This pioneering anthology focuses exclusively on the history of industrial design. Sixty full-length primary source essays detail the most crucial movements, issues and accomplishments of industrial design. Written by a wide range of experts - designers, theorists, critics, advertisers, historians and curators - the book traces the history of industrial design, industrialization and mass production in the United States and other design centres from 1850 to the present day. The book combines news reports on the first design workshops, early reviews of household products, aesthetic manifestos, excerpts from socio-economic debates on mass production and lectures into a lively overview of this dynamic field. The texts were selected according to criteria such as canonicity, notoriety of the writer, pithiness and entertainment value and include key texts from visionaries such as William Morris, Henry Dreyfuss and Victor Papanek. Edited by an expert on industrial design history, the book provides educators, students and practitioners of industrial design a unique one-stop reading experience and resource.

The first and only survey of Japanese design as seen through the lens of Japan's traditional colour spectrum - an exquisitely packaged fresh take on a universally popular topic The traditional colours of Japan have been in use since the seventh century, originally to indicate rank and social hierarchy but, over time, their significance has broadened to include all manner of designed objects. This landmark volume celebrates a curated selection of 200 colours (iro in Japanese), with each traditional shade illustrated by one or more items - ranging from 16th-century kimonos to contemporary chairs, humble kitchen utensils to precious ceramics - providing a unique route to a deeper appreciation of Japanese design. Expertly bound in a traditional Japanese style, this stunning book is a beautiful design object in its own right and is a must-have for all lovers of design.

Brands and logos are all around us - from the clothes we wear and the objects we buy, to the advertisements which cover our cities and the celebrities created by the media. We regard the brand as a new phenomenon, something born with the consumer society, but branding was born with civilization, its earliest examples dating to the Roman Empire.Branding is now a growing industry, applied not only to commodities but to charities, cities, the worlds of sport and entertainment, even government initiatives. Such is the ubiquity and power of branding that it is increasingly taken as a sign of the commodification of everyday life and the rapacity of corporate power. Examining the brand in history, the growth of national and global brands, the changing approaches of the branding industry and the exploration of new spaces for advertising, The Rise of Brands analyses exactly how brands develop and operate in contemporary society.

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

"Design as Politics" confronts the inadequacy of contemporary politics to deal with unsustainability. Current "solutions" to unsustainability are analysed as utterly insufficient for dealing with the problems but, further than this, the book questions the very ability of democracy to deliver a sustainable future. "Design as Politics" argues that finding solutions to this problem, of which climate change is only one part, demands original and radical thinking. Rather than reverting to failed political ideologies, the book proposes a post-democratic politics. In this, design occupies a major role, not as it is but as it could be if transformed into a powerful agent of change, a force to create and extend freedom. The book does no less than position design as a vital form of political action.

Research, design, and development firms are actively recruiting anthropologists and other social scientists, as ethnographic research becomes more central to the creation of appropriate new products, services, and marketing strategies for U.S. and global markets. To be successful designers, professionals must learn new processes, develop training programs, modify communication styles, and share their methods to make their work possible. The current volume is written by social scientists, designers, and entrepreneurs who create new products and services. They provide frank and insightful discussions about the opportunities and challenges facing researchers and designers who are learning to collaborate.

The book highlights several major topics in order to focus on critical aspects of the industry's highly related features. It provides background information about ethnography, decsribes and analyzes the industry, presents case examples of working practices and discusses emerging methodology based on three fundamental kinds of projects (discovery, design, and evaluation). The book suggests ways emerging design professionals can (1) improve their own performance, (2) change the working processes of the industry itself, (3) contribute to basic ethnographic research, and (4) craft training programs for the next generation of professionals.

"Kawaii" is a Japanese word that denotes "cute," "lovable," or "charming" although it does not have exactly the same meaning as those adjectives. This book proposes engineering methodologies for systematic measurement of the affective perception of kawaii, by using virtual reality and biological signals, and discusses the effectiveness of kawaii engineering for designing industrial products and services. Kawaii can draw sympathy from people and can embody a special kind of cute design, which reduces fear and makes dull information more acceptable and appealing. Following the introduction of the background of kawaii engineering in Chapter 1, Chapters 2 and 3 describe experiments on the systematic measurement and evaluation methods for kawaii products and affective evaluation experiments. Chapter 4 proposes a mathematical model to identify the physical attributes that determine kawaii in motion. Chapters 5 and 6 explain research that uses biological signals and eye-tracking. After a brief survey of psychological research on kawaii and cuteness in Chapter 7, Chapters 8 and 9 introduce the use of spoons designed to stimulate the appetite of the elderly and the practical implementation of an emotion-driven camera. Chapters 10-14 explain experimental research that examines kawaii perception of people from various cultural backgrounds. Kawaii Engineering will appeal to those who work on affective computing, product design, user experience design, virtual reality, and biological signals.

A large-format book that uncovers the secrets behind Nendo’s unique creative process. He named his firm ‘Nendo’, the Japanese word for modelling clay; he uses manga-like sketches to illustrate his design concepts; and he creates some of the most imaginative furniture in the world: he is Oki Sato, one of Japan’s most prolific designers. At any given moment, he has hundreds of projects in the works – architecture, interiors, furniture, tableware, and more. ‘There is nothing I would not design,’ says Sato. Sato renders his designs with remarkable conceptual clarity. At the outset, he allows his imagination to run wild and then documents his idea with a simple black line drawing – be it a bathroom basin defined by a single, ceramic swirl or a pair of wooden chopsticks that twist together to become one. These 2D images are converted into minimal 3D shapes described with clean outlines and a largely monochrome palette. Like a traditional Japanese ink painting, which constructs an image with just a few brush strokes, Sato extracts the unnecessary and eliminates distraction. Featuring Sato’s original sketches, full-scale product images and explanatory texts, Project Nendo uncovers and unpicks the designer’s unique creative process, guiding the reader step-by-step through his innovative and playful world to reveal the secrets behind fifty of his inimitable works.

The proceedings of a seminar held at TWI in September, 1995, focusing on crack arrest philosophy which aknowledges that a brittle crack is arrested when it emerges from the critical region. Papers from prestigious researchers presented a critique and assessment of the theory and its application under: Introduction to crack arrest concepts; Recent trends in crack arrest research; Application of crack arrest concepts. Intended for those who have to apply or teach design skills in a technical or engineering context, this resource book defines and explains eight creative thinking techniques and shows how to use and adapt these to solve design problems. Case studies are drawn from a wide range of applications.

The last in Tony Fry's celebrated trilogy of books continues his radical rethinking of design. Becoming Human by Design's provocative argument presents a revised reading of human 'evolution' centred on ontological design. Examining the relation of design to the nature of the human species - where the species came from, how it was created, what it became and its likely future - Fry asserts that current biological and social models of evolution are an insufficient explanation of how 'we humans' became what we are. Making a case for ontological design as an evolutionary agency, the book posits the relation between the formation of the world of human fabrication and the making of mankind itself as indivisible. It also functions as a provocation to rethink the fate of Homo sapiens, recognising that all species are finite and that the fate of humankind turns on a fundamental Darwinian principle - adapt or die. Fry considers the nature of adaptation, arguing that it will depend on an ability to think and design in new ways.

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.

An unprecedented, essential field guide to more than a century of fascinating product and industrial design

From legendary classics to anonymous objects that are indispensable in homes and offices, this one-of-a-kind collection of original patent documents celebrates the creative genius of designers, inventors, creators, innovators, and dreamers the world over. The range is phenomenal: patents by Eero Saarinen, Charles Eames, Isamu Noguchi, Ettore Sottsass, Raymond Loewy, and George Nelson sit alongside everyday designs for tape dispensers, pencil sharpeners, food processors, desk fans, and drink bottles to create an valuable reference that's also an irresistible browse.