Design for All?

A new hive catalog arrived in my mailbox this week. Hive sells products by some of my favorite designers - Charles & Ray Eames, George Nelson, Eero Saarinen. There is this clever wall clock that I’ve been eyeing for some time. It’s the Nelson Ball Clock and hive sells it for $337. This got me thinking about the idea of good design being set a price point where only true design enthusiasts can afford to purchase it versus Target’s motto of Design for All. Target sells what they call a “wooden ball clock inspired by George Nelson” for $40. What accounts for this price disparity? Is it simply the result of one product being an original George Nelson design? Is there a difference in the materials used to produce these two products? Does the price difference indicate a discrepancy in the labor conditions and environmental standards under which the clocks were manufactured? Does buying a well-designed product at a higher price point ensure that the lifecycle of that product is ethically and environmentally sound? Does it guarantee that you can be proud to display the product as a statement of your design taste as well as a statement of your humanity?