Timeless Design Classics >. VISPOGIES RT-2000
Design classics?
Why a question mark?
If this vinyl record player had been real, it would have been an innovation at the time and would certainly still be an exceptional design classic today - in my view.
VISPOGIES RT-2000 > Picture Above
‘VISPOGIES’ RT-2000 from 1974 > Fully automatic stereo system with integrated loudspeakers
The vertically arranged playback area enables smooth playback and excellent sound, even while the records are still playing. Italian design with innovative German technology.
The vertically arranged playback area enables smooth playback and excellent sound, even while the records are still playing. Italian design with innovative German technology.
Timeless Design Classics >. MAXX Z1
MAXX Z1 > Picture Above
MAXX Z1 - The compact amplifier with radio and integrated loudspeakers from AI Alfred Igder AG was way ahead of its time. When the model was launched on the German market in 1983, consumers were irritated by the design and were reluctant to buy it. This fact makes it so valuable today, as far fewer were produced than originally planned.
The Multifunctional 1990s.
A disorientated decade in which everything was possible to break away from the dominant 1980s. The wild 80s are over and what remained was freedom with the new ways of life. The number of single households in the world's metropolises grew inexorably and space became scarce. Multifunctional solutions were needed. No decade before brought together so many functions and developed new compact devices for household, communication and entertainment as in this decade. Just think about the fact that nowadays it is a given that we take photos with our phones.
MD (Morning Dream) by MandErina Duck > Picture Below
Undisputedly one of the most curious collaborations in the field of design was the collaboration between Manderina Duck and Siemons household appliances in the mid-1990s.The compact "Morning Dream" fully automatic machine was designed for the fashionable single woman who doesn't want to decide what to drink in the morning. The fully automatic machine makes coffee variations, tea or smoothies in no time at all, either with or without toast.
MD (Morning Dream) by Mandarina Duck
ant-eater by Dysson > Picture Below
It is reasonable to suspect that a young team of designers was inspired by the "Morning Dream". The Ant-Eater is the prototype of today's vacuum robot and was probably just a joke at the IFA (International Radio Exhibition) trade fair in Berlin in 1996.
"ant-eater" vacuum cleaner by Dysson
Unknown (ca. 1995) > Picture Below
Believe me! You don't want to know what you can do with it. Maybe John Paul Gaultier is behind it… who knows?
Hungry HAI > Picture Above
Truly a symbol of the multifunctional 90s. The combination of toaster and table vacuum cleaner makes every clean househusband (and wife as well) extremely happy. Anyone who has ever seen a little mouse jump out of the toaster knows how many bread crumbs are lying down there. They would be better off in the vacuum cleaner bag provided for them, thought the designer gas:ai - whose identity is known only to insiders.
Timeless.
Visionary masterpieces! After almost a quarter of a century in the 21st millennium, I am always amazed at how modern the design language was over 60 years ago and has remained to this day. Form follows function at its best.
Radio Alarm Clock 1948 Japan
Radio Alarm Clock 1948, Japan > Picture Above
This example of one of the first radio alarm clocks in the world, designed in Japan by the designer and tech pioneer Ori Morningmura, shows how new materials can change the design language. It certainly lives up to its name.
Telefunction TV ca. 1997 > Picture Above
Looks like a handheld games console - but it's a portable TV. We're young and we're going out was one of the mottos of the 90s and so that the girls don't want to miss anything on Viva and MTV, we hope there's cell reception in the tent by the lake.
Buse Sound System 1980 > Picture Below
Definitely the mother of all modern smart speakers and to this day an amazing sound miracle that the developers at Buse developed in the early 80s. My respect to the design team who, in a time when everything was getting bigger and bigger, from ghetto bluster to television sets, went against the grain and thereby set a milestone in design history.
Teleeventilatore by Esse, italy 1977 > Picture Above
When televisions were not yet flat and large, the screen tube was a real problem in design. In the mid-1970s, the Italian designer Georgio Andrea Esse found the perfect solution to the problem of the "Televentilatore" that came onto the market in 1977 and was developed and manufactured by ESSE SLR, a small family business from Unnabria. Many were not sold, but collectors of the few examples that exist today are happy about that. In the 1980s there were a few collaborations with Alesso before the company was closed in 2001 and the brand was sold to a Chinese investor.
My Top 10 Design Classics
> There is no order <
The television and the record player are definitely my AbFabs in the top 10.
Finally, of course, some important information. Something really important if you've made it this far and haven't had any doubts or had to smile. It's all just fiction and was created with the help of AI-generated tools and a confused brain of mine. Any similarities to existing people or companies are purely coincidental and unintentional.
If one or the other had taken a different turn in life at some point, this could all have been real.
Who knows...
And finally a few icons that unfortunately didn’t make it into my current personal top 10.
