Target's Functional Form: The New Imperative

Target's Functional Form: The New Imperative

As their motto states: "Design for All", Target stores have thrived on the rise of consumers' desire for aesthetically enjoyable goods, weakening the Modernist principle Form follows Function. A product's value has predominately been determined by its success of utility. However, upon the inception of widespread mass production and accessible retail, there has been a natural gravitation toward the need for more personalized, specialized, and unique products. Retailers and manufacturers have acknowledged modern consumer thought shifting from basic need to "the personal and emotional – ‘I like that'" (Virginia Postrel 5). Aesthetically appealing products are designed to give pleasure through beauty and make a sale through personal connection. In the mid-to-late 1990s,Target used this knowledge to hire executives and big-name designers in a partnership and environment that shared the belief "people instinctively appreciate good design, and that it should be affordable and accessible to all" (Target.com). Not only is distinguishing good design instinctive, it has repeatedly proven to be a valid selling point. This philosophy's success is evident in profit and Target's revenue has steadily increased since the pivotal acquisitions of Vice-President Robyn Waters and Design-Architect Michael Graves in the mid-1990s.

The dictum Form follows Function was coined by the Chicago architect Louis Sullivan in his article "The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered" published in 1896 (Klausner core77.com). For over a century it has been regarded as a statute of design philosophy. It cannot be argued that function precedes form; the designer has to make function his starting point. However, while Modernist design ideology promises "efficiency, rationality, and truth, today's diverse aesthetics offers a different trifecta: freedom, beauty, and pleasure" (Postrel, 9). Aesthetics, or styling, has become an accepted selling point on a global basis. Functionality still matters but competition has pushed quality so high and prices so low that manufacturers need aesthetics to make a product stand out. GE Plastics Headquarters in Pittsfield, Massachusetts has dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars into an era in which the look and feel of products will determine their success. They believe "Sensory effects…will be essential competitive tools" (Postrel, 2). In the late 1990s, Apple computers revitalized a distressed company through the personality and uniqueness of their iMac line while the reinvention of the Beetle reintroduced Volkswagen's retro sensibility to a new generation of consumers.