(Mar. 22) – “We do not offer things which people fundamentally need but we deliver something which answers a wish, a dream,” so speaks Alberto Alessi, managing director of Alessi Spa. As the eldest son of Carlo Alessi, he represents the third generation of the Alessi family, who started its production in 1921 with his grandfather Giovanni. The brand Alessi is part of Italian design history, and its products are in many houses, all over the world, proof of a genius for design which has been handed down through the generations: kettles, coffe machines, pots and pans, table accessories and sets, coffee and glass sets, office accessories, and a lot more. His products sell so well but he’s not surprised: “I use a mathematical model. The purpose of the formula is to understand the reaction of a customer,” he explains. The formula has four parameters: function, emotion, status communication and price. Each has a maximum score of five, judged by what a potential customer would give it. It is theoretically possible for an object to score 20, although this has never happened. The highest score has been 18. That is the Olympic gold of product design. If an item scores 18, Alessi knows it will sell 100,000 pieces a year. Low scorers are not put into production, no matter how much Alessi likes them. They are too risky. “If you score three across each column, with a total of 12, it is not for Alessi,” he says. Alberto’s latest project is called (Un)Forbidden City: a series of eight trays designed by leading Chinese architects. (Peg)
