45 New Sources of Meaning

At the highest level, design is the creation or assembly of elements into a cohesive, meaningful order. The emergence of new elements creates opportunities for new meaning—and that’s what innovation is all about.

The production landscape inevitably shapes brands as innovative firms and designers leverage new techniques—often to solve old problems in new and different ways. Midcentury design icons Charles and Ray Eames capitalized on the then emerging technique of plywood molding in their furniture designs for Herman Miller. While molded plywood wasn’t the core problem, it presented an opportunity that led the Herman Miller brand into the modern furniture landscape—and left it forever changed.

New production techniques influence brands in small ways all the time. You have to design with end production methods in mind, and keep an eye out for advances in order to take full advantage of them.

Courtesy: Herman Miller, Inc.

Courtesy: Studio Z

New production methods sometimes lead designers and brands in new directions. Charles and Ray Eames moved furniture company Herman Miller to the forefront of modern design by making beautiful use of plywood molding techniques. Textile design firm Studio Z combined patented Jacqform™ weaving technology with laser cutting to create these unique gadget bags.