Avsnitt
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Barbara Stauffacher Solomon is a prolific designer, muralist, landscape designer, and architect.
Born in San Francisco in 1928, she spent her formative years studying ballet, cultivating a deep appreciation for rhythm, movement, and expression.
Her path took a transformative turn when she journeyed to Switzerland to study at the Basel School of Design. It was here, that Barbara immersed herself in the principles of the International Typographic Style.
Returning to San Francisco in the 1950s, Barbara found herself at the forefront of a cultural revolution, she burst onto the design scene with her groundbreaking concept of "Supergraphics" when she became involved in the design of Sea Ranch, the experimental utopian town on the coast of Northern California. Her work at Sea Ranch embodied a holistic approach to design, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between humans and their environment.
She once famously declared, "I'm not an artist, I'm a designer," emphasizing her commitment to functionality and purpose in all her creations.
She's not just a trailblazer; she's a visionary whose indomitable spirit continues to shape the way we think about design and innovation.
Sources:
Hall of Femmes
Why? Why Not
Adobe Create YouTube
Interview with Wallpaper Magazine
Thank you Rachel for joining us!
rachelgogel.com
@rgogelRachel Gogel (she/her) is a Parisian creative director, designer, speaker, mentor, and educator whose career has followed the rise and dominance of an entire era of digital design.
Based in San Francisco, she runs her own small consultancy as an independent design executive and has led major brand initiatives at GQ, The New York Times, Meta, Godfrey Dadich, Airbnb, and Dropbox. Now working as a solopreneur, Rachel has influenced many exciting projects for her clients — from launching editorial publications from scratch, to crafting story-driven digital experiences, to leading org design efforts, to designing TV show pitch decks and book covers for influential public figures, to building brand systems for global media and entertainment companies in a fractional capacity. As an experienced people manager, she is committed to designing teams that build brands — with a focus on culture and technology. Having stepped into interim executive creative director, head of brand, and design director roles in recent years, she has helped companies through transitional periods, built out their cross-disciplinary creative teams, and trained her full-time replacement(s).
When she is not consulting, Rachel teaches in the Master’s of Interaction Design program at the California College of the Arts (CCA). She is also a passionate advocate for gender equity in the design industry. For 2.5 years, she has served on the AIGA San Francisco Board of Directors with a focus on amplifying women and non-binary designers’ collective power and visibility through a program called Women in Leadership & Design (WILD), for which Rachel is the Chair. Rachel also actively participates in Neol and Queer Design Club. Her words and actions over the years highlight how she's come to care deeply about using her voice and privilege to help create connected communities, especially for women.
Nominated for a 2022 Webby for her work on Departures, Rachel has been recognized by Inc. as one of 2016’s “30 under 30 Movers and Shakers” and by Forbes as one of 2015’s “30 under 30” in media. She has been featured in publications such as PRINT Magazine, Design by Women, Fast Company, among others. After hours, you can find Rachel museum hopping, planning her next trip abroad, or relaxing with her wife at home.
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On today’s episode, we’ll discuss the life and work of industrial designer, Evelyn Ackerman, who’s work was prolific during the Mid-Century California Modernism era in the 50s and 60s But what makes this episode even more exciting is that we’re joined by her daughter, Laura Ackerman-Shaw, who offers a unique perspective and personal insights on the incredible work of her mother.
Laura Ackerman-Shaw, is a Stanford University graduate with a bachelors and masters degree in English literature, boasts 35 years of experience in publishing and has been the Executive Director of Ackerman Modern since 2015. She passionately preserves and promotes her parents’ design legacy through museum exhibitions, presentations, scholarships under their name, preserving their archive of work, writing articles, and licensing her parents products with brands like Design Within Reach and CB2. Based in the Bay Area, Laura, her husband Marc, and their son Aaron live in a vibrant mid-century modern Eichler home, embodying the artistic essence inherited from her renowned designer parents.
Evelyn Ackerman, alongside her husband Jerome, was a leading figure in Mid-Century California Modernism. Her colorful and whimsical designs spanned ceramics, mosaics, tapestries, woodcarvings, and hardware, embodying the Bauhaus philosophy of blending art, craft, and industry for accessible quality goods. Her design style ranged from geometric minimalism to biomorphic abstraction to figurative stylization, highlighting her intuitive use of pattern, color, line, proportion, and composition.
Evelyn and Jerome’s pieces from the early 1950s through the early 1980s gained recognition nationally and internationally, noting the cultural nuances encountered in Evelyn’s creative journey. Her and her husband’s timeless creations adorned postwar modern interiors, fueling California’s housing boom, have been seen in museums and even on sets in movies and television. Despite retiring from manufacturing in 1979, their legacy endures, captivating collectors today and resonating with a new generation drawn to their collaborative spirit and unwavering dedication to their artistic vision.
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Here's where to follow the Ackerman Modern legacy to stay up to date on exhibits and future brand collaborations:
https://ackermanmodern.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ackermanmodern/CB2 Collection as part of their Design Legends series:
https://www.cb2.com/collections/ackerman-modern/1IG Reel of her work:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6gk90qrpYl/ -
Saknas det avsnitt?
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In today's episode, I’m joined by the incredible designer, Meryl Vedros, as we dive into the remarkable life Gunta Stölzl, a visionary force at the iconic Bauhaus in Germany. We uncover what it truly meant to be a woman navigating the male-dominated world of design during the early 20th century.
From her groundbreaking textile designs to her influential role as the only female master at the Bauhaus, we'll explore the enduring legacy of Gunta Stölzl and how her innovative spirit continues to inspire designers around the globe.
As the only female master of the Bauhaus, textile artist Gunta Stölzl is arguably the single most influential figure in the modern history of Western woven art. Under her leadership, the school's weaving workshop was transformed from a neglected department to one of its most successful facilities. During her tenure, she updated the focus from pictorial work to more industrial designs, introducing radical ideas from the world of modern art to weaving, and initiated experiments in materials and methods that helped shift weaving into the modern age.
Sources
2019 Book “Bauhaus Women: A global perspective”
2022 Daily Art Magazine article
1999 Bauhaus Book by Anja Baumhoff
2012 Talk at The Barbican Centre in London by daughter Monika “Bauhaus: Art as Life”
Diary entries from Gunta herself.Slit Tapestry Red/Green
https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Bauhaus-Dessau-1925-1931/Wall-Hangings-and-Carpet/i-4h4SxCp
Tapestry Paintings / Designs
https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Bauhaus-Dessau-1925-1931/Designs-for-Carpets/i-6fRNWJH
https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Bauhaus-Dessau-1925-1931/Designs-for-Wall-Hangings/i-xJrzrhM
https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Bauhaus-Dessau-1925-1931/Designs-for-Wall-Hangings/i-tJbfVbH
https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Bauhaus-Dessau-1925-1931/Designs-for-Carpets/i-CqVr29m
From Sketch to Final
https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Bauhaus-Weimar-1919-1925/Designs-for-Wall-Hanging/i-VxXtPrN
https://www.guntastolzl.org/Works/Bauhaus-Weimar-1919-1925/Wall-Hangings-and-Carpet/i-3ZMsh3B
Thank you Meryl Vedros!
https://www.vedrosstudio.com
https://www.instagram.com/vedrosstudio/
