Roger Tallon (6 March 1929 – 20 October 2011)
was a French
industrial designer
Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufactur ...
.
Biography
After studying as an
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
(1944–1950), Tallon was employed by
Caterpillar France and
DuPont
DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
. In 1953, he joined
Technès, the technical and aesthetic studies office founded in 1949 by the father of industrial aesthetics,
Jacques Viénot and
Jean Parthenay. Being rapidly promoted to technical and artistic director at the agency, he became the sole director after Viénot's death in 1959.
In 1957 he enrolled at the ("School of Applied Arts") in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, and put in place the first design course in the country. In 1963, he set up the Design Department of the
École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs
The École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ÉnsAD, also known as Arts Decos', École des Arts Décoratifs) is a public grande école of art and design of PSL Research University. The school is located in the Rue d'Ulm in Paris.
Profil ...
in Paris.
As a consultant for the US company
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
, Tallon designed
refrigerator
A refrigerator, colloquially fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to its external environment so th ...
s and
washing machine
A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a home appliance used to wash laundry. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning (which uses alternative cleaning fluids and ...
s and set up the Design Department of the American company.
In 1966, the
Téléavia P111
portable television
A handheld television is a portable device for watching television that usually uses a TFT LCD or OLED and CRT color display. Many of these devices resemble handheld transistor radios.
History
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Panasonic and Si ...
was put on the market against the advice of the Board. It broke the mould of TV design and was a great commercial success with a
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
.
In 1973, Tallon set up the agency
Design Programmes
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
. Brother-in-arms with the
LIP
The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...
watchmakers, he created the Mach 2000 brand of watches and chronometers. In 1974, with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, he created a concept
aircraft cabin
An aircraft cabin is the section of an aircraft in which passengers travel. Most modern commercial aircraft are pressurized, as cruising altitudes are high enough such that the surrounding atmosphere is too thin for passengers and crew to bre ...
for
Air France
Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...
.
After leaving Euro RSCG, he continued to work independently. Roger Tallon died on 20 October 2011 after a long period of sickness.
Work
Tallon and his team created hundreds of products, including industrial robots for Peugeot, the apparently purposeless 8mm film camera "Veronic", the Gallic 16 and 14 lathes for the Belgian company
La Mondiale
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
– a quantum leap in
machine tooling
A machine tool is a machine for handling or machining metal or other rigid materials, usually by cutting, boring, grinding, shearing, or other forms of deformations. Machine tools employ some sort of tool that does the cutting or shaping. All m ...
–, airport vehicles, forklifts for
Fenwick, graphic images for Fenwick Aviation, and a slide projector for
Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
.
In the art world, Tallon worked with
Yves Klein
Yves Klein (; 28 April 1928 – 6 June 1962) was a French artist and an important figure in post-war European art. He was a leading member of the French artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme founded in 1960 by art critic Pierre Restany. Klein w ...
,
César Baldaccini
César (born Cesare Baldaccini; 1 January 1921 – 6 December 1998), also occasionally referred to as César Baldaccini (), was a noted French sculptor.
César was at the forefront of the Nouveau Réalisme movement with his radical compressio ...
,
Arman
Arman (November 17, 1928 – October 22, 2005) was a French-born American artist. Born Armand Fernandez in Nice, France, Arman was a painter who moved from using objects for the ink or paint traces they leave (''cachets'', ''allures d'objet'') to ...
, and was contacted by
Catherine Millet
Catherine Millet (; born 1 April 1948 in Bois-Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French writer, art critic, curator, and founder and editor of the magazine '' Art Press'', which focuses on modern art and contemporary art.
Biography
Born in Bois-Col ...
, founder of the review, to create a
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
that has hardly changed to this day.
Tallon became a household name in areas including tableware, furniture, interior design, reflector lamps for the German Erco, watches for
Lip
The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...
, ski boots for
Salomon Group
Salomon Group is a French sports equipment manufacturing company based in Annecy, France. It was founded in 1947 by François Salomon in the heart of the French Alps and is a major brand in outdoor sports equipment. Salomon constitutes a par ...
, toothbrushes for
Fluocaril, oilcans for
Elf
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...
, and so on.
Transportation
In the transport world, an early Tallon design was the Derny 'Taon' motorcycle and he later took on the
Mexico City Metro
The Mexico City Metro ( es, Metro de la Ciudad de México) is a rapid transit system that serves the metropolitan area of Mexico City, including some municipalities in Mexico State. Operated by the Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (STC), it is ...
and, for
Alstom
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
and the
SNCF
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
, the
Corail train and the
TGV
The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
. Ergonomics, colours, lighting – and everything down to the route maps found in each train. With the couturier
Michel Schreiber, he designed new staff uniforms.
The
TGV Atlantique
The TGV Atlantique (TGV-A) is a class of high-speed trains used in France by SNCF; they were built by Alstom between 1988 and 1992, and were the second generation of TGV trains, following on from the TGV Sud-Est.
105 bi-current sets, numbered ...
project started in 1986,
Eurostar
Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated sep ...
in 1987. A new
Montmartre funicular
The Montmartre Funicular (french: Funiculaire de Montmartre) is an inclined transport system serving the Montmartre neighbourhood of Paris, France, in the 18th arrondissement. Operated by the RATP, the Paris transport authority, the system opened ...
saw Tallon conquer the hill of
Montmartre
Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...
in 1991. In 1994, after several mergers, Tallon's company and ADSA became
Euro RSCG
Havas Creative, formerly known as Havas Worldwide and Euro RSCG, is a French advertising agency. It is one of the largest integrated marketing communications agencies in the world, made up of 316 offices located in 75 countries. The firm provid ...
Design. He has worked on
Texan
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...
and
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
high-speed trains,
double-decker TGV trains for France, the
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro (french: Métro de Paris ; short for Métropolitain ) is a rapid transit system in the Paris metropolitan area, France. A symbol of the Paris, city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform ar ...
project
Météor, the
VAL 208 for
Matra
Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and we ...
, and the new branding for
Finnish Railways
VR-Group Plc ( fi, VR-Yhtymä Oyj, sv, VR-Group Abp), commonly known as VR, is a government-owned railway company in Finland. VR's most important function is the operation of Finland's passenger rail services with 250 long-distance and 800 co ...
.
Awards
* 1985: from the Minister of Culture.
* 1992: Insignia of from the President of the SNCF.
References
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Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tallon, Roger
French designers
French industrial designers
1929 births
2011 deaths