ETA 80 Electronic Telephone
by Davorin Savnik, for Iskra, 1979
Industrial designer Davorin Savnik left a visible mark on Iskra, a large and successful former Yugoslavian company. In late 1962 one of the first corporate design departments in Slovenia was established at Iskra. Headed by Davorin Savnik its main task was to create “a uniform Iskra style that would blend the latest technology and the demands of the market”. The Iskra design department put great emphasis on technological progress and produced many objects that made everyday work in commerce and industrial production easier, many of which now enjoy cult status. Iskra products were widely used in the former country: TV sets, power tools, small kitchen appliances, telephones and more, many of them designed by Savnik personally. He also designed several audio-visual and telecommunications appliances, electro-technical and electro-medical devices, hand tools, household appliances and computer equipment for the company. In 1971 Savnik founded his own design studio, but remained an external adviser for Iskra.
One of the most popular design objects used in offices and households of the former Yugoslavia was the ETA 80 electronic telephone, designed in the late 1970s and known today simply as “the Iskra phone”. The elegant, flat-shaped telephone in plastic came in various colours and was later copied all around the world. It received many Yugoslavian and international design awards, including the prestigious G Mark of the Japanese Industrial Design Promotion Organisation (JIDPO). In December 2010 the ETA 80 electronic telephone was included in the design collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art.
Industrial designer Davorin Savnik left a visible mark on Iskra, a large and successful former Yugoslavian company. In late 1962 one of the first corporate design departments in Slovenia was established at Iskra. Headed by Davorin Savnik its main task was to create “a uniform Iskra style that would blend the latest technology and the demands of the market”. The Iskra design department put great emphasis on technological progress and produced many objects that made everyday work in commerce and industrial production easier, many of which now enjoy cult status. Iskra products were widely used in the former country: TV sets, power tools, small kitchen appliances, telephones and more, many of them designed by Savnik personally. He also designed several audio-visual and telecommunications appliances, electro-technical and electro-medical devices, hand tools, household appliances and computer equipment for the company. In 1971 Savnik founded his own design studio, but remained an external adviser for Iskra.
One of the most popular design objects used in offices and households of the former Yugoslavia was the ETA 80 electronic telephone, designed in the late 1970s and known today simply as “the Iskra phone”. The elegant, flat-shaped telephone in plastic came in various colours and was later copied all around the world. It received many Yugoslavian and international design awards, including the prestigious G Mark of the Japanese Industrial Design Promotion Organisation (JIDPO). In December 2010 the ETA 80 electronic telephone was included in the design collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art.