Michael Graves’ New Vision and Legacy

Michael Graves, the renowned designer who has created many cool wares for Target, was in Minneapolis this weekend to receive the National Courage Award from the amazing Courage Center, which empowers people with disabilities. When he received his award, he commented on the people in the audience with wheelchairs and walkers, saying ‘I love it, welcome to what will soon be the new normal.’ He, of course, is talking about the age wave. Michael Graves became paralyzed three years ago when he contracted a viral infection. It changed his life and, undoubtedly, because of that, he’s going to change the lives of many others.In a great article in Metropolis Mag, journalist John Hockenberry describes Michael Graves’ personal transformation … .After a lifetime of seeking beauty in everything he designed and obsessively making sure every detail in his physical space was selected to be purposeful and beautiful, he was suddenly trapped in a world of ­mundane medical objects. “Everything was ugly,” he says. “Nothing was designed. It seemed as though the makers of these objects never had to use them. There was no color, no style; nothing about any of the objects said that a human had made them. It was outrageous.” Graves said he once had his doctor come into his hospital bathroom, where he was trying to shave from his wheelchair: “€‰€˜Who designed these bathrooms?’ I asked him. He said, €˜Experts.’ I said, €˜Oh, really,’ and I had him sit down and look at himself in the mirror, which was too high, and then turn on the water, which was out of reach. It took him two seconds to get it.”“People who become disabled have to radically redesign their outlook about the physical world,” Graves says, remembering the first days after he was out of danger and learning to live with paralysis. “They redesign their sense of privacy and their sense of independence. Yet in the products they have to use, design has abandoned them.”Out of personal experience and vision, Graves has founded a new venture called Michael Graves Solutions, which brings smart design, style and elegance to products that help people live fully. Here’s a sampling of what is coming out of Michael Graves Solutions:Tub RailThis height-adjustable tub rail is part of the first batch of medical devices by Michael Graves Design Group that debuted last year. The rail clamps onto the tub with a metal bracket, which the orange knob adjusts. “When-ever we can in the products we try to use the orange color to signify ad-justment,” director of design David Peschel told Metropolitan Mag. The orange rings on the handle pop off to allow it to be raised or lowered (there are four height settings). A soft rubber grip is overmolded onto the blue plastic, and a flexible white TPE rubber cover is available€”it conceals the metal base and has two recessed surfaces for soap or other items. Bath Seat“The bathtub is a pretty scary environment for a lot of people,” Peschel says. This white plastic bath chair is designed to have a soft rounded look€”harmonious with common bathroom elements€”but also be extremely sturdy. “We wanted it to give off a character that it’s very strong and can support a lot of weight,” Peschel says. The design team achieved this by making the chair wider across the seat and back, and by attaching nonslip rubber end cups to the feet that have a patterned bottom surface to allow water to flow underneath, preventing suction to the tub surface. The seat also has a molded nonslip wave pattern (Graves’s sketch, above right) and built-in handles on the sides. Shower HeadsGraves Design developed two handheld shower-spray products, both in white injection-molded plastic with blue overmolded rubber grips. The smaller one was designed to fit in the palm of the hand; people with arthritis or dexterity problems can comfortably use it without a tight grip. A swivel connector at the base allows the unit to spin without twisting the attached hose (it also fits into standard shower holders). €”