Michael Graves for Target: More than just a simple Toaster

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I see it there, perched on its four grey rubber legs, on top of the smooth granite countertop, next to the microwave and the coffee pot. It blends into the rest of the kitchen and yet its sleek design calls out for attention. The soft, blue, egg-shape knob clearly demonstrates its function and is inviting, as I am assured that it will be cool to my touch. Its round shape has a directional quality, mimicking the motion of my toast as it springs out of the machine, evenly toasted on both sides. The yellow knob of the dial allows me to personalize my toast settings and allows me to find that perfect golden-brown setting. The toaster sits proudly on the countertop and each morning it beckons in a new day, its smooth white inviting surface and its cool, blue and yellow color scheme bring simplistic pleasure to the somewhat mundane task of toast making.

It is hard to believe that one could become so emotionally and adoringly attached to a toaster that costs less than 40 dollars at the local Target, but I also think it is hard to believe that this simple toaster could become an incredibly complex social artifact and icon: a symbol of design and consumer trends in the twenty-first century.

When searching the housewares section of any department store, most Americans do not rationalize their consumer purchases in terms of their cultural and technological value. When people go to the store to buy housewares, they are not primarily concerned with the larger more oblique social and artistic value of the product that they are about to purchase. Most consumers buy things because they think that they will be highly functional and will fit nicely their kitchen or home. When marketing products designed for the home and kitchen, cost and function are primary concerns; only rarely is design an important factor in the merchandising and purchase of product such as a coffee pot or toaster. In the past, a majority of consumers have not been willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money to ensure that they have the sleekest toaster on the market. Over the past five years, Michael Graves and the Target Corporation have flipped this consumer trend upon its head. Suddenly good design, cost, and function have all become available to the American consumer. Graves and Target have worked to make design democratic and bring simple pleasure to products whose design has remained static and boring for decades.

In looking at the toaster that Michael Graves designed for Target in 1999 it is hard to form one linear argument on the importance and value of the toaster as a cultural artifact; therefore I have allowed my project to take on a much more fluid form, a series of shorter, more compact reflections on the multifaceted aspects of the toaster. When looking at the toaster it is most important to constantly question its larger function in society, and to think outside of its simple nature as a toaster. Through close observation and research, the toaster has become a “black box” which has opened to reveal a complex network of design, technology and consumer functions; the simple appliance has surfaced issues such as the importance of design in contemporary American society. I hope that the various reflections and shorter essays allow a seemingly simple yet brilliantly complex toaster to take shape and become more than a simple kitchen appliance, but rather a direct icon of the cultural movement that it is an icon of; popular design for mainstream America.

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The Man Behind the Toaster

Domesticity: Making the Most Mundane Enjoyable Everyday

The Toaster: The American Family and the Promise of a New Day

Even the Box Matters: Making a Toaster "Giftable"

The Company That Did It All: How Target Has Changed the American Consumer

The History: How target Became "Tar-zhay"

Design With A Capital "D": How Target Made It Hip to Be Cheap

Hitting the Bull's-Eye: How Target's Eye-Catching Ad's Are Etched In Our Hearts and Minds

Democratic Design: Why Are Some so Attached to the Toaster, While Others Are Up In Arms?

Conclusions: It's All in the Toaster

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Michael Graves for Target: Background Research and Bibliography

Brooksie's Personal Information