Bene Office Furniture

inside: private identity

Inside: private identity - the design of meaning and identity

Up until the last century you could still read social rank and status from peoples' clothing. Just two hundred years ago there were not even differently shaped shoes for left and right feet. Today the need for self-representation, individuality and uniqueness - via clothing and products - permeates all layers of society, all areas of life and all product categories. Even the most unsophisticated people like to characterize themselves as "a little crazy" or describe themselves as being "different from the rest". Averageness and mediocrity are among the most belittling judgments fellow humans can impose upon one another. Casting shows and super model hunts have become a widely discussed social phenomenon. In this exhausting search for uniqueness even "15 minutes of fame" in a shallow afternoon talk-show appears to be desirable for many. Stars reinvent themselves every few years and even average people continue to redesign their external appearance – unafraid even of completely changing their own bodies with plastic surgery - so as to belong to a certain group ... or not.

Identity is not there at the outset, it is developed by society and by every individual, invented, constructed, developed further and nurtured. The frenzied pace of change over the last few decades, globalization, media growth, and digitization have resulted in the fear of losing identity, origin, familiar roles and life forms. At the same time the Internet has opened up completely new possibilities in terms of constructing one's own identity, assimilating different identities, playing with these and trying out other roles. And thus in real life, most of the full-bosomed young women who haunt online games as avatars, are in fact men.

Associated with 'Web 2.0' is not only a greater interactive use of the Internet but also a constant increase in self-exhibition and the creation of one's own identity: We present ourselves in blogs, on MySpace, Flickr or YouTube, embarrass ourselves - if it serves to make us famous - and it is no problem to do this in front of the whole world as well. We present profiles of ourselves on home pages, on-line shopping sites and on classified ad pages: Who we are and who we would like to be, our partialities and aversions, which brands we like to buy and what subjects interest us. By answering a few questions we can post personality profiles on sites like personaldna.com which can be mailed in graphic form to others or included on your own homepage. After using Amazon for a certain time, it appears to understand your literary preferences better than you do and is better able to supply a fitting recommendation than your trusty bookseller. The fact that our preferences have become transparent through customer loyalty systems and that there appear to be precise profiles on each of us, has at times fascinated with the new possibilities but at times also wary of 'big brother' surveillance.


Objects as an expression of identity

Purchasing behaviour, apartments with their collections of objects which accompany one through life thus become a succinct expression of an individual's personality and character. Even those who consider this product importance superficial and materialistic cannot resist the fascination of objects such as those in the preserved original interior of a famous person's house: Goethe's residences in Frankfurt and Weimar, for example, are not just fascinating for the almost tangible presence of a great thinker but also for the profane objects that a great mind chose to surround himself with. The atelier of Achille Castiglioni left in its original state is much more than a collection of products and designs, rather it gives us an insight into the way the great designer designed, thought and lived - through his collection of objects, or the position of his desk or the little eye-catching showy effects. But also the 'home stories' of ordinary people arouse our curiosity as these lively spaces, the collection of private objects between representation and intimacy, communicate a real insight into the life of other people – which can rarely be found in the staged interiors of a furniture catalogue.

The objects we use and with which we surround ourselves are a multitude of little statements which comprise a patchwork identity so individual that companies now have trouble planning for it. The context in which the products are placed often surprises the manufacturers; target groups are not as clear as they were a few decades ago. We have long since become multi-brand beings: We wear H&M pants with a Strenesse shirt, together with Puma sneakers and imitation Chanel sunglasses. A Louis Vuitton bag can be carried as an ironic statement and at the same time one can find it really attractive. Aldi and Feinkost Käfer, coffee and tea, down and synthetic fillings, sneakers and loafers, Mercedes SL and Twingo, Ikea and Moroso, taxi and bicycle, H&M and Hermès are no longer separate worlds.


The rediscovery of subjectivity

Long before product design, fashion discovered the value of brand image and designer name. Fashion designers have become expert in selling identity-giving objects with character, a story and the promise of a certain lifestyle. In the past few decades the brand image appears to have become more important for the survival and failure of a company than the actual products. But with the replacement of the industrial age by the digital age and the fear of losing identity through new media and globalization, questions are now being asked in all design fields which go beyond marketing considerations and image building - questions which, under different circumstances, were already asked in the industrial age: Does a mass product have to be cold and matter-of-fact? Can it also possess individuality and charm? Is the character of a product less important than its functionality and perfection? And how important is emotional relationship to a product? Designers increasingly respond to these and other questions with designs in which a tradition of product culture can be recognized, which make reference to familiar forms and old handcraft techniques, which tell a story, and allow personal appropriation or call forth emotions. They have found a new and playful design which, however, is not stuck in the superficial but has led to a conceptual approach which scrutinizes, which has its roots in culture and which has rediscovered the social meaning of design. Design has begun to return to the original values of the discipline that wanted to give back to the industrial product its worth and individuality.

Designers no longer concern themselves just with objects but increasingly with the treatment and rituals associated with these. They create spaces where you cane xperience different things, places of ritual, identity-giving architecture and products. They search for archetypes and re-invent things, they play with altered design and product conditions. They more willingly accept the time-related quality of their own work instead of always wanting to find 'timeless' objects. They break with the perfection of form in favour of emotionality and subjectivity and consciously see to it that their objects have little flaws or irregularities in the craftsmanship. In recent years porcelain painting has also been rediscovered by contemporary design as have embroidery, knitting and weaving, meshwork, gathering, and patterns and ornaments from various cultures. Styles of various epochs, countries and regions, cultures and traditions, new manufacturing processes, and materials are mixed and sampled. High-tech ornaments produced by new methods can be evaluated as either an escapist design-trend of the troubled times or as a promising expression of new technology.

With the new possibilities of, say, CNC production and increasingly important mass customization, the qualities of handcrafting can for the first time be transported to mass production. The individuality and character of serial products is not achieved by subsequently adding a patina or traces of usage and aging, but are already part of the design and production process allowing for a personal twist when they are purchased or ordered. The customer becomes a co-designer, market identity recedes in favor of purchaser individuality. Mass products are no longer forced to be stereotypes, autonomous and exchangeable which come across as cold, but can now have a direct emotional reference to the user.


The desire for stories

At the same time, what counts is lending objects not just form but also content. Designers and companies increasingly recognize that the stories told about a product are as important as the product itself: Dior decorates its newest lipstick 'Rouge Dior' with the braided pattern of the stools on which Dior customers in Paris have been sitting for 60 years. Opel lets designers conceal a small shark on the glove compartment of the new Opel Corsa, which has apparently been smuggled through all the control processes of the automobile manufacturer. Also, it is very clear that the design 'classics' are primarily effective for the stories they tell, for the fascination with the meaning of their design history - as the design of a great designer and the associated creative stance.

We can see the charm in designs of the past decades because we understand them as an expression of the possibilities and demands of their day, and thereby discover that the original designs of some of the classics were often much less perfect and minimalist than today's 'originals' suggest: Some tubular steel furniture was painted in colors at the time it was designed and it was not very solid; an early Zig Zag Chair is astonishingly imprecise in its workmanship. Eschewing exaggerated respect, a few years ago, Dutchman Marten Baas took a number of furniture classics and in short, burnt them to cinders with his 'Smoke Series'. He removed them from their base and at the same time gave them a new aesthetic and opened them up to a new perspective.


The interaction of objects and stances

With the idea of making a collage of classic and contemporary design for its Home Collection, Vitra grasped a principle which has always existed outside design catalogues and showrooms and thus enabled a special identification with the company's product. Today, people who pride themselves on the fact that everything in their living room comes from the same manufacturer or that everything bears the signature of a certain designer, tend to look ridiculous rather than like someone with design competence. Brands and products interact if not in trade fairs and sales exhibitions then at least in one's own apartment, life or in the knowledge of how objects relate to one another: The Hella Jongerius Vase from Ikea stands next to a bed by e15, who cooperate with Dornbracht, who in addition to their commitment to art also make fittings which fit well in a bathroom covered in Bisazza mosaics, which have also been used to cover a Mini, whose range of accessories includes a beautiful collection of bags by Mandarina Duck ...

Specialist catalogue and concept stores such as Colette, Corso Como or The Corner have taken up these object interactions and increasingly shaped whole life spheres from cosmetics, clothes and furniture and even books. By making selections from the highly visible range of product offerings, they have assumed the function that good friends or interior architects used to have. Moreover, they have succeeded in charging the objects with their own aura, as their value increases by having been bought at "Colette in Paris" or "Corso Como" in Milan.

But dedicated manufacturers also bring their own identity into the life sphere of the user because they stand for a certain creative stance and a lifestyle, because they pay attention to production conditions and quality, because they reach beyond the horizons of their sales figures and feel responsible for the ethical and moral values of the staff and customers. Many increasingly consider themselves part of the life sphere and identity of the user and see themselves and their products in a social, indeed even cultural context. They recognize that next to CI there is also the identity of the individual customer which has long been neglected. They cooperate gladly with other manufacturers and combine various competences, identities and styles.

The actual usage of the products networks the companies, brands, labels and positions beyond all cross-marketing measures: Everything does not have to match but everything refers to everything else. Thus it is worth paying as much attention to the small objects as to the large ones. It is important to understand that the book on the coffee table is just as important as the sofa on which you are sitting. Just as a tartan pattern, of colored and very different stripes is the symbol of a certain clan, so too do objects, signs and symbols of various product categories, manufacturer and design orientations form a superior, independent and new identity which can be regarded as an expression of our individuality.


By courtesy of Messe Frankfurt / Text: Markus Frenzl