Top ten Russian designs, according to Lapo Elkann

Top ten Russian designs, according
to Lapo Elkann
Lapo Elkann oh his recent visit to Russia
In Russia, a country still fond of
the ostentatious, low-key designs
are now gaining a following
part of this market belongs to us.”
Stashenko blames the economic
upheavals of the 1990s for
sidelining Russian industrial design
- a turbulent time from which the
industry has yet to recover, she
believes.
Vladimir Samoylov, editor-inchief of Designet.ru, a professional
web resource on industrial design
developed by the Designet company, believes that the Russian
design industry cannot even be
called an industry right now.
Instead there are “selected people
with selected projects,” he said.
In spite of this, Russian design
companies do win major projects to
develop at home as well as abroad.
Designet, for example, is currently
busy on an Erich Krause line of
staplers and hole-punches. “We
produce not only design images,
but files for engineering, which are
fully ready for manufacturing purposes,” Samoylov said of the project.
Finding their niche
In a highly competitive market,
Russian designers must find their
niche by pushing the envelope and delivering unexpected results.
In a society still often driven by
the desire for the ostentatious, Russian design company Open Design,
for example, drew attention to itself
with its famous Diamond Inside
rings. The gold rings, bearing the
inscription “Diamond Inside,” were
outfitted with diamonds that were
turned inward, and billed as jewelry
“for modest people.”
Vladimir Samoylov of Designet, ru
believes that Russian designers
should be taking their cue from the
likes of Artemy Lebedev and his
Optimus innovative keyboard
project. The project, according to
Samoylov, is of the kind of quality
one could expect from a heavyweight
multinational company such as
Phillips - as opposed to a
comparatively small Russian design
company.
The emphasis on both quality and
form is what will propel Russian
designers forward, Samoylov
believes. Far from focusing on just
the look of a product, the best Russian designers today must focus on
the manufacturing and marketing
angle as well. This is what multinational companies and consumers
worldwide are ready to pay for. ■
1. Raketa watches
2. The UAZ off-road vehicle
3. Volga sedan
4. Stolichnaya vodka bottle
5. Black caviar glass can
6. St. Petersburg
7. Church domes
8. Clothing of the Patriarch
of the Russian Orthodox Church
9. Church paintings and
iconography
10.Matryoshkas