James Dyson
is a well known British Industrial Designer, entrepreneur, and engineer. Dyson
was born on May 2, 1947. He grew up in a town called Cromer, England. Nine
years after Dyson’s birth, his father passed away. In an interview about
Dyson’s early loss he said, “I can’t quite explain it, but I think
subconsciously I felt I needed to prove myself” (Life’s Work). This need to
prove himself ultimately led him to be the designer that he is today. Dyson
attended the Royal Collage of Art where he studied interior and furniture
design and later went on to study engineering (. At school Dyson met engineer
Jeremy Fry who also started his own business. It wasn’t until after working
with Fry did Dyson begin to design on his own, and this is where he began to
make his name.
Dyson’s
success came after one day getting frustrated with his vacuum because it kept
loosing its suction the more he vacuumed. After tearing the vacuum apart he
discovered that the problem was dust getting stuck in the bag holes. He set off
the change the vacuuming industry and 5,127 prototypes later (Life’s Work), he
did. Dyson’s newly designed vacuum was something the market had not seen yet.
His design flaunted the engineering and the mechanisms of how the vacuum worked
unlike the other competitors vacuums on the market. The colors that he used
weren’t the typical in house appliance colors that most vacuums on the market
were using. He used colors used in power tools and that created a sleek and
serious look. The vacuum also offered something that no other vacuum offered;
you could see the dust being sucked up into the new chamber. Dyson believed
that designers should be the engineers and the engineers should be the designer
and when the two are separated designers start doing things for marketing
purposes rather than functional purposes (How to Make It). The big manufacturers declined Dyson’s
innovative design, but he pressed on and began his own manufacturing process.
His vacuum soon took over the market. His idea to keep design and function
together kept reviving in his work. Innovations he made in one product he would
try and find other ways he could use it. Dyson’s work is a perfect example of
how design should interact with how the product works and how it could be used
for other products.
