Ray & Charles Eames

Biographies

Charles and Ray Eames

Basic story is……

Charles (1907–1978) and Ray (1912–1988) Eames were American designers, married in 1941 (which was Charles second marriage) who worked in many fields of design including industrial design, furniture design, art, graphic design, film and architecture.  

They are perhaps best known for their chairs and furniture that was produced in the 1940s and 1950s using the mass production techniques they invented. But they also designed and created buildings, toys, films, multimedia presentations, exhibitions and books,

Most famous film is Powers of ten

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm0bIuAVmOA

Powers of Ten explores the relative size of things from the microscopic to the cosmic. Powers of ten demonstrates their ability to make science fascinating, attractive and accessible.

But the thing that really stands out from their story for me is the way they believed that design could improve people's lives, and the way that they wanted to teach others which was their main legacy. Even more the way everything was stripped bare to its function but still was elegant, witty, and beautiful. So I know I have to produce something very meaningful, but basic in a way, that tells us a little bit about them or their legacy.

Some things I thought I could use to start me off or to base my project around are some quotes I found throughout my research process 

The banana leaf parable

“..because I'm not prepared to say that the banana leaf that one eats off of is the same as the other eats off of, but it's that process that has happened within the man that changes the banana leaf.”

 He related the process of design to how the banana leaf is transformed into something ornate-decorated. So its something everyone has but the way you use it makes it what it is. It also makes us a group, we all have something in common as human beings what changes us is our possessions.

15 things Charles and Ray teach us

1. Keep good company


2. Notice the ordinary

3. Preserve the ephemeral

4. Design not for the elite but for the masses

5. Explain it to a child

6. Get lost in the content

7. Get to the heart of the matter

8. Never tolerate “O.K. anything”

9. Remember your responsibility as a storyteller

10. Zoom out


11. Switch

12. Prototype it

13. Pun


14. Make design your life… and life, your design.


15. Leave something behind.

‘the design style is to solve the design’

‘the abstract qualities of ordinary objects’

‘Design is a life tool and not a professional tool.’

‘Not all solutions are obvious, not everything can be solved with the first idea that comes to mind.’

Charles Eames died of a heart attack on August 21^st 1970 and Ray died 10 years later on the exact day. Weirdly relating back to the film Powers of Ten.