George Nelson (1908-1986) was a pioneering modernist who ranks with Raymond Loewy, Charles Eames, and Eliot Noyes as one of America's outstanding designers. Nelson's office produced some of the twentieth century's canonical pieces of industrial design, many of which are still in production: the ball clock, the bubble lamp, the sling sofa. Nelson also made major contributions to the storage wall, the shopping mall, the multi-media presentation, and the open-plan office system. The author of this definitive biography was given access to Nelson's office archives and personal papers. He also interviewed more than 70 of Nelson's friends, colleagues, employees, and clients (including the late D. J. De Pree, former head of the Herman Miller Furniture Company and Nelson's chief patron) and obtained many previously unpublished images from corporate and private archives.The full range of Nelson's work is represented, from product and furniture design to packaging and graphics to large-scale projects such as the Fairchild house and the 1959 American National Exhibition in Moscow. Because Nelson was a serious and original thinker about design issues, Abercrombie quotes extensively from his published and unpublished writings, offering provocative new material to students of design theory and philosophy.The appendixes, compiled by Judith Nasatir, include a chronology of Nelson's work, a biographical chronology, and two bibliographies: one of writings by Nelson and the other of writings about him.
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"A should-buy book for designers of all stripes,patterns, and colors." Steven Skov Holt Design Book Review
About the Author
Stanley Abercrombie, Editorial Director of Interior Design, is a former director of the Society of Architectural Historians and a fellow of the American Academy in Rome. His books include Gwathmey Siegel, Architecture as Art, and A Philosophy of Interior Design.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Comprehensive Study of the Work by George Nelson,
By A Customer
This review is from: George Nelson: The Design of Modern Design (Hardcover)
Although the book is minimal on color illustrations and its strength relies mainly on its text, contrary of what I had expected, I was very pleased with it. It is a very comprehensive study of the work of Nelson, one of the pioneers of American industrial design, giving more importance to the concepts and the process of design, rather than to the produced objects, buildings and exhibitions themselves. The preface by Ettore Sottssass is equally outstanding, as most of his written works are.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read book on the greatest American designer of the 20th Century.,
By Availar James "Availar James" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: George Nelson: The Design of Modern Design (Paperback)
George Nelson was not only a creative artistic talent, he was also a commercial genius (just like Picasso was). These two talents provided his secret for success that would reward him throughout his life. This book documents in detail how George Nelson thought and designed. The attention is clearly on his biography, this is not a coffee table book filled with an overdose of pictures. A wonderful biography about a designer that was the founding father of American Modern Design. I also suggest to visit the wonderful online archive about George Nelson at WWW.GEORGENELSON.ORG.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Man for all times,
By Tropics Refugee (Middle Fla.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: George Nelson: The Design of Modern Design (Hardcover)
A terrific biography about a wonderful and creative individual. Although George Nelson created many iconic designs his legacy lives more in how he lived his life and who he chose to be.
An intelligent and humanistic piece of biographical work. I couldn't put it down and at the end of the book I felt as though I had lost a friend.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Even if George Nelson could have imagined the wildly varied career that awaited him, there would have been no way of finding a formal education that could have prepared him for it. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Even if George Nelson could have imagined the wildly varied career that awaited him, there would have been no way of finding a formal education that could have prepared him for it. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
6
books
cite this book:
See all 6 books citing this book
- George Nelson: Compact Design Portfolio by Michael Webb in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America by Giles Slade in Back Matter
- Globalization and Europe by * on page 284
- Weekend Utopia: Modern Living in the Hamptons by Alastair Gordon in Back Matter
- Interior Design Handbook of Professional Practice by Cindy Coleman on page 46
See all 6 books citing this book
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