Limited Edition Design Dolls is a series of three figurines of famous designers, featuring Zaha Hadid (above), Jaime Hayon (below) and Karim Rashid.
They are created by Olivia Lee, who graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London this month.
The series comes from the observation that “today, designer personalities are quite literally become synonymous with the objects they design.”
Here’s some text from Lee:
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‘Limited Edition Design Dolls’ is the graduating project of Olivia Lee a recent graduate from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. It came from the observation that increasingly today, designer personalities are quite literally become synonymous with the objects they design.
In studying the visual characteristics and distinct personalities of the designers as well as their products, I wondered what would happen if I merge these two entities together.
What would happen if the designer became a product? How would that differ from the designer being closely associated with the product? Would the designers appreciate such a project? And what implications would their varied reactions have in relation to the culture of design?
The project started of as quite an introspective one and was born when I realised that I had a very well-organised collection of brochures and material from design festivals, I had massive collection of photographs of pure furniture and I faithfully attended design lectures as well as I could. I started to wonder if maybe I was a little weird, obsessive and if other people like me existed.
The process involved carefully studying the aesthetics of the designer’s work as well as their public persona. What is interesting is that without having to consult them, I only needed a search engine and the College library to do my research which goes to show how accessible their personalities and work are.
The most challenging aspect of executing these figures was finding the right balance between the figurative caricature of the designers and the references to their objects. But it was also very fun finding the links, for example between Zaha Hadid’s FLOW vases and her love for
weary Issey Miyake coats and black dresses.
The project welcomes all discussion, opinions and feedback which was its ultimate aim and hopes that the designers will take it in good sport.
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Posted by Marcus Fairs
June 25th, 2008 at 11:47 am
is karim blowing a kiss for his signature?
why does he sign his name with a kiss?
the ross lovegrove figuire would be easy to.
June 25th, 2008 at 11:50 am
zaha so cute !
June 25th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
zaha’s is brilliant!
June 25th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Give me a break!
June 25th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
fun.. but why does hayon and zaha look like wisdom teeth
June 25th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
What a load of bollocks! This is stupid. We’re advertising kids toys now?
June 25th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
lol, i guess cause they’re big sized people.
June 25th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
yeah, zaha kickasss!!!
June 25th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
bah…
June 25th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Haha. what a nerdy creation!
June 25th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I like the figuers a lot, and not only because of the students name
June 25th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
more tat to add to the mountain of design rubbish….to carry on Karim’s good effort!
June 25th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
kidrobot.com that’s where they belong - suite
June 25th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
whatever…really……This is the prove of “anything goes” attitude of design nowadays. The idolatry towards design/architecture stars is getting us nowheare. Rather depressing….There is so much more to celebrate out there.
June 25th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Bahahahahahahaha!
June 25th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
omfg
June 25th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I prefer Barbie an Big Gim….
June 25th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
like so totally cute!!!
how do I buy one???
June 25th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
more useless hero worship. karim’s work is awful!!! why would I ever want a little model of him?
June 25th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Designstudent…please.
Only for commercial. Do someting valuable for the world instead!
Put your self in the first place!!!
June 25th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
it’s strange how few people actually understand this… dariusz, j, derek, white paper ect, can’t you see that’s exactly the point?
June 25th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
great possiblity for voodoo-lovers
June 25th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
KITSCH !
June 25th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
This is the most meaningless product I’ve seen in a long time…
June 25th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
scary
June 26th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Modern life is rubbish
June 26th, 2008 at 12:55 am
these are so great!!! i want one!!
June 26th, 2008 at 3:26 am
Awful and an incredible sellout! We definitely have a big problem if this is something appealing to many or even the designers themselves. This is horrible and sad. Let’s just close shop and call it a day.
June 26th, 2008 at 4:02 am
who’s gonna actually buy this?
June 26th, 2008 at 5:30 am
i cant tell whether the satire of this project is really worthwhile.
if not, this an absolute waste of time, money, and energy.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:39 am
Wow, there must be an awful lot of humourless turtleneck wearing designers around here. Lighten up people….
June 26th, 2008 at 6:19 am
I MUST have the Zaha doll, it is HILARIOUS.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:08 am
mmmppffff! Yep kitsch, but not the right one.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:38 am
There’ll soon be videogames like Zaha’s SIM CITY, Foster’s AIRPORT TYCOON, Haiyon’s WORLD… agreed…give us a break. This shows what’s on this graduate’s mind. Low self-esteem i guess.
It’s better to provide designers Biskup’s bears and let ‘em paint them…I’d luv to have those more. It’s like maybe I’d luv to have Zaha’s autograph, but not her photo framed in my place.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
… want a little Zaha for my blackconcept future kitchen.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Olivia.
Do not listen to these mugs. They havent understood the underlying point of the project.
I think they are fantastic. Who are these people. Seriously uptight and underpaid??
All the best, they are a very well presented and easy to market product. Lets get producing as soon as!
All the best
June 26th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
WHERE CAN I GET THOSE?!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 26th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Where buy Karim ?
June 26th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
amazing! I WANT ONE
June 26th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
lol, wow I guess this constitutes art imitating life?
June 26th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Y’all need to get out more.
June 26th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Olivia,
Some of these idiots clearly are so arrogant that they can’t see what you are doing here. Perhaps they think that there should in fact be dolls made up to look like them, they believe that they are the next celebrity designer and that Zaha, Jaime and Karim are nothing compared to their incredible talents. That they themselves are above the cult of celebrity designer. Can you imagine being stuck in a room with these poor, misguided fools…
Perhaps they should go back to school. Now, welcome Olivia to the graduated world of product design and let these wannabes bicker about products on blogspots that they themselves can not get onto.
X
June 27th, 2008 at 12:02 am
I want a John Hedjuck dool.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:09 am
i think this is a great idea… i mean why make people like lindsay lohan or britney spears into dolls… people that were made by MTV. i think designers/artist need to be more immortalized these days and this a great way to say thank you.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:18 am
zaha is awesome!
June 27th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Zaha is already a doll. My Zahha!
June 27th, 2008 at 9:38 am
wherever she is , I hope Zaha is blushing with pride .
June 27th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
wherever Zaha is, I’m sure she’s pissed as hell, as always.
What a hilarious project
June 27th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Thank you, Razor. For those whose heads are up their… take a minute and realize that this is not only a poke at the designers, but at our society as well. Relax your anus for a minute and enjoy life.
Great, fun work Olivia.
June 27th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
To see 49 comments posted on this issue I think Olivias co-task to generate communication has been very well accomplished - with a fun project.
Nice one!
June 27th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I like the scetch of Zaha. Dolls? How much are they? Maybe someone do a cartoon with them..
June 27th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
GREG . ORG .
fyi: Zaha HAS a sense of humour .if you ever spoke to her you would not judge so quickly.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Beauty and the Beast (ZAHA)
June 27th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Khashayar Naimanan did designer dolls back in 2001:
http://www.khashayar-naimanan.com/images/screens/kn_dp_01.jpg
June 27th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Julius Von Waldstein, that comment was about as useful as suggesting that the chair has been done before. I think you’re being a little short sighted. I’ve had Ron Arad himself show that piece to me (as has anyone who’s been to a recent design products RCA open day) and you must be blind if you can not see the difference - Naimanan’s doll is an actual physical representation of Arad and is designed to look like him, Wheras Lee’s dolls are physical representations of the designers made to look like the objects that these designers design. It’s a social commentary that has been lost on many…as I said before, the cult of the celebrity designer…
June 27th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
tat
June 28th, 2008 at 12:44 am
56 comments on some dolls by a student. Is Dezeen a serious forum?
June 28th, 2008 at 9:02 am
I don’t see a problem with talking about the design of dolls, but THESE, now these are stupid. Why does this take design and turn it into a cheap looking plastic toy?
June 29th, 2008 at 7:10 am
fun
June 29th, 2008 at 7:33 am
edward Says: 56 comments on some dolls by a student. Is Dezeen a serious forum?
question :is design serious?
This young designer forgets the top of the design stars ego system Philippe Starck and Marcel Wanders Why? Is the young designer afraid of Starck’s guns or may be he will be candadidate in next BBC TV realities…
June 29th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
for Olivia Lee …
http://mocoloco.com/archives/cappellini_wanders_starck.jpg
June 30th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Hi all,
sorry I just wanted to get myself on this gargantuan comments list.
Hooray!
June 30th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Starck is waiting for …
http://bp2.blogger.com/_P5xhSH3f15g/SBRaxzkNQVI/AAAAAAAAAb8/O320UobejPQ/s1600-h/Picture+5.png
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:38 am
ı like pink rasit!
July 5th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Just cool! Karim Rashid is really amazing!!! I’d like to see Jean Nouvel…
July 28th, 2008 at 11:38 am
must have this