Heads up! To view this whole video, sign in with your Courses account or enroll in your free 7-day trial. Sign In Enroll
Preview
Start a free Courses trial
to watch this video
In this video we will take a look at some great designers of the past and present. This video includes; Charles & Ray Eames, Herb Lubalin and Paul Rand.
This video doesn't have any notes.
Related Discussions
Have questions about this video? Start a discussion with the community and Treehouse staff.
Sign upRelated Discussions
Have questions about this video? Start a discussion with the community and Treehouse staff.
Sign up
In this video, we'll take a look at some designers and how their work still impacts us to this very day.
0:00
Know that all of these mediums are a little bit different.
0:06
Whether it be architecture, print, or film,
0:10
simply pay attention to the solutions they've designed and created.
0:13
First up, we have Charles and Ray Eames.
0:18
Charles and Ray Eames' main focus was architecture and furniture.
0:22
They also ventured into industrial design and graphic design, fine arts and film, as well.
0:27
They were American designers in the early 1900s.
0:34
Charles and Ray Eames are so noteworthy in the design industry
0:38
because they were so impactful on modern America through so many mediums.
0:42
They were a team of husband and wife.
0:47
They worked vigorously side-by-side throughout their careers
0:50
to find the best possible solutions for any given task.
0:53
Here are a couple of their masterpieces.
0:58
The Eames house is a case-study house designed by both Charles and Ray.
1:00
They wanted to design a house that fit within its environment
1:06
and had the functional use of an office and home.
1:10
The house is constructed of glass and steel.
1:13
This home and work space is the epitome of the definition of design.
1:16
It was strategically designed to solve the task at hand—
1:21
create a home and office in one.
1:26
This is the first time an architectural design like this has ever been completed with such effectiveness.
1:29
The structure still stands to this day.
1:35
Their next project I'd like to talk about is the "Powers of Ten."
1:39
The Eames couple pioneered the zoom effect
1:43
we still see today in movies.
1:46
If you have ever seen a space view zooming into earth,
1:48
like Google Maps,
1:52
it was probably because of the film, "Powers of Ten."
1:54
The film was commissioned by IBM in 1977.
1:58
The idea was to explain how large the universe is;
2:01
then, zooming in by using the powers of 10 until we end up on a single proton—
2:06
a very effective representation of size from the universe all the way down to molecular structures.
2:12
The next Eames project, which their most known for, is the Eames lounge chair.
2:19
Charles and Ray designed many collections of furniture for Herman Miller.
2:24
They pioneered the process of chair making with their early work, using the molded plywood process,
2:29
as you can see here, in the Eames lounger and ottoman.
2:35
They also experimented and perfected the process of fiberglass and resin-molded chairs.
2:39
Charles Eames said it best, "Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a specific purpose."
2:45
Our next designer is Herb Lubalin.
2:55
Herb Lubalin is an American graphic designer.
2:59
He was born in 1918.
3:02
Herb collaborated on 3 Ginzburg magazines—
3:05
the "Eros,""Fact," and "Avant Garde."
3:09
He was responsible for the beauty and aesthetics of these publications.
3:13
Most notably, Herb is responsible for an art deco type face called avant garde.
3:18
The work that Herb did is best described as meaning through type.
3:25
He emphasizes the message through beautiful type lockups and layouts.
3:31
Herb did not think of himself as a typographer
3:35
but more of a message designer by using characters or the master of typographics.
3:38
He changed our perception on typography through his exploration of typographics.
3:45
He gave type life and meaning.
3:51
He personified every phrase with a human emotion.
3:54
He created successful solutions and gave copy purpose.
3:58
Next up, one my favorites—Paul Rand.
4:03
Paul Rand is an American graphic designer.
4:07
Born in 1914, Paul Rand is best known for his corporate design work.
4:10
He has created brand identities for major corporations such as Apple, IBM, Enron, ABC, and UPS—to just name a few.
4:16
Rand began designing page layouts in the 1950s,
4:26
and in the 1960s, he single-handedly convinced corporate America
4:30
that great design is a valuable and must-have tool.
4:36
He's the one that substituted project pricing rather than hourly pricing.
4:40
He coined the word jewel, which we better know today as mark.
4:45
This is the iconic standalone symbol which encompasses a brand.
4:51
Rand's design theories were very simple and straight to the point.
4:55
Here's a couple quotes from Paul Rand.
5:00
"Don't try to be original, just try to be good."
5:03
"Design is the method of putting form and content together."
5:07
"Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition."
5:12
"Design can be art, design can be aesthetics."
5:18
"Design is so simple, that's why it's so complicated."
5:22
"Simplicity is not the goal, it's the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations."
5:27
You need to sign up for Treehouse in order to download course files.
Sign upYou need to sign up for Treehouse in order to set up Workspace
Sign up