The Industrial Design Reader [Paperback]

Carma Gorman (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1581153104 | ISBN-13: 978-1581153101 | Publication Date: October 1, 2003

With input from a diverse range of industry experts/designers, theorists, critics, historians, and curators, this anthology is the first to focus exclusively on the history of industrial design.



This pioneering guide traces the entire history of industrial design, industrialization, and mass production from 1850 until today. Sixty comprehensive essays written by designers, theorists, advertisers, historians, and curators detail the most crucial movements, issues, and accomplishments of industrial design. They combine news reports on the very first design workshops, aesthetic manifestos, lectures, and more from the biggest names in the field: William Morris, Henry Dreyfuss, and Victor Papanek, to name only a few. The Industrial Design Reader is an excellent resource for educators, students, and practicing designers.




• Features design from not only theoretical and aesthetic perspectives, but also from a socio-political point of view, with texts from Karl Marx, Ralph Nader, and others

• Copublished with the Design Management Institute, which will actively promote the book to its membership

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A Time Machine for Industrial Design

Carma R. Gorman Brings Back to Life Familiar Voices in New Anthology on Industrial Design History

Remember Richard Nixon’s address to the nation during the energy crisis of 1973? Industrial design history is chock-full of speeches and statements that couldn’t feel timelier in light of today’s issues. Yet to get to these sources, readers often have to shuffle through dimly lit library floors or dusty newspaper archives. THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGN READER, a new book edited by Carma R. Gorman, promises relief to designers and historians who want to connect with their field’s rich past. Gorman has assembled sixty primary-source essays from 150 years of industrial design history— providing access to some of the most memorable and hard-to-find documents of this fascinating field. THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGN READER is co-published by Allworth Press and the Design Management Institute.

While many objects of industrial design have become icons, until now, a systematic attempt has never been made to feature the speeches, articles, and comments that have fueled (and often critiqued) these creations. THE INDUSTRIAL DESIGN READER is the first anthology to focus exclusively on the last 150 years of industrial design history, including the infrequently covered time period from World War II to the present. The selections not only include writings by designers, but also essays by the politicians, home economists, advertisers, social critics, manufacturers, and artists who influenced their work. Selections also include hard-to-find documents such as Henry Cole’s "On the International Results of the Exhibition of 1851," The Program of the Ulm Hochschule für Gestaltung, and Marcy Babbitt’s 1935 interview with designer Belle Kogan.

Many of the essays in the book deal with timely issues such as environmentalism, gender, race, and global design, including: * Victor Papanek’s "Design for the Real World" * R. Buckminster Fuller’s "Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth" * David H. Rice’s "What Color is Design?" * Kenichi Ohmae’s "Global Products"

From the Inside Flap

"Design is one of the most powerful fields of study of our time. This anthology not only makes it immediately accessible to a vast audience, but also displays it in all its glory and humanity. It gives design an even better name."—Paola Antonelli, Curator of Design, Museum of Modern Art

"Professor Gorman has assembled a valuable anthology that brings to life the history of industrial design. It will be an essential text in design history courses and an important supplementary text for studio courses in industrial design. She has helped to give coherence to the unfolding story of industrial design in modern culture." —Richard Buchanan, Ph.D., Professor of Design, Carnegie Mellon University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Allworth Press (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581153104
• ISBN-13: 978-1581153101
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #92 in Books > Arts & Photography > Design & Decorative Arts

More About the Author

Carma Gorman writes about American design of the "long" twentieth century--from Frank Lloyd Wright's dress designs of the 1890s to contemporary "faith-based" electronics. She is an associate professor in the School of Art and Design at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, an associate editor/lead reviews editor for the journal Design and Culture, and a past president of the Design Studies Forum. A native midwesterner, she earned a B.A. from Carleton College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, January 12, 2012

By 

gusttavopv - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Industrial Design Reader (Paperback)

The book arrived within the same week from the day purchased. The books is in excellent conditions, like new! A real pleasure making business with.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provides a fine selection of writings, February 3, 2004

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Industrial Design Reader (Paperback)

This anthology is the first to focus on the history of industrial design, providing essays written by designers, policy makers, critics and historians on the topic. From the introduction of industrial design in the 1850s to its present mass production, this provides a fine selection of writings by Nader, Fuller, Wright and other leaders in the field.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting collection of ID stories, September 27, 2010

By 

Jenious - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Industrial Design Reader (Paperback)

Carma has put together a good collection of stories that are indicative of the nature of Industrial Design. Excellent resource for anyone interested in the field. Should be required reading for all incoming college freshman.