20th Century Design Cheat Notes
- 1. THE ELECTRIC KETTLE THE MOBILE PHONE 20 th Century Design
- 2. The Electric Kettle, 1983. 1894. Crompton & Co. Britain. Inefficient because the element was housed separately for safety. Longer to boil than stove top Boiled dry meant the element was burnt out and not replaceable. Very traditional appearance Copper/brass with wooden handles Premier Kettle, 1912, Fire under water
- 3. AEG- Peter Behrens, 1909.
- 4. Germany. First to introduce variety and modern elegance. Choice of finish materials and shape. First company to experiment with emersible element. Until 1920’s, Common solution was to attach the element to the underside of the kettle.
- 5. Bulpitt & Sons “Swan”, 1922 First kettle with totally immersed element. Doubled efficiency. Traditional appearance Middle class households
- 6. Russell Hobbs 1960, Britain. Model K2, (K1, 1956), William Russell. Standard kettle in Britain. Chrome plated, with black plastic. Early versions have curved spout, later versions straighter and with brushed steel. Automatic switch Stylish reputation first fully automatic kettle Price of kettle slightly more than others on the market due to reliability of materials and manufacture as well as design.
- 7. Model K2s 1971 Stainless steel Rich & attractive finish Durable & hardwearing Smooth and soft lines Two safely cut off points, not just cut out by vapour but also by the heat of the element, so if the kettle is turned on without water it wont be destroyed. First company to provide parts and repair service.
- 8. Philips Alessi Jug kettles first emerged in war time for efficient use of water for shaving or one cup of tea. Plastics and materials improved saw re-emergence of jug kettle in the 70’s. Polypropylene first plastic used for kettle body. Functionality rather than style, exception Philips Alessi. Convenience: Water level, lime scale filter, easy cleaning.
- 9. Alessi - Michael Graves Thermoplastic Cordless electric 1986, the first cordless kettle. Thermoplastic, heat proof. Company image. Safety: cut off power when lifted from base, polymer handles that are heat resistant. Metal that heated and cooled faster.
- 10. Mobile phone
- 11. 1946 – Wireless Telephones The first wireless telephone calls were made from cars and trucks. It was a primitive system and even in a city the size of New York only 12 people could place calls at a time. The first mobile phone
- 12. The first portable units were really big and heavy. Called transportable or luggable. They were so large mainly because of the size of the battery that they were housed in their own briefcase Transportable
- 13. In 1983 Motorola released the first true mobile phone. It weighed about the same as a bag of sugar and had a battery life of only 8 hours. It cost $3,995 and sold over 300,000 units in the first year alone. Motorola 1983 - DynaTAC 8000X
- 14. In 1989 digital networks lead to the increased use of mobile phones throughout the 90’s. The vast majority of phones were black or dark grey with aerials and small screens . The first clamshell cellular phone. Also one of the first display screens featured on a cell. Motorola- Startac ,1996
- 15. Convergent Devices The latest trend is to combine many different types of device in one. So mobile phones can also be used as PDAs, MP3 players, games consoles and as devices to surf the internet. Nokia 350i, first internet phone
- 16. Smart Phones- iPhone or Blackberry? 2007 iPhone auto-rotate sensor a multi-touch sensor that allowed multiple inputs while ignoring minor touches a touch interface that replaced the traditional QWERTY keyboards. Qwert keyboard comes from the first typewriters where the most common letters were sticking so they separated the vowels.
- 17. Concept Phones