; locomotive engines, the bicycle and furniture are all noteworthy, yet, obvious. More obscure examples really caught my eye; for instance, I had never heard of Sir Humphrey Davy’s mining lamp (1815) prior to this book. The scientist and inventor discovered that covering a naked flame with a fine metal gauze prevented explosions from damp-air, or pockets of methane gas, in mines. At the time this was a significant problem and a real threat to miners’ lives. Instead of patenting this design he published his findings saying: “My sole object was to serve the cause of humanity; and I am amply rewarded by the reflection that I have been enabled to do so.” Sometimes it is difficult to measure the social impact of design but this is a rare example of a clear-cut positive impact that undoubtedly saved lives. Moreover, to allow others to financially benefit to bring it to market as quickly as possible shows the selfless vision of the designer. How many contemporary designers can we say the same for?
Another early design mentioned in the book is Edwin Budding’s Model No. 3157 lawn mower (1830). It is an excellent example of a truly original invention. The cylindrical cutting mechanism was inspired by woollen mills; he decided to transfer the technology and replace time intensive scythes claiming it could do the work of six men. Even modern solutions of grass cutting all originate from the principles of this unique piece of design. It is clear like designs like these practical products speak to a product design engineering student. However, the book also encompasses other aspects of design; wallpapers, posters, textiles, fonts, ornaments, tiles and furniture are also written about. Each double page spread provides images and text to give context and an explanation to the design work. These are aspects of design that I don’t have an expertise in, hence, it was really interesting to understand that in their respective regions, these examples are considered masterpieces.
The last design that I wanted to mention was another that I had never seen or heard of before reading this book. Benjamin Bowden’s Spacelander bicycle (1946) is so unusual and intriguing that it excites me. The futuristic hollow, steel body contains a dynamo which powers a built in radio, light and horn. A small amount of fibreglass models were manufactured in 1960 but only amount 500 were ever made. This design is not about commercial success. To me, it symbolises how fun and ambition can be attributes of great design rather than form and function. The Spacelander paints an optimistic vision of a post-war Britain. For its time, this bike may have seemed crazy but looking back on it makes me smile, doesn’t that make it great?
Looking over the book I think it provides a good variety of design work. However, as you can see I have found the first half on early works more interesting. In my opinion, we don’t need another article on Jonathon Ives; let’s celebrate the diversity of British design and not forget the quirky and the revolutionary pieces that this small country is responsible for. Our inventors changed the world and brought more colour to the serious times, let’s not stop.
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