Having seen a few episodes of The BBC series ‘Design for Life’ which follows the reality TV template I find myself conflicted as to who the real Philippe Starck is.
As a product designer I was of course interested in a reality show which highlights real talent and the opportunity to learn something relevant as opposed to the all singing all dancing format which frankly only interests me if ‘ole Brucie is considering doing a Tommy Cooper. (sorry Tommy…and Bruce)
Starck ze bullsheeteur or ze icon?
The show gives 10? product designers the opportunity to impress Monsieur Starck with their design skills over the course of the series rewarding the (so called) most promising with a six month internship with the prestigious Starck firm.
However after only a few shows I have to admit to being more than a little disappointed with both the quality of the contestants and Starck himself. More than a fair share of the responsibility for this must go to the BBC of course but more on that later.
Starck is regarded as one of the most prestigious product designers of his generation and the opportunity to watch him at work and learn about his talents, his philosophies and what motivates him could have been a hugely successfull show. Unfortunately from what I have seen so far it fails to inspire on any level. In fact it even fails to provide the entertainment of the sprightly 85 year old Brucie.
Starck undoubtedly has skills and a perspective on the world around us which would serve us well to learn from, as well as entertain, both for would-be designers and casual viewers. If you doubt this you should view his speech on TED.com. However this avenue hasn’t been explored so far and I doubt it will and that doesn’t do justice to Starck, the participants, the BBC or indeed us the viewer.
Starck comes across as something of a buffoon. While he talks a lot he is hardly engaging. His instructions to the participants lack clarity and direction leaving them confused as to the actual brief they have been given. Then when Starck doesn’t get what he expected after disappearing for a week with no interaction he lambastes the clearly lacking in confidence would-be designers for not giving him what he wanted. Whatever that was to begin with!
The language barrier more than plays its part in this communication breakdown but to blame it entirely on this would be to ignore the apparent lack of talent of the contestants, and the apparent lack of engagement of Starck himself. Not to mention the failure of the shows producers to provide a format which extracts the most from a promising concept.
As a designer I watch the show with the hope of learning something valuable about design and Starck himself and I imagine that was the catalyst for the contestants on the show to apply for the show originally. Starck after all is an icon in the world of design and what would-be designer wouldn’t be excited at that prospect. However after only a few episodes I am left with the distinct impression that Starck himself is looking to learn from the contestants and poach their ideas in order to remain relevant. His interaction and input is minimal at best.
I could say something got lost in translation but I couldn’t be sure what that something was.
Ultimately the show left me wondering whether the great Philippe Starck is all he is cracked up be. The genius designer? Or the pretentious bullshitter? Which is a pity because what I wanted, was to see more of his philosophy as articulated on TED.com at work.
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