Art History Form Follows Function

Art History Form Follows Function

"Form follows function" is a phrase commonly heard in art. It has an especially important meaning in design. A product is useless if it doesn't function properly, no matter how beautiful its design.

One way of looking at form and function is to consider the belief that good design is 98% common sense, and 2% aesthetics. If this is true, and function is the most important aspect in design, then why bother with form at all? The reason is that as consumers, we also buy with our eyes. If we dislike the look of something, be it a lamp, chair or table, we are unlikely to buy it no matter how well it performs. It's the 2% that makes us part with our cash, therefore making it vitally important. This relationship between form and function then leads us to ask why are there products that don't follow the 98% to 2 % theory? Why do people buy something that has had little or no consideration for aesthetics?

In the 19th century, the economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen introduced the term "conspicuous consumption", a theory about buying things purely as a status symbol. Acquiring and displaying luxury items showed others how much you could afford to spend on well known expensive products to show your superior socio-economic status. Buying things for the sake of conspicuous consumption means that it doesn't matter very much about the functionality of the object, it's the fact that you can afford to buy it.

Modern design as we know it dates back to the industrial revolution, a phrase the French writers came up with as they could see it would be just as profound as their political revolution. Before the industrial revolution everything was hand made. This means it was a lot more expensive, and the very expensive objects were more decorative and more often than not had more than one function; the normal function, and the underlying symbolic function. This symbolic function depended on the object in question, but mostly it was about extravagance, power, importance and wealth.

If you were to look back to the first well known, or famous designers of the industrial revolution, they are referred to as 'manufacturers' instead of designers. This was because they made their name more as business men than designers. One famous businessmen was Thomas Chippendale. He is well known for his furniture and in 1754 he published a book of his designs titled, "The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director." This was like a modern day catalogue allowing you to select different designs and order them to be made. It was not only convenient for the buyer, but served as a source of information for the manufacturer. It allowed them to know which designs were selling better and so waste and cost were cut considerably.

With the industrial revolution came technological innovation such as the Iron Bridge in 1781. It was designed by Abraham Darby Pritchard and crossed the River Severn in Shropshire. The bridge was greatly celebrated after construction as it was the first arch bridge in the world to be made of cast iron. At the beginning of the 18th century, Abraham Darby pioneered the process of using coke made from local coal to smelt iron ore. This proved to be one of the most important technological breakthrough's ever discovered. The industrial expansion was stunted by the lack of a bridge over the Severn, which had to allow for barge traffic. This is why the Iron Bridge was so important for the industrial revolution.