Marc Newson Book

His design pieces remain highly sought after on the secondary market and by 2010 accounted for 24% of total auction sales in the category for Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips. Marc is the only designer represented by the Gagosian Gallery, and leading museums around the world have hosted solo retrospective exhibitions of his work (see below.)

biography

Additionally, his work is presented in the permanent collections of many major museums including: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Design Museum (London), V&A Museum (London), Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou (Paris), Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris), Vitra Design Museum (Germany), Museum Angewandte Kunst (Frankfurt), Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam), Israel Museum ( Jerusalem), Powerhouse Museum (Sydney), and the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne). He has recently been appointed Chair of the London Design Museum’s International Design Council.

Marc Newson has been described as one of the most influential designers of his generation. He has worked across an extremely wide range of disciplines, and his clients include some of the best-known and most prestigious brands in the world spanning diverse sectors from manufacturing and As a long-term, and on-going, supporter of the charity (RED), Marc co-curated with Sir Jonathan Ive a design auction in 2013 technology to transportation, fashion, and the which raised a staggering $46 million (USD) for The Global luxury goods sector.

Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

Born in Sydney, Australia in 1963, Newson has lived and Marc Newson has been included in TIME Magazine’s 100 worked in Sydney, Tokyo, Paris, and presently resides in Most Influential People and has received numerous awards London where his company, Marc Newson Limited, has been and distinctions. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from based since 1997. He has had ongoing relationships with Sydney University, Adjunct Professorships at Sydney University companies such as Apple, Louis Vuitton, Montblanc, Hermès, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and was appointed Nike, Hennessy, Dom Pérignon, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Beretta RDI (Royal Designer for Industry) by the Royal Society of Arts. to name a few. As well as overseeing his own company, he In 2012, he was awarded CBE (Commander of the Most has held senior positions at clients’ companies, having been Excellent Order of the British Empire) by Her Majesty Creative Director of Qantas Airways from 2005-2015, and Queen Elizabeth II. Designer for Special Projects at Apple since his first involvement in the design of the ‘Apple Watch’ (2014).

Newson’s work has been featured in countless books and publications and there are three monographs to date includMarc Newson graduated from Sydney University in 1986 and ing the encyclopedic ‘Marc Newson Works’ published by with the aid of an Australian Crafts Council grant staged his Taschen (2012). He has been the subject of various radio and first solo exhibition at the age of 23. The exhibition featured television programs including an interview on PBS on Charlie his ‘Lockheed Lounge’, a riveted aluminum chaise lounge, Rose (2010), BBC’s Imagine ‘Marc Newson Urban Spaceman’ that has arguably become one of the most iconic contempo(2008), Objects of Desire on Sky Arts, and rary design works. Some 30 years later, it has set four world record prices at auction for work created by a living designer. ‘Objectified’, a documentary film by Gary Hustwit.

Solaris Watch Year: 2008 Sector: Timepieces Named ‘Solaris’ after Andrei Tarkovsky’s unforgettable film based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem, Marc felt the name suited the watch as its design was about being double.

“I loved the idea of making a symmetrical two-faced object, where one face is visible and the other hidden. It’s always simultaneously up the right way and upside-down. The connection is quite abstract; the original story concerns the relationship between reality and dreams. My Solaris contains time zones relating to two different places.”

The watch comprises two fully reversible faces with separate highly accurate quartz movements that are utterly independent of each other and a metal mesh bracelet strap.

red signature fountain pen montblanc m Year: 2019 Sector: Objects Key Materials: Metal Components & Nickel Following the launch of the (MONTBLANC M)RED line in 2018, specially designed by Marc Newson, Montblanc is expanding the collection, with the launch of Trolley and Signature Writing Instruments. Based on the design of its signature #MY4810 line, the trolley is a lightweight and durable companion for leisure and business travel, while the new writing instruments reprise the design of the original (MONTBLANC M)RED.

Hennessy xo limited edition Year: 2017 Sector: Objects Key Materials: Glass Marc’s limited edition design gives the signature Hennessy X.O decanter a wholly unexpected twist. Once he had pared the bottle’s shape to its purest form, Marc chose to reprise its traditional decorative motifs – grapes and leaves – in a corrugated relief. These striations are perhaps the most daring design elements ever incorporated on the iconic Hennessy X.O decanter.

“For this project, glass itself was the inspiration alongside the heritage of the Hennessey brand and the cognac itself.

Glass is one of the most ancient man-made materials and its transparency can be used to create magical effects. Looking at the various hues of the cognac through the prism of glass is just one part of what should be a multi-censorial and beautiful experience. Straight lines seemed to me a more modern interpretation of what already existed - the stripes really emphasize the strength of the decanter’s shape. When they catch the light, they highlight both the bottle and the contents, making the whole feel warmer and more tactile. “

louis vuitton fragrance Year: 2016 Sector: Objects Marc was asked to design the bottles and packaging for a collection of 7 creations signed by Maître Parfumeur, Jacques Cavallier Belletrud.. The bottles for the seven fragrances, the travel size and the miniature collections. were all designed

by Marc Clean lines of transparent glass emphasize absolute purity, with vivid black lettering and the discreetly engraved Louis Vuitton name. The black cap stamped with LV initials in brass recalls antique bottles while concealing an atomizer.

newson aluminum chair

capsule eyewear collection

Year: 2018 Sector: Furniture Key Materials: Aluminum & Mesh Textiles Newson Aluminum Chair embodied Knoll’s celebration of 80 years of innovative modern design. Honoring the cantilevered chairs of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a forefather of Modernism, Marc’s design, 90 years later is a forward-looking expression that synthesizes simplicity, material and precision, in the Modernist tradition.

Defined by a single uninterrupted line, the design brings Marc’s signature combination of organic forms and precision engineering to the Knoll seating portfolio. Echoing the futuristic vocabulary that characterizes his work, the side chair for Knoll marries hard and soft, solid and transparent, in a striking form that seems to levitate in space. The mesh seat and back integrate seamlessly with the frame, further emphasizing the chair’s visual purity.

The Newson Aluminum Chair is offered in combinations of three frame colors: black, warm white, and grey; and six mesh colors: black, grey, blue, red, yellow, and white. In addition, the stacking chair has two versions: arm and armless.

“From an historical context, working with a company like Knoll is a loaded mission in a sense, because the history that it’s been a part of is simply far more profound than nearly any other company out there. I felt from a personal perspective that it was important to pay homage, to incorporate that fact, that provenance, into the design that I was doing.”

Year: 2014 Sector: Objects Key Materials: Aluminum, Optyl, Stainless Steel To celebrate its 80-year history, the capsule collection ‘Safilo

by Marc Newson’ stems from revisiting a historical model personally chosen by Marc and which led to the creation of 5 different variations, through 5 specific materials and technologies, based on the original shape from the Safilo’s archive.

They include: the use of ultra-lightweight Optyl (an exclusive Safilo patent), advanced UFO technology; the use of aluminum; and, lastly, steel integrated with the new revolutionary Elasta 80 hinge.

“It was a privilege to collaborate with the most respected eyewear manufacturer in the world; to honor the ethos of Safilo and reflect it in my design. It is always important for me to understand and explore the heritage of the company I am working with. Equally, I like to exploit new technologies and materials in the design process and inject some of my own DNA into it.”

red leica camera

kelvin40

Year:2013 Sector: Objects Key Materials: Aluminum & Die-cast Magnesium

Year: 2004 Sector: Transport Key Materials: Aluminum

The camera is inscribed: Designed by Jony Ive & Marc Newson for (RED) 2013 edition 01/01.

Inspired by his lifelong interest in aviation, Marc set out to create a small jet-powered airplane that would restore excitement to the experience of civilian flying. This concept jet is named after Lord Kelvin, the nineteenth century physicist and mathematician known for his research in thermodynamics and absolute temperature, and the main character of Andrei Tarkovsky’s film Solaris, another source of inspiration.

Observing that Leica products are built entirely around function, the designers’ first task was to immerse themselves in the astonishingly complex mechanics behind Leica’s cameras. Their second objective was to make the object look as simple as possible, with the caveat that achieving “simplicity” is often one of the most complex tasks for a designer.

“Simplicity is not about the absence of clutter but comes from a deep understanding of every element’s purpose: as a result, a simple design will reveal the true personality of an object, with all its quirkiness.”

In aviation, form follows function and so Marc created an aesthetic object that is a direct result of the mechanical requirements of aeronautical design. He involved himself in all aspects of the design and production of this concept jet plane. Its wingspan measures almost 27 feet and corresponds directly to its length. Likening the plane to a sculptural object, Marc emphasized the customized elements such as the handmade panels that were carefully adjusted and riveted over the course of a year, the deep blue plush upholstery, and For Marc, the Kelvin40 is a very personal object, resulting from the red detailing at the air intake of the airplane that alludes his obsession with the technology, materials, and processes to a mouth. that derive from the aerospace industry, where precision is of foremost concern and technology is constantly changing. He also believes the jet engine to be one of greatest inventions, unsurpassed to this day.