Favorite Things

"I love my new glasses," says American cultural anthropologist Richard Florida. "I bought them two years ago. They emulate the classic old horn-rim design. I think they're emblematic of the way design now is used to create identity in a very customized way for consumers. We used to have an industrialized system that enhanced similarity. Now we have this new system that enhances difference. My father sold eyeglasses, so the nostalgia of how these things look has an extra personal dimension for me. I have a real fondness for classic industrial design -- not fussy, not ostentatious, but well made. You use these objects to create yourself."

Free Agent Nation author, Dan Pink loves the I-phone.  Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Management lusts for the Mini-Cooper.  Paola Antonelli, curator of architecture and design, Museum of Modern Art, New York has a thing for Guilio Lacchetti's iconic fly swatter. For Patrick Whitney who heads the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology it's his new La Pavoni Espresso makers.  Roger Mandle, president of the Rhode Island School of Design is smitten by the Southwest Wind Generator.

From Sarah Milroy's story on design in today's Toronto Globe and Mail, here. More on Retrospecs and Company from the New York Times, here.

Tell us about your favorite things and why you love them.

Comments

[Charlotta]

This is a tough task for a consumer girl. Have never understood those who say that shopping won't make you any happier. I have tons of things that make me happy every day...

My laptop - my life...
My Ipod - best friend on my way to the gym in the mornings...and it connects so nicely with my Bose SoundDock as I come back home in the afternoon, filling my kitchen with music.
My jeans collection - always smiling at me when I open my closet.
My Mulberry Handbags - big enough to let me bring all important things in life wherever I go.
My coffee cups at work - designed by my favorite Swe designer Filippa K and these make the coffee taste so much better...
My Omega watches - don't like jewellery, but love my watches...one has even been in the washing machine but they keep on ticking :-)
My boots/shoes - not suitable for jogging, but marries nicely with the jeans collection above...

These are the kind of things that help make grey and rainy days in April a bit brighter :-)