Bringing our love for the Memphis Movement to life.
A few months ago, Adobe contacted us with a brief. In order to highlight influential moments in design history, they came to us asking if we could speak about our love for the Memphis Milano movement and to share how it has influenced our way of working within the vernacular of our studio. Of course, we couldn’t say no! Memphis Milano is an Italian design and architecture group founded by the “godfather of Memphis,” Ettore Sottsass, and was active from about 1980 to 1987. The group designed furniture, lighting, fabrics, carpets, ceramics, glass, and metal objects as a way to rebel against the black and white sleek modernist trends of the time.
Initially beginning as a video project about the history of Memphis to inspire those who were discovering this movement in design history for the first time, this opportunity would also feature our studio and how we were personally inspired by Sottsass and his friends and so we wanted to use the vibrant energy of the movement as inspiration for us to create a piece that would be included within the video. We fashioned a room divider and several stools to supplement the space, all painted in vibrant melon, fuchsia, mint, and cerulean blue. We worked closely with the team at Adobe Create to make a video that could help inspire those who were discovering this influential moment in design history for the first time and to share how fun and enjoyable design history can truly be. In addition, we created a set of free design assets that would help encourage designers to break out of their comfort zones and work with a reestablished toolkit to design a piece of their own.
Whether you’re new to design or have been in the know for many years, we hope you’ll learn something new (or at least get a little laugh) from our collaboration! It was a true pleasure and honor to contribute to this piece that aims to educate those new to this movement, as well as those simply looking to brush up on their history.
