Congratulations to Ilsa Parry for winning a six month design placement with Philippe Starck’s design agency following her outstanding contribution on Starck’s BBC TV reality show Design For Life.
Ilsa is a 3D creative and Director of REthinkthings product design agency. She is also Course Leader for 3D design at Liverpool Community College.
Philippe Starck is the world famous French product designer behind some of the most recognisable product design of our time. From motorbikes and watches to toothbrushes and lemon squeezers, Starck knows no limits.
In this latest reality TV show, he set about unearthing the best of British design and invited open applications from UK designers for a place in his Paris school of design. Hundreds applied but only 12 were chosen based on the quality and creativity of their designs. Following the same format as The Apprentice, the fortunes of the 12 candidates were then followed over a ten week period. Each week Starck set the students a series of creative challenges, with the weakest being eliminated.
Ilsa won the show with her innovative Flo design. An inspirational & unique walking aid device that gave an insight into Ilsa’s design thinking, observation and understanding of how design affects everything around us.
One entry on Ilsa’s blog says it all… “Ilsa, I always hoped that designers would remember that older and disabled people needed products that would express how they feel. The aids out there are miserable and ugly. Thank you for having the courage to think differently about an often neglected market.”
Ilsa, we salute you.
What do you think about the Flo, we’d be keen to hear your views.