What is Postmodernism? Postmodernism - in regard to design - is seen as an ongoing rejection of the certainties and restraints of Modernism. By the late 1950s and early 1960s a new generation of designers felt increasingly detached from the 1920s and 1930s Modernist aesthetic that had become synonymous with the style of the successful multinational corporations of the day.
Italian postmodern movements like Anti-Design and Radical Design in the 1960s drew on the iconography of Hollywood and Pop, marrying color, ornament, wit, kitsch and distortion of scale, all key ingredients in Postmodernism.
Postmodern design of the 1980s later flourished in the work of the Memphis group who mastered the art of synthesizing cheap and expensive materials with popular and high culture. ¨Table architecture¨ or ¨microarchitecture¨ - small-scale table and kitchen products like salt and pepper grinders, coffee pots, sugar bowls and more - were items that then became popular.
Several cultural turns are implicit in Postmodernism. First, this style is occasionally referred to as ¨neo-eclectic¨ or ¨historical eclecticism¨ to signify the collision of its diverse and often international styles and aesthetics. Indeed, referring to such different styles all at once often comes off as ironic or humorous. Postmodern design also draws from double coding or its ability to convey several meanings at once to its user. Ultimately, postmodern design assumes that the user - as much as the designer - actively decides the meaning of the product based on his personal and cultural perspective (see Semiotics and Product Semantics.)