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The Art of Product

From Concept to Product: Asym Watch, design by Michael DiTullo / Evo Design.

Featured Author:

Michael DiTullo

Michael DiTullo is currently a design director at Converse. His team is responsible for a wide range of products, from on-court performance footwear for athletes like Dwyane Wade to lifestyle and retro products. Previously DiTullo has been a footwear designer in the Brand Jordan and Sport Culture divisions of Nike, where he designed industry leading footwear and bags. Prior to joining Nike, Michael was a designer at Evo Design, where clients included Burton, Bose, VTech, Samsonite, Kodak, and Chantal among others.

Michael graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, attended the Cleveland Institute of Art on exchange and studied design in Milan. Michael has won numerous design awards, freelances actively, teaches from time to time, can sketch an ’82 Fire Bird from memory, owns enough shoes and watches to match them with T-Shirts, and geeks out on design way more than anyone should. In his free time, he is a contributor for core77. He has also lectured on design process at at universities, art schools, and corporations such as The Columbus College of Art and Design, The Rhode Island School of Design, and Adobe. His work will be featured in several upcoming books. DiTullo lives on the outskirts of Portland with his wife Kristina, who is a painter, and their dog, Louie, who is spoiled. http://michaelditullo.com/

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Most people will never own a Van Gogh. They probably won’t look at a Monet daily. They might not purchase a Brancusi sculpture for the living room, or live in a Frank Lloyd Wright home. On the other hand, they most likely will wake up to look at their alarm clock each morning, drive their car to and from work, and look at their watch countless times. It is easy to underestimate the impact of interacting with these objects. They are part of our daily routines. It is all too easy to discount them as mere products.

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A person strapping on their watch, glancing at it throughout the day, every day, possibly for a period of years, has the opportunity to come to know it on an intimate level. It could be the last thing this person sees before drifting to sleep at night and the first thing they see in the morning. This person will know every line, every detail, every nuance of color and shape, even if only on a subconscious level.

From the standpoint of a designer, this is an opportunity to provide people with something above and beyond an object that performs a simple function. It is an chance to give them a work of art. A work of art that they personally interact with every day. A work that people take notice of and admire, or one that blends into the surroundings and makes its statement with a whisper. A work that is a sculptural marvel and technical feat, or one that performs a function with such clean simplicity it takes on an elegance of its own. A work of art that can stimulate every sense, based on the desire of it’s designers.

In this way an object’s form takes on a function of its own. The form of a product transcends styling and becomes the manifestation of an idea. The form is a medium that melds functionless sculpture and sculptureless function into a unified whole creating something entirely different. Creating a piece of art for everyone. Creating a well designed product.

The design of this product can have many purposes. It can be the pure creative expression of an artist making life more visually satisfying. It can communicate new functions clearly making it a pleasure to use everyday. The most innovative designs do both.