August 12, 2012

I’m not a great fan of “top ten” lists but thought I’d make an exception today…

For me a design classic is something that works extremely well for the job it was designed for and it’s hard to see any way to improve it — in a sense they are always up to date. These are products that are a pleasure to use and they don’t have to be expensive luxury items.

These are my classic designs in no particular order. Yours may be very different and I’d love to hear about them.

• Bottle opener. The sort of thing your granny might have used.
• HP ‘Voyager’ calculators. I get a bit over-excited by these but I’ve had one for about 30 years and still love using it.
• Lamy 2000 pen range. They are not my absolute favourite pens, but undoubtedly a classic that still looks modern after 46 years.
• Pilot Capless Fountain pens
• Klippit bag seals
• The Leica Rangefinder
• The Anglepoise Lamp
• The London Underground Map
• Plastic webbing buckles. The sort of thing you see on rucksacks and compression straps.
• Sigg water bottles

Design


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