Biomimetics - imitating life's natural processes - is one of the hottest areas of design research and inspiration. The natural world contains infinite examples of how to achieve complex behaviours and applications by using simple materials in a clever way, as all organisms make use of limited raw materials to survive. In the popular imagination, the best-known example is the microscopic 'hook' on burrs that led to the development of Velcro, but there are many more applications, from kingfisher beaks inspiring the shape of bullet trains to shark skin being used as a model for advanced swimsuits. This book presents many examples, showing each natural phenomenon alongside its application, with an accessible explanation of the biology and the story of the design. While most are concrete examples that have already been developed, others point the way to what might be possible for an enterprising designer, providing a starting point for creativity. This timely overview is the perfect introduction for designers of all disciplines, and a reminder that inspiration may be just down the garden path. With 439 illustrations

The original concept for the Vision in Vehicle series of international conferences was born from discussions within the Applied Vision Association which led eventually to the first conference being held in 1985. Ten years of progress later and this volume presents the selected and edited proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Vision in Vehicles (VIV6) which was held at the University of Derby, 13-16 September 1995. The meeting was organised in association with the Applied Vision Association and the Ergonomics Society.
The conference is unique in the eclectic mix of disciplines which are attracted to the meetings and this enables research inssues to be considered in very broad contexts.

Fashion Writing and Criticism provides students with the tools to critique fashion with skill and style. Explaining the history and theory of criticism, this innovative text demonstrates how the tradition of criticism has developed and how this knowledge can be applied to fashion, enabling students to acquire the methods and proper vocabulary to be active critics themselves. Integrating history and theory, this innovative book explains the development of fashion writing, the theoretical basis on which it sits, and how it might be improved and applied. Through concise snapshot case studies, top international scholars McNeil and Miller analyse fashion excerpts in relation to philosophical ideas and situate them within historical contexts. Case studies include classic examples of fashion writing, such as Diana Vreeland at Harper's Bazaar and Richard Martin on Karl Lagerfeld, as well as contemporary examples such as Suzy Menkes and the blogger Tavi. Accessibly written, Fashion Writing and Criticism enables readers to understand, assess and make value judgments about the fascinating and changeable field of fashion. It is an invaluable text for students and researchers alike, studying fashion, journalism, history and media studies.

This book shares new research findings and practical lessons learned that will foster advances in digital design, communication design, web, multimedia and motion design, graphic design and branding, and other related areas. It gathers the best papers presented at the 3rd International Conference on Digital Design and Communication, DIGICOM 2019, held on November 15-16, 2019, in Barcelos, Portugal. The respective contributions highlight new theoretical perspectives and practical research directions in design and communication, aimed at promoting their use in a global, digital world. The book offers a timely guide and a source of inspiration for designers of all kinds (Graphic, Digital, Web, UI & UX Design and Social Media), for researchers, advertisers, artists, entrepreneurs, and brand or corporate communication managers, and for teachers and advanced students.

Fashion in Fiction examines the ways in which dress 'performs' in a wide range of contemporary and historical literary texts. Essays by North American, European and Australian scholars explore the function of clothing within fictional narratives, including those of film, television and advertising. The book provides a groundbreaking examination of the interconnected worlds of fashion and words, providing perspectives from socio-cultural, historical and theoretical readings of fashion and text-based communication. Covering a variety of genres and periods, Fashion in Fiction analyses fashion's role within a range of creative media, exploring the many ways that dress communicates, disrupts and modulates meaning across different cultures and contexts.

Drawing on her love of mathematics and numbers, knitting designer Shiri Mor has developed an entirely unique method of knitting seamless geometric shapes that can be used in eye-opening ways. In "Knit ometry," she shares her never-before-seen techniques, along with 11 patterns for dazzling, jaw-dropping designs. These cleverly created shapes, accompanied by Shiri s thorough step-by-step instructions for more than 60 swatches, work with any stitch pattern and type of project, opening up a world of possibilities for knitters even those who are math-phobic! Knitters will refer to this landmark reference again and again."

Charlotte Perriand was one of great designers of the twentieth century. A pioneer of modernism, her work was often overshadowed by her more famous male collaborators, who included Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Jean Prouve. However, in recent years her reputation as a furniture designer and architect has matched the stature of her peers - her furniture in particular has become highly prized by collectors. From the 1920s onwards, Perriand was instrumental in bringing the modernist aesthetic to interiors. But she also believed in the synthesis of the arts, and was friends with visual artists such as Pablo Picasso and Fernand Leger. This book will explore Perriand's journey from the machine aesthetic to her adoption of natural forms, and from modular furniture systems to major architectural projects such as Les Arcs ski resort. Featuring some of her most famous interiors, as well as her original furniture, her photography and her personal notebooks, this book sheds new light on Perriand's creative process and her place in design history. It will accompany the forthcoming Design Museum exhibition of the same title, which will coincide with the twenty-fifth anniversary of Perriand's last significant presentation in London, held at the Design Museum in 1996.

An Accordion Book doesn’t open, it unfolds. One side is filled with beautiful watercolour images of an animal: sometimes in motion, sometimes at rest. The other is filled with text – poems, descriptions, invocations – inspired by the same animal.Together they work as spells to summon the animal’s spirit. Jackie Morris has painted them using antique watercolours, some from boxes which hadn't been opened for over 150 years, woken from their slumber with a single drop of water.Fox and Otter are the first two Accordions in a series that will go on to include Hare,Owl,Hound and Cat among many others.

Arguably the most famous perfume in the world - most memorably endorsed by Marilyn Monroe - Chanel No 5 continues to fascinate and claims millions of devotees around the world. Created in 1921 by Coco Chanel, the perfume was one of the first to use synthetics. To complement her pioneering fashion, Chanel wanted to give the modern woman 'a perfume, but an artificial perfume...not rose or lily of the valley...a perfume that is compound', presented in a distinctively pared-back glass bottle that would become an icon in its own right (inspiring a series of works by Andy Warhol decades later). Presented in two volumes (one on the early years of Chanel No 5 from 1921 to 1945, the other on the period in which Chanel No. 5 went truly global, from the postwar years to today), Chanel No 5 explores the evolution of the perfume's packaging, composition, manufacture and marketing, with unprecedented access to the Chanel archives and those tasked with creating the fragrance today. The world's leading creatives have lent their talents to the perfume's advertising campaigns, which are given pride of place in the book, from photographers such as Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton, to film directors including Ridley Scott and Baz Luhrmann, and stylish muses - Coco Chanel herself, of course, as well as Suzy Parker, Catherine Deneuve, Nicole Kidman, Gisele Bundchen and Lily-Rose Depp. With over 750 illustrations

Cool Shades provides the first in-depth exploration of the enduring appeal of sunglasses in visual culture, both historically and today. Ubiquitous in fashion, advertising, film and graphic design, sunglasses are the ultimate signifier of 'cool' in mass culture; a powerful attribute pervading much fashion and pop cultural imagery which has received little scholarly attention until now. Accessible and highly engaging, this book offers an original history of how sunglasses became a fashion accessory in the early twentieth century, and addresses the complex variety of meanings they have the power to articulate, through associations with vision, light, glamour, darkness, fashion, speed and technology in the context of modernity. Cool Shades will be of great interest to students of fashion, design, visual and material culture, cultural studies and sociology, as well as general readers fascinated by this iconic fashion staple.

This anthology explores tensions between the individualistic artistic ideals and the collective industrial realities of contemporary cultural production with eighteen all-new chapters presenting pioneering empirical research on the complexities and controversies of comics work. Art Spiegelman. Alan Moore. Osamu Tezuka. Neil Gaiman. Names such as these have become synonymous with the medium of comics. Meanwhile, the large numbers of people without whose collective action no comic book would ever exist in the first place are routinely overlooked. Cultures of Comics Work unveils this hidden, global industrial labor of writers, illustrators, graphic designers, letterers, editors, printers, typesetters, publicists, publishers, distributors, translators, retailers, and countless others both directly and indirectly involved in the creative production of what is commonly thought of as the comic book. Drawing upon diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives, an international and interdisciplinary cohort of cutting-edge researchers and practitioners intervenes in debates about cultural work and paves innovative directions for comics scholarship.

The field of dress history has experienced exponential growth over the past two decades. This in-depth investigation examines the expanding borders and porous boundaries of the discipline today, outlining key debates and showcasing the most exciting research. With international case studies from a wide range of scholars, the volume encompasses work from a variety of historical periods from the late 18th century to the present day. Contributors examine, critique and expand the methodologies and sources used in fashion history, analyse how dress is collected, displayed and sold, and investigate clothing's meanings and uses in the practice of identity. Exploring overlooked territories and new approaches to analysis, the book offers students and scholars a fresh appraisal of dress history in the 21st century.

Out of all the human senses, touch is the one that is most often unappreciated, and undervalued. Yet, the surface of the human body, the skin, is actually one huge sheet of tactile receptors. It provides us with the means to connect with our surroundings. Despite the important role that vision plays in our everyday lives, it is the skin that constitutes both the oldest, and by far the largest of our sense organs. The skin protects our body from the external world and, at the same time, informs us about what occurs on its surface. In Touch With The Future explores the science of touch, bringing together the latest findings from cognitive neuroscience about the processing of tactile information in humans. The book provides a comprehensive overview of scientific knowledge regarding themes such as tactile memory, tactile awareness (consciousness), tactile attention, the role of touch in interpersonal and sexual interactions, and the neurological substrates of touch. It highlights the many ways in which our growing understanding of the world of touch can, and in some cases already are, being applied in the real world in everything from the development of virtual reality (VR) environments, tablet PCs, mobile phones, and even teledildonics - the ultimate frontier in terms of adult entertainment. In addition, the book shows how the cognitive neuroscience approach to the study of touch can be applied to help improve the design of many real-world applications/products as well as to many of our everyday experiences, such as those related to the appreciation of food, marketing, packaging design, the development of enhanced sensory substitution systems, art, and man-machine interfaces. Crucially, the authors makes a convincing argument for the view that one cannot really understand touch, especially not in a real-world context, without placing it in a multisensory context. That is, the senses interact to influence tactile perception in everything - from changing the feel of a surface or product by changing the sound it makes or the fragrance it has. For students and researchers in the brain sciences, this book presents a valuable and fascinating exploration into one of our least understood senses

One of four volumes dealing with the world of comic art, this volume is a comprehensive, international bibliography dealing with animation, caricature, gag, illustrative, magazine, and political cartoons in the United States and Canada. Reflecting the substantial growth of comic art literature in recent years, it is representative of various types of publications, writing formats and styles, and languages from all over the world. The four volumes attempt for the first time to pull together the massive amount of comic art literature worldwide.

Organized with meticulous detail, the work consists of numerous resources, including an annotated directory of 66 comic art-related periodicals; a section of comic art functions, activities, and relationships with various socio-cultural phenomena, such as education, eroticism, ethnicity, race, social consciousness, and violence; as well as historical and contemporary parts on animation, caricature, gag cartoons, and political cartoons. At least 224 animators, caricaturists, and cartoonists are singled out for special prominence. Business, legal, and technical aspects of each genre make up other categories. The book is enhanced by Maurice Horn's foreword, retracing the pioneer work he and others did in the field of comic art studies. To further help the user, the indices are systematically broken down by authors, cartoonists, characters and titles, periodicals, and subjects.