A cultural history of modern lifestyle viewed through film and multimedia experiments of midcentury designers Charles and Ray Eames For the designers Charles and Ray Eames, happiness was both a technical and ideological problem central to the future of liberal democracy. Being happy demanded new things but also a vanguard life in media that the Eameses modeled as they brought film into their design practice. Midcentury modernism is often considered institutionalized, but Happiness by Design casts Eames-era designers as innovative media artists, technophilic humanists, change managers, and neglected film theorists. Happiness by Design offers a fresh cultural history of midcentury modernism through the film and multimedia experiments of Charles and Ray Eames and their peers-Will Burtin, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and Gyoergy Kepes, among others-at a moment when designers enjoyed a new cultural prestige. Justus Nieland traces how, as representatives of the American Century's exuberant material culture, Cold War designers engaged in creative activities that spanned disciplines and blended art and technoscience while reckoning with the environmental reach of media at the dawn of the information age. Eames-era modernism, Nieland shows, fueled novel techniques of culture administration, spawning new partnerships between cultural and educational institutions, corporations, and the state. From the studio, showroom floor, or classroom to the stages of world fairs and international conferences, the midcentury multimedia experiments of Charles and Ray Eames and their circle became key to a liberal democratic lifestyle-and also anticipated the look and feel of our networked present.

Winner of the 2019 H.R.F. Keating Award for best biography or critical book related to crime fiction! A lavish full-colour celebration of the 2000 books by more than 250 authors published by the iconic Crime Club between 1930 and 1994. The Hooded Gunman was the sinister figure who, having appeared in various guises on the covers of Collins' various series of Mystery and Detective books in the 1920s, finally gained recognition with the launch of Collins' Crime Club, becoming the definitive imprint stamp on more than 2,000 books published by that august imprint between 1930 and 1994. From Agatha Christie to Reginald Hill, the Hooded Gunman was a guarantee of a first-class crime novel for almost 65 years, and those books are now as sought after and collectable and almost any other book series, with many commanding high prices and almost impossible to find. In the year that Collins - the publisher founded by William Collins in Glasgow in 1819 - is enjoying its 200th birthday, this book celebrates probably its most famous publishing imprint. Written and researched by Agatha Christie writer, expert and archivist Dr John Curran, this sumptuous coffee table book looks back at the history of the Crime Club and its authors, showing the jackets of every book published by the imprint over seven decades, and the descriptive 'blurbs' of every book, running to more than 350,000 words. With facts, figures and lists, and drawing on rare archival photos, correspondence and marketing materials, it is the first time that anyone has attempted to chronicle the publishing of the Crime Club - the ultimate book for fans of crime fiction and also of twentieth century book jacket design. The Hooded Gunman won the H.R.F. Keating Award for best 2019 biography or critical book related to crime fiction, and was also nominated for an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Design pervades our lives. Everything from drafting a PowerPoint presentation to planning a state-of-the-art bridge embodies this universal human activity. But what makes a great design? In this compelling and wide-ranging look at the essence of invention, distinguished engineer and author Henry Petroski argues that, time and again, we have built success on the back of failure--not through easy imitation of success. Success through Failure shows us that making something better--by carefully anticipating and thus averting failure--is what invention and design are all about. Petroski explores the nature of invention and the character of the inventor through an unprecedented range of both everyday and extraordinary examples--illustrated lectures, child-resistant packaging for drugs, national constitutions, medical devices, the world's tallest skyscrapers, long-span bridges, and more. Stressing throughout that there is no surer road to eventual failure than modeling designs solely on past successes, he sheds new light on spectacular failures, from the destruction of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940 and the space shuttle disasters of recent decades, to the collapse of the World Trade Center in 2001. Petroski also looks at the prehistoric and ancient roots of many modern designs. The historical record, especially as embodied in failures, reveals patterns of human social behavior that have implications for large structures like bridges and vast organizations like NASA. Success through Failure--which will fascinate anyone intrigued by design, including engineers, architects, and designers themselves--concludes by speculating on when we can expect the next major bridge failure to occur, and the kind of bridge most likely to be involved.

This book is about immersive experience design, the art of creating spaces that tell a story. lt's the result of 25 years of work by one of Europe's first specialised XD agencies. Starting in 1991, the authors witnessed the rise of a completely new industry, mixing graphic, spatial and theatrical arts with interaction design and personal growth. Worlds of Wonder is the illustrated summary of that ongoing journey. lt is intended for everyone in the process of revealing their brand, art, history or ideas about the future. Spatial storytelling is as old as architecture, and modern media technologies have boosted its scale and expressive powers. The more the online world grows, the greater the need becomes for actual spaces of wonder and imagination. People seek out those spaces to indulge in immersive experiences and social interaction. A very exciting industry is emerging. One that is growing in depth and in strength. This book contains many examples, with the intention of giving you a sense of what works and why, from the psychological foundations of consumer behaviour to practical steps to action. Worlds of Wonder is an invitation to anyone involved in this inspiring field.

Design a long life full of love, purpose, well-being, and friendship, at any age, using the creative tools of award-winning product designer, author, and world's #1 life coach Ayse Birsel. What does it mean to craft the life you want, as you grow older? For industrial designer and author Ayse Birsel, the answer draws on key principles of design-like optimism, empathy, collaboration, open-mindedness, and holistic thinking-as well as the experiences of older people on the pioneering frontiers of long life. Longer life is a thrilling, modern opportunity, and like so many parts of life it needs to be thoughtfully designed.Thinking about a long life is very exciting indeed. It's also a new phenomenon. Fifty years ago, living into one's seventies was considered the mark of a long life. Today, seventy feels young, eighty feels normal, and ninety is within reach. Birsel believes this new horizon of life is as important and exciting as the invention of moving pictures. Or that of automobiles, or even space travel. Her point is, when a change this big happens, innovation follows. This book is for everyone who is interested in defining their long life, using design thinking tools. It's an interactive book with exercises that will help you think creatively by asking you to visualize your life. It is full of insights learned from wise people who have lived the longest. It is organized into the four themes of Love, Purpose, Well-Being, and Friendship, and contains insights that will help you love better, find purpose, practice well-being, and make friends. Drawing on Birsel's year-long codesign research with older people, Design the Long Life You Love offers readers of all ages-from those in their twenties and thirties just starting out, to those in mid-life looking for a change, to those in later life who are the experts for us all-thought-provoking questions, exercises for self-exploration, and interviews with innovative entrepreneurs and thought-leaders to guide them on their own journeys of crafting the next phase of life. Focusing on four keys areas-Love, Purpose, Well-Being, and Friendship-this book pairs life lessons from people who've lived the longest with design tools to help you plan your own long life, whether you're looking ahead to retirement, a home post-children, or starting a new project that makes you come alive. Playfulness is key to creating a long life, and readers will find that reflected in this joy-filled book. Whimsical, two-color drawings, illustrated interviews with thought-leaders, and interactive exercises will put you in the mindset of a designer as you foster creativity and explore what your own long life can look like. When it comes to our lives, we are our own innovators-so let's begin to learn how to do just that. Welcome to Design the Long Life You Love!

Drawing from deep archival research and extensive interviews, Atari Design is a rich, historical study of how Atari's industrial and graphic designers contributed to the development of the video game machine. Innovative game design played a key role in the growth of Atari - from Pong to Asteroids and beyond - but fun, challenging and exciting game play was not unique to the famous Silicon Valley company. What set it apart from its competitors was innovation in the coin-op machine's cabinet. Atari did not just make games, it designed products for environments. With "tasteful packaging", Atari exceeded traditional locations like bars, amusement parks and arcades, developing the look and feel of their game cabinets for new locations such as fast food restaurants, department stores, country clubs, university unions, and airports, making game-play a ubiquitous social and cultural experience. By actively shaping the interaction between user and machine, overcoming styling limitations and generating a distinct corporate identity, Atari designed products that impacted the everyday visual and material culture of the late 20th century. Design was never an afterthought at Atari.

Popular culture in the latter half of the twentieth century precipitated a decisive change in style and body image. Postwar film, television, radio shows, pulp fiction and comics placed heroic types firmly within public consciousness. This book concentrates on these heroic male types as they have evolved from the postwar era and their relationship to fashion to the present day. As well as demonstrating the role of male icons in contemporary society, this book's originality also lies in showing the many gender slippages that these icons help to effect or expose. It is by exploring the somewhat inviolate types accorded to contemporary masculinity that we see the very fragility of a stable or rounded male identity.