A blobject is a design product, often a brightly-coloured household object which has smooth curves and no sharp edges. The word is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordspolycarbonate,

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins a ...

, or

polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including b ...

), metal, and rubber, with the aim being to give a more organic and animate feel.

Etymology

The origin of the term is disputed, but it is often attributed to either the designer-author Steven Skov Holt or the designer

Karim Rashid Karim Rashid (born 1960) is an Egyptian-born and Canadian raised industrial designer. His designs include luxury goods, furniture, lighting, surface design, brand identity and packaging. ''Time'' magazine has described him as the "most famous ind ...

. Holt has defined a blobject as a colorful,

mass-produced Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and ba ...

, plastic-based, emotionally-engaging

consumer product A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, but ...

with a curvilinear, flowing shape. This fluid and curvaceous form is the blobject's most distinctive feature. Rashid, the contemporary designer who wrote the book ''I Want to Change the World'', was an early leader in creating blobjects and has become one of the most celebrated designers of his generation.

Overview

While often viewed as a modern concept, Blobject can be traced all the way back to prehistoric sculptures like

Venus of Willendorf The Venus of Willendorf is an Venus figurine estimated to have been made around 25,000-30,000 years ago. It was found on August 7, 1908, by a workman named Johann Veran or Josef Veram during excavations conducted by archaeologists Josef Szombat ...

. In the early 20th century, in the work of Joan Miró and Jean Arp, these characteristics appeared. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, these design started appearing in home goods like La Chaise chair. In the 1990s, designers like

Philippe Starck Philippe Starck (; born 18 January 1949) is a French industrial architect and designer known for his wide range of designs, including interior design, architecture, household objects, furniture, boats and other vehicles. Life Starck was born on ...

Marc Newson Marc Andrew Newson CBE RDI (born 20 October 1963) is an industrial designer who works in aircraft cabin design, product design, furniture design, jewellery, and clothing. His style uses smooth geometric lines, translucency, strength, tran ...

, and

led the way with the use of technology. Many of the most famous blobjects appeared in this decade. Blobjects can also be found in most areas of contemporary

visual culture Visual culture is the aspect of culture expressed in visual images. Many academic fields study this subject, including cultural studies, art history, critical theory, philosophy, media studies, Deaf Studies, and anthropology. The field of vi ...

. A blobject can be a typographic font (cf.

Neville Brody Neville Brody, (born 23 April 1957) is an English graphic designer, typographer and art director. He is known for his work on ''The Face'' magazine (1981–1986), ''Arena'' magazine (1987–1990), and designing record covers for artists such a ...

), an animation (cf. Monica Peon), a piece of furniture (

), an article of clothing (

Rei Kawakubo (b. 1942) is a Japanese fashion designer based in Tokyo and Paris. She is the founder of Comme des Garçons and Dover Street Market. In recognition of the notable design contributions of Kawakubo, an exhibition of her designs entitled '' Rei ...

), a motorcycle (GK Dynamics), a car (GEMCAR), a building (

Future Systems Future Systems was a London-based architectural and design practice, formerly headed by Directors Jan Kaplický and Amanda Levete. Future Systems was founded by Kaplický and David Nixon after working with Denys Lasdun, Norman Foster, Renzo ...

), a painting (

Rex Ray Rex Ray (September 11, 1956 – February 9, 2015) was an American graphic designer and collage artist, based in San Francisco. Biography Born as Michael Patterson on September 11, 1956, on a United States Army base in Germany, and he was raised ...

), a piece of sculpture ( Hadeki Matsumoto), or ceramics work ( Ken Price). The blobject trend has largely been driven by advances in computer-aided design,

information visualization Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random, a ...

, rapid prototyping,

materials Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geolog ...

, and injection molding. These technologies have given designers the chance to use new shapes and to explore

transparency and translucency In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable light scattering by particles, scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale ...

without significant extra production costs.

References

External links

Boing Boing ''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twic ...

When Blobjects Rule the Earth
by Bruce Sterling
Karim Rashid

San Jose Museum of Art

Industrial design
Technology in society Consumer goods 1990s neologisms

Etymology

Overview

See also

References

Further reading

External links