Goods made or designed in Italy enjoy a profile which far outstrips the country's modest manufacturing output. Italy's glorious design heritage and reputation for style and innovation has 'added value' to products made in Italy. Since 1945, Italian design has commanded an increasing amount of attention from design journalists, critics and consumers. But is Italian design a victim of its own celebrity? Made in Italy brings together leading design historians to explore this question, discussing both the history and significance of design from Italy and its international influence. Addressing...

By returning to the etymological roots of iconicity and showcasing objects which are distinctive, memorable, internationally recognised and the subject of significant media attention, this text addresses what we mean by iconic' and how that aids our understanding of design and of iconicity.
50 compact chapters examine designs ranging from everyday goods to high-end designer' objects and explores how iconicity was established and how it contributes to our understanding of iconic design, by considering production, consumption and legacy alongside similar or contemporaneous objects....

Reading Graphic Design in Cultural Content introduces key approaches to interpreting the graphic designs we see all around us - in advertising, branding, corporate identity, packaging, high street and high fashion - and to understanding them in their cultural and social context.

Drawing examples for a wide range of design genres, leading design historians Grace Lees-Maffei and Nicolas Maffei explain theories of semiotics, postmodernism, globallisation, and consider issues and debates within cultural and visual communication theory such as legibility, the relationship of word...

Reading Graphic Design in Cultural Content introduces key approaches to interpreting the graphic designs we see all around us - in advertising, branding, corporate identity, packaging, high street and high fashion - and to understanding them in their cultural and social context.

Drawing examples for a wide range of design genres, leading design historians Grace Lees-Maffei and Nicolas Maffei explain theories of semiotics, postmodernism, globallisation, and consider issues and debates within cultural and visual communication theory such as legibility, the relationship of word...

Modern Asian Design provides a comprehensive introduction to the development of Asian design in the modern period, both tracing historical threads and offering a theoretical framework within which to chart the history of design in Asia.

Rather than a singular Asian history, this book presents a series of studies centred on trade routes, colonial relationships, regional networks and cross-cultural exchanges. Modern Asian Design builds on existing resources beyond design history in an effort to map the field, focusing particularly on relations between Asia and the West...

Modern Asian Design provides a comprehensive introduction to the development of Asian design in the modern period, both tracing historical threads and offering a theoretical framework within which to chart the history of design in Asia.

Rather than a singular Asian history, this book presents a series of studies centred on trade routes, colonial relationships, regional networks and cross-cultural exchanges. Modern Asian Design builds on existing resources beyond design history in an effort to map the field, focusing particularly on relations between Asia and the West...

Norman Bel Geddes has long been considered the 'founder' of American industrial design. During his long career he worked on everything from theatre design, world fairs and cars to houses and product and packaging design.

Nicolas P. Maffei's magisterial biography draws on original material from the archive at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, and places Bel Geddes' work within the fast-changing cultural and intellectual contexts of his time. Maffei shows how Bel Geddes' futuristic but pragmatic style - his notion of 'practical vision' - was central to his work,...

Norman Bel Geddes has long been considered the 'founder' of American industrial design. During his long career he worked on everything from theatre design, world fairs and cars to houses and product and packaging design.

Nicolas P. Maffei's magisterial biography draws on original material from the archive at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, and places Bel Geddes' work within the fast-changing cultural and intellectual contexts of his time. Maffei shows how Bel Geddes' futuristic but pragmatic style - his notion of 'practical vision' - was central to his work,...