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The influence a designer has on their era and future generations is a good measure of their ability. Vernon Panton was nothing if not influential. Panton was known for many revolutionary designs, both in form and material. The hallmarks of Panton's work are sculptural elegance, striking form and above all, color. Panton's work stood out from that of his contemporaries in the best possible way.

Phanton, the son of an innkeeper, began his life on the island of Fynen. An avid interest in design led him to study at the prestigious Academy of Art in Copenhagen. He followed this with a two-year stint at Arne Jacobsen's architectural office. He was allegedly not the best of employees, preferring to spend his time on developing original ideas Verner Phanton was born on the isle of Fynen in Denmark. His father owned an inn. Because he wanted to be a designer, he took courses at the Copenhagen Academy of Art. After that, he worked for two years in Arne Jacobsen's architecture firm, apparently being a somewhat poor worker who preferred to pass his time on the development of his own designs.

Panton has a number of classics that go with his name. The one that is most known is the Panton stacking chair. This metal outer shell, is in production right now by Vitra, using better plastics (injection-molded polypropylene) rather than the first ones produced by Panton. There are a lot of lower priced Chinese copy cats of this design that are on the market, that actually cause the designer's reputation to be damaged because of the poor quality, however, it is a great way to show off a great design. In a situation like this there would be no reason to purchase a copy cat design being you would end up with a chair that you cannot sell for profit which would mean you would only save about thirty percent on the cost of the real thing. This year Vitra has the limited edition orange Panton chair so there is no way you can make any type of excuses!

Another of Panton's great designs is the Cone chair. These chairs were astonishing at the time of their release, the single pivoting point being a huge departure from the three or four legs people expected from a chair at the time. I remember my first encounter with this chair clearly as I could not get over the optical illusion it produces. It seems to just stand, perfectly balanced, top-heavy and paying no regard whatsoever to the laws of physics.

The two pieces of Phanton's classic along with the various interior designs (heminredning) will make a huge influence on the coming decade. Panton's another classic design was System 1-2-3 chair made in 1973 for Fritz Hansen. System 1-2-3 is a masterpiece of Phanton as this chair is made with flexibility. ease of production and comfort in mind though the name may sound something contrary.

Despite these three pieces being design classics, the example of Panton's work you are most likely to come across is not a chair, but a lamp. The Flowerpot lamps (both table and pendant) are extremely widely distributed. This is because their cost of manufacture is relatively low, they are small, come in a range of colors, they have the name of a great designer to them and above all, they have an instantly recognizable classic form.

Panton was such a prolific designer that it would be quite possible to write for many days about all his work. In its time, his work pushed the boundaries and confounded all expectations. Indeed, much of his work has survived the whole psychedelic stigma of the 1960s and now takes its place among the timeless, modern classics among furniture (mobler) and interior design (inredning).

The influence that designers have on their time and on future generations is a nice measure of their skill. Vernor Panton was nothing if not influential. Panton was well known for a number of revolutionary designs. Panton came up with a System 1-2-3 chair. The System 1-2-3 is a chair that is made with flexibility, comfort, and ease of production in mind. Although these chairs are classics of danish furniture (mobler) design, the most common piece of Panton's work you are likely to see is a lamp. His work survived the tests of centuries and has taken its place in the timeless modern classics of furniture (möbler) and interior design (heminredning).