DESIGN TRENDS
American vs. European Design
by Melissa A. Feher Anato, ASID
If you thought we, as Americans, had escaped
the powers of Europe and Great Britain after
the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812,
World Wars I and II, and then the all too
familiar global domination of the Spice Girls,
than you were completely wrong.
BIO
Melissa A. Feher Anato is an
Interior Designer and Florida
Native, she is also the owner of
Trendy Bird, a full service Interior
Design Firm. Based in Orlando.
Melissa focuses most of her time on
the vacation rental and commercial
markets she uses this as her platform
to assist Foreign National Buyers in
their dreams of creating their own
piece of Florida by creating custom
designs that implement todays top
products and trends while offering
sustainable products and options
that her competitor’s do not.
“As a designer, it is my goal to utilize
a sustainable design philosophy
in every space that I create. By
designing low impact space in my
own environments I can single
handedly stake my claim in the
fight against global warming and
contribute to saving the world one
home at a time.”
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WINTER GARDEN MAGAZINE
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JUNE 2015
However, as much as we may be enticed to
engage in an “us versus them” themed debate,
when we look through US based design
publications, blogs, and websites, the majority of the coverage is centered on European
designers. American designers are left in the
shadows, seemingly not able to keep up with
innovation, intelligence, and aesthetic sensibility that happen across the pond. However,
different ideas, styles and types of music and
art have so suffused both European and American culture that it has actually become tricky to
determine exactly who innovated what.
American design and European design are not
comparable. Design that is considered to be
“good” in Europe is not always “good” in America. Good design is all about context. Nevertheless, when Americans see something we
think is Europe-y, we instantly think: “classy!”
On the other hand, Europeans aren’t as impressed with American stuff as they once were;
unless it’s a 5th generation Apple product, and
then they’ll sell their own children to get their
hands on it.
For the most part it seems American designers
are in a disadvantage to their European counterparts. American designers are faced with
a vicious cycle that traps and prevents them
from breaking into their own playing field, to
gain the necessary recognition, and successfully
reaching their greatest potential.
Suffering from what can be seen in three key
components: cultural lack of design awareness,
low corporate design investment, and an under-developed relationship with the media.
The American population is hard wired with a
quick fix, “bigger-is-better” mentality. We are
supporters of mega retailers that sell products
that are cheap in terms of both price and aesthetic quality. This lack of design awareness has
left American consumers with a different set of
values and buying criteria. We do not ask -or