The history of Design

The history of Industrial Design begins with the start of the Industrial Revolution with the invention of mechanical processes of production. For the first time everything changed, it was possible to produce large quantities of products which were also cheaper. Ceramic manufacturers found it easy to mass produce plain white plates but still they had to paint on the pattern by hand which was too expensive, so they developed a method of transfer printing but only blue ink could withstand high temperatures used during the glazing process. That’s why all the plates of the early period were all in blue, the most famous being the Willow Pattern. As the ink technology improved, also colour and patterns did. Design was led by its technology and was of a very low quality standard because manufacturers had little competition and spend no money to beautifying their products. The Bauhaus used technological process as the basis of their designs. But the problem of low standard product design was still their so in 1833, a Parliamentary Select Committee was set up to examine the problem. It took the Arts and Crafts movement and the Great Exhibition of the 1851 to change things.

The festival of Britain in the 1951 was a push for a revival of design, technology and social change like it was with the Great Exhibition of the 1851, one hundred years before.

 

            

       Cast Iron Chair 1820                     Shaker Chair 1880

History of Design Styles. 2013. History of Design Styles. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.techitoutuk.com/knowledge/designhistory/historyods.html. [Accessed 04 March 2013].