the trimphone – a visual design case study

Martin Woolley Coventry University

CONTEXT

The GPO Trimphone – as design icon and historic signpost

the design case study illustrates the following:

• different pathways for new BT archives users

• the richness and diversity of the archive

• ways in which the archive can be used visually

• what lies beneath the surface of familiar objects and images

• how image and text research interrelate through design

the trimphone context

• technology – emerging and converging technologies

• society & politics – from state to commercial ownership

• consumer culture – freedom of choice

• design – modernism and beyond

• economics – growing affluence and the luxury commodity

• communications – from communal to personal

two cases in one - the trimphone and how it was marketed

THE TRIMPHONE – 1965 to 1982 design icon and historical signpost

‘If the measure of a machine's influence is the extent to which it has changed our manners, then, discounting the car, the telephone is the most important of them all.’

Bayley, S., 1994. Conversation pieces;Telephones;House Style. The Times

political and cultural backdrop

1944 Council of Industrial Design founded 'to promote by all practicable means the improvement of design in the products of British industry'

1951 The Festival of Britain

1957 "indeed let us be frank about it — most of our people have never had it so good” Harold Macmillan, Speech in Bedford, 20 July 1957

1963 "The Britain that is going to be forged in the white heat of this revolution will be no place for restrictive practices or outdated methods on either side of industry.“ (referring to technological change)

Harold Wilson - speech, Oct. 1, 1963, to the Labour Party Conference

1966 Post Office Tower, London opened

the wind of change…… - the trimphone as a symbol of historical and cultural transition

• from state owned industry (GPO) to commercial company (BT)

• from government prescription

to consumer choice

• from communications for the few to mass communications

• from design as afterthought

to design as driver

design origins……

8th July 1959 877.6 Bedside Telephone “The Chairman said that an SCP would be issued before the next meeting for an item similar to the American one but using British design and apparatus. Mr. Harding (S Branch) gave a preliminary description of the telephone which should be a luxury item of distinctive appearance, small, dainty and deluxe. It should include lighting giving a dim glow at all times, increasing when the handset was lifted so that the numbers could be seen. The volume of the bell or buzzer should be capable of being adjusted by the subscriber. Details of the colour range were not yet settled but it would probably be required in light pastel shades”

Minutes from the British Telephone Technical Development Committee, Subscribers Apparatus Development Sub-Committee meetings

the ‘princess’ – bell systems/henry dreyfuss, U.S. 1959

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Western_Electric_Company_Princess_phones.jpgAnon, 2012. Princess Phone re photos-14-masterpieces-of-gadget-design/. Time Tech. Available at: Princess Phone re photos-14-masterpieces-of-gadget-design/.

The American ‘Princess’ telephone was the inspiration behind the trimphone . It was the first intended to exploit the market for a second domestic phone, in this case for bedroom use. It was designed by legendary industrial designer and ergonomist Henry Dreyfuss.

the princess phone – how it was sold

trimphone origins…..

13th January 1960 889.14 Bedside Telephone (last minute 883.6) (SCP 177)

It was interesting to note that American experience was that the “boudoir” or “princess” telephone had been of sufficient appeal for it to be ordered in large quantities for use in other rooms. As the Post Office was asking for something entirely new, not a copy of any existing design, a considerable amount of development work would be involved, and this would influence the time taken to come into production. On the other hand, if only one manufacturer was interested then the time for development could be reduced by comparison with that of the wall telephone since no selection of various manufacturers designs would be necessary. Taking all these factors into account, the Chairman felt it reasonable to hope that first production would commence in 18 months time.

Minutes from the British Telephone Technical Development Committee, Subscribers Apparatus Development Sub-Committee meetings

DESIGN

design archetypes over time

Candlestick Telephone Type: 150

1929

Table Telephone with Recall button Type: 706R (Mk.I)

1959

Table Telephone (Red) Type: 162

1934

Trimphone Telephone Type: 722L

1968

ROBUST DESIGN

DESIGN DIVERSITY

From bicycles to computers, the forms of many products go through phases of comparative stability where there is very little change or variation in how they look. This is followed by points in time when new products emerge that look different and function in a variety of ways. The telephone is no exception as shown above, where a fixed ‘robust design’ (coined by Robin Roy) lasted from 1934 to 1959. This was followed by a more open market in which a variety of new forms emerged of which the Trimphone was one.

martyn rowlands 1923-2004 – a prototype industrial designer

“Rowlands was one of the first trained industrial designers to work with plastics in Britain. He tended to work through the development of models rather than by making drawings. His designs are noteworthy for their smooth, clean lines and their practicality. He was among the first designers to make the most of the relatively new injection moulding process”. MODIP He gained design and materials experience as an aircraft fitter in WW2 then attended the first UK industrial design course at Central Saint Martins, London, which also ran a lecture programme on new plastics. . He then gained industry experience at plastics manufacturers Bakelite, then established an industrial design unit at Ekco, before setting up his own design consultancy and eventually working on the Trimphone project. This was carried out in conjunction with the GPO to advise on the technical side and STC for manufacture. The Design Council advised on aesthetics and user operation. The product won a Design Council award and Rowlands went on to become President of the Chartered Societ y of Designers.

examples of rowlands other design work

MODIP & WELLCOME TRUST

Early design work - Haemoglobin and the Festival of Britain - 1951 Twenty-eight leading manufacturers took part in the Festival of Britain's Festival Pattern Group, which used diagrams of atomic structure to provide design inspiration. 80 designs were produced in all, including glass, ceramics, metal, plastics, textiles and wallpaper. Labels were attached to samples on display at the Festival. Seen to the right is Cristobalite 8.53 metal sheet, produced by GA Harvey, a large industrial metalworking company. Cristobalite has the same chemical composition as quartz. On the left is a high-pressure decorative plastic laminate with Max Perutz’s Haemoglobin 8.26 structure, designed by Martyn Rowlands for Warerite.

design origins – martyn rowlands

“In addition, I got some design briefs through the then very active Design Council, who would recommend a list of designers to those who enquired through their design advisory service. Also some material suppliers began to recommend us to their customers, so the practice was very busy. One particularly interesting brief came via the Design Council, for the design of a telephone.”

“The GPO which ran the telephone system at the time had at last made telephones available to all, after a period when there was a waiting list to get a line. They decided to put out contracts for three completely new instruments, one for a kitchen telephone possibly wall mounted, another for a desk or office model, and the brief we got was for a bed-side one that was to be light in weight, portable and have dial lighting. We were working for STC at the time, and they were keen to get the manufacturing contract. The Design Council were to advise on the industrial design aspects and of course the GPO on the technical acceptability.”

2001 - Martyn Rowlands. Modip - Museum of Design in Plastics

UK industrial design

“The company STC was one of the first large companies in Britain to begin fully to exploit the services of industrial designers. In 1963 the company appointed Richard Stevens as its first industrial design manager, with control over all design aspects of the company's work.”

Anon, Design Centre Awards 1966 - ’Deltaphone and ‘Deltaline’ telephones. Design Magazine, 209, p.53.

the trimphone - key converging technologies

• printed circuit boards

• plastics - ABS

• electronic ring tone

• self-illumination

• telephone network improvements

trimphone ring tone

http://www.freesound.org/people/hyderpotter/sounds/80367/#

One of the key technical innovations that distinguished the Trimphone from its predecessors was the electronic warble tone ringer which replaced the electro-mechanical bell. Again this set the scene for today's mobile phone ringtones and also reduced the weight of the phone and gave it a variable volume control. The distinctive ‘warble’ is still used by mobile phone users as a ring tone.

technology transfer and the handset design

“STC were already manufacturing the standard Telephone Operator’s head set which contained small components for the microphone and speaker. There was a moulded exponential horn to the microphone, thus the two electronic components were at the earpiece end, and there was just a hollow horn in front of the mouth. STC were keen to use this format if we could design an acceptable shaped hand set to house them, as the electronic components were tried and tested with years of use, and were technically acceptable to the GPO. This would be a great advantage to STC over other manufacturers who would have to devise new light weight components. It however made the design of the handset quite complex and somewhat revolutionary, with all the components and weight down one end. This lead to the handset being North/South on the base instead of East/West as in all home telephones at the time. The GPO had doubts about this but the design went ahead.”

Martyn Rowlands. Modip - Museum of Design in Plastics. Available at:

http://www.modip.ac.uk/exhibitions/spotlight-on/designers/rowlands.

BT Archives

later push button design - through modelling rather than drawing

wooden & plastic model plastic prototype

These presentation models were made to show the client and to test the evolving form of the phone. The design differed radically from conventional phones by the placing of the handset along the length of the body. At first, the push button version was produced for factory use only. The design was given a Design Centre Award in 1966. Victorial & Albert Museum Collection - Twentieth Century Gallery label (Room 73): MODELS: DELTAPHONE, PUSH-BUTTON VERSION Designed and made by Martyn Rowlands, Great Britain, 1965 Painted wood with plastic components W.66 & 67-2002

This design range marked the last version of the Trimphone and was a collection of alternative colours called the 'Snowdon Collection‘, as Lord Snowdon was involved in the specification. The GPO had become BT, and the phone was fitted with the new plug-socket connection and they were available, not to rent, but for purchase by the consumer for the first time.

the snowdon range 1982

a step towards e-learning?

“The teaching machine to be used at Paul Street has already proved its worth – it has taught 3,000 engineers how to install and maintain the trimphone.

The machines, fully programmed, are sent to local offices which handle trimphones. The installation program takes 70 minutes, the maintenance session 60

‘Time saving is immense’ said Mr Howe. ‘The engineers are trained on their own doorsteps instead of having to travel all the way to a central School.”

BT Archives - Page 6 COURIER November 1967

a glimmer of mobility - the trimphone marked an early move towards more mobile communications

• handset rest as handle

• light weight due to reduced weight plastics and compontents

• longer cable

• multiple network connections

the telephone - getting personal….. - the trimphone marked an important stage towards the mobile phone and from public to personal use

public phone single phone household

multiple phone household

mobile phone

personal

communal

TIME

USE

smart phone

?

bionic phone?

good or bad design? - opinions vary…….

“After a noble period patiently developing classic designs from abroad, someone in the GPO was hit by a surge of Sixties creativity and commissioned this appalling travesty of industrial design. Designed to be especially light (an entirely useless feature in a static phone), the tension in the coiled cable required more force to uncoil it than the mass of the base unit could muster, the result being that tiny movements of the hand capsized the base unit and cut you off.” Bayley, S., 1994. Conversation pieces;Telephones;House Style. The Times.

“……..this has resulted in a well design, and technically excellent telephone which incorporates several new features. Although only half the weight of the familiar GPO 706 telephone, the Deltaphone’s four rubber feet hold it firmly while dialing; the specially developed lightweight cord will not cut off a call even when stretched across the switching bar; and, because the line cord can fold sideways under the body, the telephone can be placed directly against a wall.” Editorial, 1966. Duke of Edinburgh’s Prize for Elegant Design and the Design Centre Awards 1966. Design Magazine, (209), p.Pages: 28 – 57.

the trimphone as hazardous waste

“BT’s main hazardous waste are trimphones, asbestos and PCBs and PCNs.”

Trimphones “Trimphones, developed in the 1970s, were popular with the public because they produced a luminescent dial which could be seen in the dark. They were discontinued a number of years ago because they contain very small amounts of radioactive tritium gas which requires special disposal. We recovered 1100 trimphones in the last financial year. These are transferred to a specialist contractor for processing under controlled conditions”

2000 - Our Environmental Performance - Wastes. BT Available at:

http://www.btplc.com/society/environment/epr2000/perform4.htm.

the trimphone as media icon

television 1977 theatre 2004

The Trimphone has become a frequently used set design component to denote its historic period, as show here in the original television production and more recent theatre revival of Mike Leigh’s ‘Abigail’s Party’.

customisation and design variations

repro trimphone with disguised touch button ‘dial’

Wild and Wolf Trimphone 2010

THE WOMAN IN BED

images of women in bed using the trimphone were used widely in marketing and sales literature, whilst men were invariably shown conducting business. A case study of women as GPO employees, marketing symbols and consumers is included in this project.

Post office leaflet - PH1950 (9/75)

The signified, or meaning/ideas of the compositions, indicate that the man is at work participating in a work call, and the woman is at home, relaxed, attractive, and possibly gossiping to someone (filling in time) while she waits for her husband to return from work.

Signifiers Man Woman Facial expression Smiling Smiling Pose Busy Relaxed Hairstyle Short Long Hair colour Brown Blonde Position Standing up Lying down Clothes Suit and tie Negligee Colours Dark Pastel/light Objects in scene Telephone Double bed, lamp, bedclothes, telephone Time Day Night

“The scholarships are confined to male students because the grade of Executive Engineer, which student apprentices are expected to enter on completion of their studies, is not open to women as some of the duties are considered unsuitable for women. My right hon Friend is having the case for this restriction reviewed.”

the images reflect attitudes in the GPO - employment & education

album cover - hipgnosis designed for 10cc – 1976 - this time the man has TWO trimphones

archive connections – find out more….

TRIMPHONE

GPO/BT

Design Consultant

STC

Design Council

Museum of Design in Plastics (MODIP)

V&A Museum Plastics Historical Society

The National Archives Standard Telephones & Cables Ltd.

BT Archives

Design Council Archive University of Brighton

the BT archives are extensive and like all good research resources, they also act as a springboard to other sources of information. This diagram illustrates how this occurred in the case of the trimphone .

WIDER

INTERNET

SEARCHES