Jessica Tungesvik]

Tim Hossler

February 14, 2012

Bright Minds, Beautiful Ideas Essay

            After reading about Bruno Munari, Charles and Ray Eames, Marti Guixe and Jurgen Bay in “Bright Minds, Beautiful Ideas” I became undoubtedly intrigued by Marti Guixe. In the beginning questioners I thought I had absolutely nothing in common with him and didn’t understand him at all. But once I read his biography I couldn’t get enough of him. The other designer I identified with is Bruno Munari, with Munari I don’t relate nearly as much as to Marti Guixe but there are a few methods of his that I as an “ex designer” strive to master. In this essay I will explain why I identify with these two men, what I find inspiring about their work, and how they have influenced me to think and create completely different for this semester.

            With Marti Guixe everything he said I identify with. The main characteristic I share with him is our hate of excess and things, before reading this I had no idea how exactly I was going to be an industrial designer and not contribute to a materialistic world that I don’t agree with. Guixe amazingly finds a loophole and creates ideas that are free for the consumers but profitable to the employer and these ideas take hardly any extra material to create. Another trait I share with him is that I am also “ a designer with the mind of an artist.” I love art as he does, I enjoy creating it and I think art for pure enjoyment is useful. Guixe also wants to change the attitudes of people, which is something I also want to be able to do through my ideas and creations.

            Bruno Munari and I identify in different ways than Guixe and I but I believe that if Bruno and Guixe lived in the same era they would have agreed with each other in many aspects just as I do with both of them. With Munari I really like his method of always looking at the world through a child’s eyes, by questioning everything, being curious and to let your self be surprised. This is a method that I often forget to practice but eventually I will look at the world this way without even thinking about it. Another trait I identify with in Munari is following a simple way of thinking. At times I can over complicate things but to create ideas and products that seem simple and obvious is one of my goals as an ex designer.

            Guixe’s work inspires me because of his ability to take one thing that already has a use but gives it another use. For example his removable tattoo ruler and tattoo map. To use tattoos as a use other than art is a unique idea that I find inspiring because we often get stuck on what things are and don’t see them as what they could be. A similar idea he had was sponsored food, which is also another case where we often just see food as something to eat, but he saw it as something more. Both of these pieces of work by Guixe have inspired me more than any other ideas or products have before.

            Munari on the other hand inspires me in a humorous way. The one piece that Munari did that I found inspiring is the “Seeking Comfort In an Uncomfortable Chair” photographic sequence. This is a humorous sequence because it is something all of us can relate to. This piece goes back to Munari’s method of simplicity, where such a simple idea can be so funny and relatable to everyone.