Comments on: Who's responsible for this interesing Design Quote?

Question: Who's responsible for this interesing Design Quote?

Kensational — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 17:18:02 -0800

Anyone know who said this quote? (may be slightly paraphrased) "Design for the classes and live with the masses. Design for the masses and live with the classes."

A teacher at school said it in first day of class...I already tried to find out using internet search engines and wikipedia - no luck. Help me get some extra credit!

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 17:28:57 -0800

I don't even know what it's supposed to mean. Are you sure you're remembering it correctly?

By: quadog

quadog — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 17:29:28 -0800

The idea of utilitarian design for the masses emerged during the Bauhaus. That might be a way of narrowing your search criteria. This idea has contemporarily manifested itself most clearly in designs released by Target so you may want to throw that into the search as well.

Or, it could have been Jesse Jackson.

By: AmbroseChapel

AmbroseChapel — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 17:40:59 -0800

John Jacob Astor

By: AmbroseChapel

AmbroseChapel — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 17:46:23 -0800

>I don't even know what it's supposed to mean.

Surely it means "You can only make so much money selling to the rich. There aren't enough of them. To be truly wealthy you need to sell to the poor".

By: Kensational

Kensational — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 18:10:50 -0800

AmbroseChapel: Hey thanks a lot! Extra Credit for YOU! Yay!

By: AmbroseChapel

AmbroseChapel — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 18:18:03 -0800

The secret, by the way, was to search for only part of the quote: "live with the masses".

By: mediareport

mediareport — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 19:02:53 -0800

I've heard a slightly similar phrase - "design for the masses, not the classes" - used to describe the work of Russell Wright and other modernist designers of the 1930s who aimed at the middle class.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 07:19:33 -0800

Surely it means "You can only make so much money selling to the rich. There aren't enough of them. To be truly wealthy you need to sell to the poor".

Ah, I guess you're right. I just never heard "the classes" used that way. Learn something every day.