Korver’s Korner

I was wondering when it would happen as I am sure so too were many of you. There has been every other kind of reality show, from out in the “wild” (Survivor) to locked in the “wild” (Big Brother) - this moved to the modeling world, then the design world, the business world, practically every kind of world and finally to our world - that of product design!

BBC2 now have a reality show with the prolific Philippe Starck the judge. I suppose if there was going to be a judge it makes sense, it would be expected that Philippe would be your man. Afterall, this is he who has designed pretty much every product that there is; from furniture, to a computer mouse, to a bin, to a toothbrush and the list goes on…

There are some who will be pro and others negative. It does, however you look at it, shine a light on a skill that many do not understand the complexity to. A product is a product, but the reasoning behind said item, the research, the ensuring it has a function is all the major part of the end result! It is a great chance for some to view furniture, for example, as design - it is design, we know this, but not all do.

Back to the show, The School of Design! There are (as with most if not all realities) a certain amount of contestants, in this case 12 British want-to-be’s, who are placed together in a, no doubt about it, lavish apartment or house in the French capital and rest assured they will be surrounded by every Philippe Starck design that there is (and there are many)! They will, of course, be given projects and there will of course be a winner whose prize is that of a six month placement at Starck’s design agency in Paris.

I myself am rather intrigued…