(October 2013) presentation by Ashley Stephenson (designer at Orange Sparkle Ball). Ashley is our own Memphis design aficionado, and she presented this as part of her recent research on design trends. http://www.orangesparkleball.com

1. MEMPHIS
DESIGN GROUP
ashley stephenson
orange sparkle ball

2. MEMPHIS
was a Milan-based collective of
young furniture and designers
led by Ettore Sottsass.
After its 1981 debut, Memphis
dominated the early 1980’s design
scene with its post-modernist style.
Memphis incited designers of
everyday objects to break away
from clean-cut mainstream modern
European design.

3. “You were
either for it, or
against it. All
the boring old
designers hated
it. The rest of us
loved it.”
Bill Moggridge, co-founder of the
IDEO industrial design group

4. They drew inspiration from such
movements as Art Deco and Pop Art,
styles such as the 1950’s Kitsch and
futuristic themes.
Characteristics include vivid colors,
geometric patterns, abstract shapes,
and unconventional materials.

5. The Memphis Milano Movement began in Italy in 1981, but it
DEFINED THE “80’s LOOK”
in the United States for the following decade.

6. DARKROOM PRESENTS: SO SOTTSASS (London, 2013)
Honoring the work of Memphis designer Ettore Sottsass with an in-store tribute featuring a limited edition collection.

7. MEMPHIS DESIGN MEETS HAUTE COUTURE:
Christian Dior’s Fall-Winter Collection 2011

8. CURRENTLY IN THE
MARKET...

9. A SHL E Y’S HO U SE

10. “I am a designer and I want to
design things,
What else would I do?
Go fishing?”
- ETTORE SOTTSASS