Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Thames & Hudson (1992), Edition: Reprint, 256 pages
Description
Objects of Desire looks at the appearance of consumer goods in the 200 years since the introduction of mechanized production, whether in Josiah Wedgewood's use of neo-classicism for his industrially manufactured pottery or the development of appropriate forms for wirelesses. The argument is illustrated with examples ranging from penknives to computers and from sewing machines to railway carriages. In opening up new ways of appraising the man-made world around us, Objects of Desire is required reading for anyone who has any involvement with design and a revealing document about our society.
User reviews
LibraryThing member jonas.lowgren
The author’s goal is to relate design history to social and cultural history, rather than picturing individual designers as artists. It is important for interaction designers to think about digital artifacts in terms of social and political contexts; Forty provides excellent examples of such
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LibraryThing member Paul_S
Unusual book, written for general public but scrupulously sourced, almost paragraph by paragraph. A lot of emphasis given to the transforming nature of attitude to hygiene and role of women in the household reflected in the design of consumer products.
Solidly written but just not very revelatory.
Solidly written but just not very revelatory.
Subjects
Physical description
9.8 inches
ISBN
0500274126 / 9780500274125