Core77

Japan's Daily Yomiuri newspaper managed to score an interview with Kartell CEO Claudio Luti, no small feat--interviews with Luti are few and far between, at least on the internet. (Two of the other pieces you can find are an interview by Dwell Blog's Jordan Kushins, and "The essence of good design: A discussion with Claudio Luti of Kartell" by Ma Che Bello's Andrea.)

It's too bad there aren't more interviews with the man, he's got a lot to say:

Luti: ...I think there's a lot of confusion between industrial design and art. If an artist or a designer thinks of realizing a single piece, then he or she is an artist. In industrial design, the goal is to produce in large numbers. If you can't do this and choose instead to make a single piece, you're not involved in industrial design.

"Industrial" means creating something with machines to produce a product that has a minimum usable life of 10 years. Our approach is completely different [from art]. You have to work out a manufacturing process, choose materials and be aware of fashions--to stay abreast of trends. It's not easy to put all this together successfully. It's much easier to make industrial objects that don't have any inherent charm.

Read the entire interview here.