Articles / Posted: March 6 2005
Blobjects & Beyond
IDEO’s Q concept finds a place in the San Jose Museum of Art’s first exhibition of industrial design, March 6, 2005 – July 10, 2005 in San Jose, CA
With the influx of consumer products defined by smooth-formed, “blobby” silhouettes peaking in the mid-1990s, Blobjects & Beyond: The New Fluidity in Design was a not-too-distant retrospective, filled with curvaceous product, furniture, graphic design, media, and architecture from the past two decades. Demonstrating significant advances in prototyping and manufacturing, Blobjects & Beyond tracked such “classic” superfluids as the Apple iMac, the Nike Triax watch, the Smart Car, and a handful of recognizable Alessi designs, among others. Also included in the exhibit was IDEO’s Q mobile workstation concept for Steelcase, a desktop prototype of a capsule-like space that illustrated the need for new levels of adjustability in the work environments of the future. This and other forward-looking designs brought an element that, according to the San Jose Museum of Art, “goes ‘beyond’ the upbeat, friendly blobject toward a design language reflective of the darker post-9/11 mood.”
Also in conjunction with Blobjects & Beyond was a conversation between Yves Behár and IDEO co-founder Bill Moggridge on April 7, 2005, at the San Jose Museum of Art.