Spoon [Hardcover]

Editors of Phaidon Press (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 2002

This is a comprehensive view of product design, presenting the work of 100 exceptional international designers - who have emerged on an international platform since the late 1990s - selected by 10 critics, designers and entrepreneurs, highly respected for their informed opinion on the international contemporary design scene. It provides an opportunity to see a diverse collection of design projects that includes a whole range of objects: furniture, lightning, tools, utensils, high-tech products, machinery and so on. The designers' pages are listed in alphabetical order featuring two double-page spreads for each designer, of exemplary products accompanied with sketches, drawings, computer renderings, model and prototypes that help to explain, together with the extensive captions, the process behind each project. A short explanatory text by the curator explains the designers' work and the characteristics that make his/her projects forward-looking and ground breaking. The text also features, at the end of the book, 10 "classic", industrially manufactured product designs, chosen by the curators as best examples of the concept of "good design". These "classics" are accompanied by text written by the curators that explain their choice of designers and generally what they see to be the concept of "good design". "Spoon" takes its place in a series of surveys identifying 100 of the most interesting, cutting-edge practitioners of key art forms. Earlier surveys include "Cream" and "Fresh Cream", for contemporary art, "10x10" for architecture and "Blink" for photography.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'If you care about what's great in contemporary product design and you want a reason to buy Spoon, you've got exactly 100.' Blueprint magazine 'Definitely the book to have for anyone practicing, curious about, interested in or just plain infatuated with industrial design.' i-D magazine 'Where once "product design" incorporated little more than furniture and lighting, we now live in a designed world - a point clearly reflected in the diverse range of products included in Spoon.' Graphics International (now grafik)" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Ron Arad is a designer and Professor of Industrial and Furniture Design at the Royal College of Art, London Giulio Cappellini is the CEO of the furniture manufacturer Cappellini S.p.A., Italy Ultan Guilfoyle is Director of the New York Guggenheim Video and Film department and was the curator of the Art of the Motorcycles exhibition (1998) currently on tour. Brooke Hodge is the Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Laura Housley is Architecture and Design Editor at Wallpaper* magazine, London Hansjerg Maier-Aichen was the founder of Authentics plastic manufacturer and is Professor of Product Design at the Staatliche Hochschule fur Gestaltung, Karlsruhe. Ryu Niimi is Professor of Arts Policy at the Musashino University of Art and a contributor to 'Axis' and 'Mainichi', Tokyo. Ramon Ubeda is a critic and a regular contributor to 'El Pais', 'Ardi', 'De Diseno', Barcelona Stefan Ytterborn is Managing Director of Ytterborn and Fuentes in Stockholm, a leading Scandinavian corporate design consultancy. Lisa White is Editor-in-Chief of 'Bloom', 'Interior View', 'View on Colour' and Director of the publishing company United Publishers, Paris

Product Details

• Hardcover: 444 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (September 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714842516
• ISBN-13: 978-0714842516
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 8.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,008,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 5 star content no star for the packaging, December 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Spoon (Hardcover)

The designers work showcased in Spoon is great, and is the best collection of up to date design that I have seen. The work in Spoon is mostly product and furniture design. This book is a great addition to any industrial designers library for content alone.

The cover and binding design is the stupidest I have ever seen. Spoon is the least functional book I have ever used. It has a heavyweight, sharp edged, curved metal cover. Spoon doesn't fit in a bookcase, and is not sturdy enough to leave out on a table. Upon a few passes through, this book that cost $75, began to fall apart. If a guest picks it up I have to tell them to be careful, so as not to rip it. Spoon catches on some knit surfaces and is sure to scratch your bookcase if it is made of wood.

The form of the book is nice, and could have worked nicely if one of the designers featured inside worked on the outside packaging. Spoon nests on your lap when opened thanks to the wave shape of the cover, then it slips off thanks to the nature of the material and its protective coating.

It should have had a soft but durable cover with more welcoming lighter materials. Phaidon must have gone with the packaging they did so SPOON would stand out at book stores, attract more attention, and sell more copies. It is to bad for the consumer that they didn't choose a different way to do so.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the space on your book shelf, September 4, 2007

By 

N. VanLaanen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spoon (Hardcover)

The book is large, heavy and hard to handle while reading. The designs are unfinished, unpolished, and unsophisticated. The images are dark and poor. Being a designer I have numerous books on the subject and was terribly disappointed in this book!!!

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have, October 18, 2009

By 

Andrea Schwartz "Andrea" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Spoon (Paperback)

I loaned the original metal cover one years ago, and I just had to get it again. It is definitely something you want to have if you are interested in modern design.