Memphis Group

       

         

  The Memphis Group was founded by Ettore Sottsass in Milan in 1981. The group consisted of:

Ettore Sottsass (founder), Michele De Lucchi, Marco Zanini, Mateo Thun, Nathalie Du Pasquier and George Sowden. The Memphis group paved the way of post modern designs. They did this by using bold and decorative designs.

Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) 

           

Ettore Sottsass was born in austria but grew up in Milan,Sottsass designs were both unique and clear and thanks to that it influenced a good amount of movements after him. He was mostly known for four main things being:

The use of bright colours and gloss finishes, 

Odd angled shapes in his design,

Slick surfaces and also laminated patterns.

below are some images that show clear examples of some Sottsass's designs

Bookcase (1981)

Westside Lounge (1983) 

George Sowden (1942-  )

         

          George Sowden was born in 1942, he was brought up in leeds and moved to Milan in 1970, Sowden is one of the co funders of the memphis group. there designs also influenced a significant amount of designers in the 80's following that Sowden also started his own design studio named Sowden Designs which was found to be very successful and collaborated with a lot of big companies such as : Olivetti, Alessi,swatch and many more renowned companies. Sowden was awarded a great amount of rewards one of them being the ADI Compasso D'oro in 1991.

Bordelamp 1984

Black 

The two designers were both very influential to Post Modernism because of there bright coloured,odd angled shapes and the iconic gloss finish.  

refferences:
Memphis Group". Wikipedia. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
Ettore Sottsass And Design And Technology". Design-technology.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.
George Sowden". Wikipedia. N.p., 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.