An Eames Primer

"Katia : They’re the perfect example of what product design is. Charles and Ray Eames were an amazing duo, and the embodiment of product design. Tiago : They also worked in a range of disciplines that cross over from pure design into other domains. What we commonly understand as core product design—retail product or furniture–was something they excelled at. They took their vision though into many different areas, from performative arts to photography and film, always going back to their know-how with materials and spatial relations, and applying all that expertise to their development and design process. Encompassing so many different areas and fields, their studio ended up developing great, humanitarian design—that’s the prime example we have through the ages of exemplary product design. Katia : The Eameses even took design into education—that’s a massive step. Their relationship with IBM , for example, involved educating the public about the power of computing, and was a major watershed not only in design history but in the IT revolution. That’s the first connection I believe where you have informatics and design coming together in real symbiosis. Tiago : For me that’s an essential appeal of this ‘primer’, more family journal than academic text or even coffee table book, and rich with anecdotes that aren’t typically in the realm of design history. This more personal sphere gives us tremendous insight into how both designers worked, individually and as a couple. Their practice is relayed to us by a member of the family, who has lived that experience, that vision, personally. That is also something that for the two of us as a duo is very relatable."