Two weekends ago Ben and Jason met us for breakfast and then stopped by the condo to interview Tawn. I recently mentioned their art cafe, Kiosk, located at TCDC – the Thailand Creative and Design Centre. Jason is creating a series of short videos in which various Thais are asked about design. The resulting clips will be edited together to show at the cafe.
After reviewing the questions and setting the lighting (don’t you like our professional stage lighting?) the ten-minute interview began. Questions including things like “What is design?” and “Should designer items command a higher price?” It was interesting to hear Tawn’s thoughts on these issues.
Had I not been busy taking pictures, I would have made note of Tawn’s responses. Maybe once they have a finished product I can get a copy to share with you.
The lead-off question is an interesting one, though. What is design? As an example, we have two fans in our house. The first one, which we bought a year ago, is made by Hatari and is a typical plastic fan. The second one, which Tawn bought last week, is handmade by a small shop in the old part of Krungthep.
The plastic fan is slightly larger than the metal one but they both operate at multiple speeds and oscillate.
So what is “design” in the context of these fans?
I look at design as being the intersection of form and function. Something that is very functional but completely unattractive is every bit as much a failure as something that is very beautiful but utterly useless.
The blades of the metal fan aren’t optimally curved so after about 10 feet, the air flow just dies out. The plastic fan has blades that have an ideal curve to them and moves air nicely throughout the room.
The metal fan has a nice “old-fashioned” esthetic to its design with oscillation gears visible in the rear. The plastic fan, while its lines are clean and modern, isn’t as beautiful.
So which has the better design? For me, sitting at home working on a warm day and trying to save money by not running the air con, the plastic fan wins. It looks okay and works wonderfully. Considering that it is out of my line of sight when it is running, that’s the winning design.
With the metal fan, I appreciate it just as much when it is off, since it doesn’t do a very effective job moving the air. And I save a few baht’s worth of electricity when it is off, too.
Sunday evening I made a simple dinner of homemade ham and bell pepper pizza, mixed green salad with tomatoes and shaved parmesan, and pan-fried orangi mushrooms with balsamic vinegar.
christao408 
“Had I not been busy taking pictures, I would have made note of Tawn’s responses.” hahahaha – you know, I probably would have done the same thing too!Form vs. function – ahh… I love those debates. I sometimes see those cheap book cases (from particle board) at the big box stores. It’s functional and will hold my books. But it’ll be an eyesore. I like the look of the metal fan too. But in the heat, practicality wins hands down. Why should the fan look so good when I’m sweating?
Very good comparison about the fans. Nice plating for the orangi mushrooms!
The food photo resembles somewhere in a gourmet restaurant….very nice!One of the more difficult tasks is to mesh form and function together. Form follows function, I suppose? Can’t wait to see the final video interview (in English?)
Dang Chris! Do you and Tawn eat like this everyday?? So expensive-restaurant-like. 😀
hm…what about this: …Design is what you want, not what you need.
The design of a fan requires knowledge of aerodynamics and material science. Large corporations have a definite advantage over small corporation. Large corporation can also hire professional designers while small corporation cannot.
I’ll choose the plastic one too even though the metal one looks much nicer. No point in having it if it doesn’t cool you down. 😛 And I’ve never heard of organi mushroom before…looks similar to a King mushroom.
The design debate is definitely an interesting one but I personally appreciate the mix of form and function. I’m very middle of the road 🙂
the mushrooms look delicious!!!and yes I agree that a beautiful but useless item is as bad as an ugly but functional counterpart. wouldn’t it just be great if we can combine both of them for everything?
It’s too bad the metal fan doesn’t work as well as the plastic one; it’d be perfect then.And THAT’S a SIMPLE dinner? Wow. We really need to come visit you some time. 😉
hmmm, depends if design is used as a noun or verb
Design is about providing solutions to problems, gaps or opportunities. A good design is the optimum solution based on the available resources which is put together with an equal emphasis on practicality, functionality and aesthetics in a creative and innovative manner. As a designer, this is what governs my design philosophy and my understanding of what a good design is.I am very interested to know what Tawn and other Thai designers think. Please do post the video when it is available. I do hope it is in English or with sub-titles. PS: Your simple dinner looks like a photo from a high end gourmet restaurant or food magazine!
@Dezinerdreams – true, true, every word……..but once the functionality is proven I have the MOST enjoyment in changing the aesthetics while keeping the function.
I’d have to agree with you. Just because the metal fan is vintage, it isn’t necessarily the best design. Even aesthetically, I prefer the fan on the left.
@ElusiveWords – Why should the fan look so good when you’re sweating, indeed! And of course I realize that I’ve set my readers up – if Tawn had written the entry, it would be pitched a bit different.
@zacksamurai – Glad you liked it. I thought stacking the mushrooms was kind of fun.
@curry69curry – See, I’ve been carefully watching all the food photos you post and looking for inspiration.
@RedStarr5 – Not everyday, but I do try to cook three or four times a week. Believe it or not, it was a really easy meal to make. Pizza dough is super-simple and only needs to sit about a half-hour before you roll it out. Make extra and freeze for next time.
@agmhkg – Hmm… yes, but I think there’s more to it. Design can be the intersection of “need” and “want”, too, don’t you think?
@choyshinglin – That’s an excellent point. The small shop – which intentionally does not want to grow any larger, in fact – does things the way they’ve always done things, without concern for improved aerodynamics, etc.
Pleurotus eryngii (also known as king trumpet mushroom, french horn mushroom, king oyster mushroom) is an edible mushroom native to Mediterranean regions of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, but also grown in parts of Asia.[1] In Chinese, it is called xìng bào gū (刺芹菇, lit. “stab celery mushroom”), or cì qín cè ěr (Japanese, it is called eringi (katakana: エリンギ).
xìng bào gū (, lit. ” >
@TheCheshireGrins – Ah, ever the diplomat.
@yang1815 – It would be great if we could meet at the intersection of form and function all the time. I think we’re getting better – Target has Michael Graves’ designs, IKEA is getting more common, etc. These often have nice examples of something both beautiful and functional.
@swcheng15 – Yes, you really do need to. C’mon – fares are low these days.
@AppsScraps – Good observation!
@Dezinerdreams – Very nice definition. The interview was in English and I think the others will be English-accessible. Will let you know when/if the project is finished and share it. Remember, though, that photos can be deceiving.
@xzian – Which is probably the most important role of the designer – to maximize both form and function.
@jojobaDESIGNS – Nicely put. “Vintage” doesn’t necessarily win the design race on either the form or function measurements.
@brooklyn2028 – That’s correct, they are the same thing. To top it off, I mis-anglicised the Japanese name by which these mushrooms are known in Thailand. In Chinese it is called “xìng bào gū” 刺芹菇, lit. “stab celery mushroom”.
@christao408 – Haha, I can’t help that 🙂
@TheCheshireGrins – You are in DC after all…
@christao408 – I LOVE IKEA!!! I wish we had one closer in the Midwest. Last year we took a trip to Minneapolis just to go shopping at IKEA! :)Growing up, we had one in Taipei within 10 minutes walking from my house!
@yang1815 – I remember when I lived in the Bay Area – before IKEA opened there – we did a day trip to Los Angeles just to shop at IKEA. Kind of nutty, really. Sadly, no IKEA in Thailand. We have to fly to HKG or SIN.
@christao408 – Yikes! That’s gotta be expensive if you buy big items to ship back!
I always think of beautiful but useless as art. Tools on the other hand are very functional but tend toward ugly. Love the food – I can only hope they are as tasty as they are appealing to the eye (kind of like fans…)
@murisopsis – My food sometimes is a tool and other times is art. LOL
@yang1815 – Oh, we don’t actually buy anything anymore. We can find the things we need here. Just the sense that if we wanted something from IKEA we’d have to travel quite a distance to get it.
@christao408 – 🙂