Nicholas Oddy is a design historian at Glasgow School of Art. His presentation was all about different perceptions of what great design is. I was particularly interested in the VW beetle and how its transcended its original connotations and is a cult classic these days. Throughout this brief blog post I'll try to figure out how a product can so easily escape its initial context and become a classic and most importantly if that's okay.
So the beetle we know and love today didn't have quite the fun, hippy, loving beginning you might think.
The 'love bug' was actually commissioned in the 1930's by Adolf Hitler. Leader of Germany at the time, Hitler instructed Ferdinand Porsche the famous engineer who's second name I'm sure you'll recognise, to design an affordable car for the people, hence the name Volkswagen meaning - folks car or car of the folk (car of the people). At a time of socialist leadership in the country the idea was intriguing to the people of Germany. The first Volkswagen - the Type 1, rolled off the line in 1938, the price point was still way too much for the average German wage so the government created a saving scheme for German working class citizens whereby they were encouraged to spend money weekly to collect stamps, and then once 198 stamps were saved you would have enough for a car. Unfortunately, civilian production of the Volkswagen was ceased almost immediately when the Second World War started and despite many people paying the full amount for a car by the end no one really drove one except for nazi officers and the profits from the scheme were used in the German war effort.
So if you look at the beetle in this context, doesn't the whole thing feel like one big cheat. The product as well was most likely a stolen design by mr Porsche from Czechoslovakian car maker Tatra whose patents were all absorbed by Germany when they were invaded on March 15th, 1939. So the peoples car was stealing from the people to fund Hitlers evil intentions, probably not even the designers design and only really driver by high ranking Nazi officers. Not a great look, in my mind it might as well be part of the Nazi uniform at this time.
Following the war the factory was seized by the British and production began again at a steady pace.
But then, In the 60's the beetle is the symbol of peace and love and beach bums and good times. What a huge switch, It was easy to repair, economical and synonymous with the culture of the time. Famously seen in 1959 advertisement "think small" showing a small beetle in a big white space and officially called the beetle in 9 years later in 1968 when it appeared in the herby fully loaded films and the love bug. My dad actually had.a few back in the 70s and 80s and loved them for their ease of repair and curvy, lovable style. Now the beetle couldn't be further from a sleazy money grab, people were buying them because they were cheap, honest and fun. And from then on the beetle has been remember as that, but should it be?
I love the beetle, I love its character and curves and practicality. It definitely is up there in the great design tier, I mean I even have my own lego version. But its origin is a bit troubling. Not just because of the horrible context it was designed in. The concept of removing objects from their context when judging them as great or not great is a dangerous practice and the beetle is a good example. For me as somebody who's passionate about sustainability, context and awareness of a products roots is incredibly important.And for these reasons the beetles reputation does feel a bit tarnished for me.
Overall however, I think the beetle is great. As long as it is considered in its full context the design can be considered as long as we are aware of it's history and understand that is has, in it's first life, been a money making scheme for a fascist regime. We can appreciate its second life as the love bug and enjoy it's spirit. I will continue to enjoy my little bug.
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