ROSS LOVEGROVE

Welsh industrial designer Ross Lovegrove (1958 - ) is perhaps best known for his work on the Sony Walkman. Lovegrove studied at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University), then went to the Royal College of Art, London where he completed his master of design. His inspiration mainly comes from organic forms and structures. In the early 80’s he worked as a designer for Frog design in West Germany on projects such as walkmans for Sony, computers for Apple, later moved to Paris as a consultant to Knoll International, becoming author of the highly successful Alessandri office system. Invited to join the Atelier de Nîmes along with Jean Nouvel and Philippe Starck, Lovegrove found himself consulting to amongst others Louis Vuitton, Hermes and DuPont. Returning to London Lovegrove set up his own design firm in the early 90s resulting in project work for Airbus industries, Kartell, Ceccotti, Artemide, Cappellini, Idee, Moroso, Luceplan, Driade, Peugeot, Apple, Issey Miyake, Vitra, Olympus Cameras, Yamagiwa corporation, Tag Heuer, Hackman, Alias, Herman Miller, Biomega, Japan airlines and Toyo Ito Architects, Japan as well as KEF and Bernhardt Design (for the Go chair). Winner of numerous international awards his work has been extensively published and exhibited internationally including the museum of Modern Art in New York, the Guggenheim Museum, New York, the Axis Centre, Japan, the Pompidou Centre, Paris, and the Design Museum, London, where in 1993 he curated the first permanent collection. Lovegrove was awarded the World Technology Award by Time magazine and CNN in November 2005. The same year, he was awarded the very prestigious Red Dot Design Award for the products created for Vitra.
Lovegrove has a unique ability to seduce the consumer with appealing fluid shapes, persuasive technology, rich color and beautiful materials. He is inspired by forms of the natural world, the possibilities of new manufacturing techniques and the ability to evoke an emotional response in users. Many of his designs address ecological issues and he has worked on a proposal for a lightweight product architecture called the Solar Seed that is solar powered and inspired by the form of a cactus. Whether creating a luxury leather bag collection or a plastic thermos flask, Lovegrove's humanistic approach and organic sensibility have set a direction for design in the next century.

related links:
http://www.rosslovegrove.com/
http://www.architonic.com/pmpro/ross-lovegrove/8100431/2/2/1
http://www.bonluxat.com/d/ross-lovegrove.html
http://www.artemde.com/
http://www.knoll.com/
http://www.frighetto.it/
http://www.yamagiwausa.com/
http://www.moooi.com/

images: (click on images to enlarge)
Oasi for Frighetto (top)
Droplet fro Artemide (2nd)
Sprite stacking chair for Knoll (3rd)
System X for Yamigiwa (4th)
Barberella sofa for Moooi (bottom)