Rebuilding What Was Lost: The Eames Design Firm in the Information Age SAI SHIVANI SOUNDARARAJ, LEILA LI, GABE PERSONS

Ray and Charles Eames – A Brief History  Cranbrook Academy of Art 3  Ray, the painter; Charles, the architect  Extending their fields  Married in 1941

The Eames Lounge Chair Wood  “30-year flash” or laborious process?  Organic Design in Home Furnishings (1940)  Affordable, modern pieces 3

The L.A. Experiments  1942: Venice Beach  U.S. Air Force  Molded leg splints – “Kazaam!”  Designing within constraints 2

The Eames Design Philosophy  What is design?  Arranging elements for a purpose  How does Eames design?  Learning by doing  “Never delegate understanding.” 2

 What is design for?  “The best for the most for the least.”  “Common man” 2

Where are we now?

 “Recently I was furnishing a multi-million dollar mansion, but the owner is not willing to pay $4700 for the Barcelona chair. But with a $650 knock off? He said, ‘Go ahead and get me 4!’”  “…the legit versions bring me much more satisfaction to use, look at and enjoy. I regret buying the knock-offs even though they were cheaper, and don't regret any of the vintage purchases.”  Would purchase multiple pieces, but a single one looks out of place.

Current Line of LCW  $ – Base walnut model  Overpriced  Competition

Who are they?  Founded in 1905  1930: Modernist furniture  1946: Charles and Ray  4 models

How do they function?  Online store  Distribution  Shop by type and designer  Selling designers

The Good

Marketing Techniques 1. Production video 2. Images of chair use  Distinctive, conforming design 3. 3D models 4. Collaborative experience

The Bad

Lack of Focus  Eames design and philosophy?  1. Work as play  2. Fulfilling need  3. Coincidence of design

PRICE POINT  LCW too expensive  Inflation  Cost of plywood

Competitors

Other upscale furniture? -- too expensive  Molded plywood, solid beech arms Designed by Norman Cherner, 1958 Made in the USA by The Cherner Chair Company $1029  Grete jalk gj chair Design Grete Jalk, 1963 Laminated plywood Made in Denmark by Lange Production $2700

Competitors – Reproductions

Who are they?  Online furniture stores  Kardiel  Mid-century reproductions  Rove Concepts  Affordable luxury pieces

The Good

 Low cost  Detailed specs  Structure  Materials  Comparisons  Market niche  Clear Information

The Bad

 Finish options  Kardiel  Designer information  Rove Concepts  Vague comparisons  Clean sites, but boring

User Scenarios

Upper Middle Class: Returning Buyers

New Buyers – Familiar with Eames

New Buyers – Unfamiliar with Eames (but want designer pieces)

References 1. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2. “Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter” – Jason Cohn & Bill Jersey 3. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History – Metropolitan Museum of Art 4. “Organic Armchair” – Vitra Design Museum 5. “What is Design? An Interview with Charles Eames” – Madame Amie, “The Work of Charles and Ray Eames: Exhibition and Book Review” – Nicolas Maffei, Spring 1999

Undercutting Designers 1. Value of designer 2. How HM improved designs

Collaborative Effort  Where does credit go?  Flow of furniture  Distributed photographs 6

Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen  Plywood, upholstered shell  Production issues  Departure of Eero 2

 Design from learning  Splint holes  Splitting chair  Know your users  Eames as hosts 2