POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

'Valentine' portable typewriter by Olivetti

Object No. 2003/13/1

The Olivetti Valentine portable typewriter was designed by Perry King in collaboration with Ettore Sottsass and was in production in 1969. As a typewriter the Valentine was not an outstanding commercial success, however its radical design was recognised as revolutionary (for a typewriter). The Valentine is revered as a 20th century design icon and has been collected and displayed by design museums internationally. Ettore Sottsass joined the Olivetti product design team in 1958 which at that time included Marcello Nizzoli. Ettore Sottsass was inspired by pop art at the time and this is evident in the design of the Valentine. The bright red ABS plastic case distinguished it from other office equipment of the time. The Valentine was such a radical redesign of an existing product that it immediately caught the attention of design institutions. Ettore Sottsass' design approach altered radically in the 1980s with his investigations of anti design and consolidating those ideas with the establishment of the Memphis school. Olivetti was established as an office equipment company in the first decades of the twentieth century. Adriano Olivetti, the son of the founder Camilo Olivetti, established modern industrial practices after visiting the USA. Olivetti drew on a talented pool of architects, writers, graphic designers, painters and advertising experts who all contributed to the design process, advertising and graphics. Over the years this philosophy and method has seen the design and production of products, which demonstrate ingenuity and innovation in forms and manufacturing processes. Campbell Bickerstaff, 2003