Twentieth-Century Design
Select Format
Select Condition 
Book Overview
The most famous designs of the twentieth century are not those in museums, but in the marketplace. The Coca-Cola bottle and McDonald's logo are known the world over and may tell us more about our culture than a narrowly-defined canon of classics. One of the world's foremost design historians, Jonathan Woodham takes a fresh look at the wider issues of design and industrial culture throughout Europe, Scandinavia, North America, and the Far East. Drawing on the most up-to-date scholarship, he explores themes such as national identity, the "Americanization" of ideology and business methods, the rise of multi-nationals, Pop and Postmodernism, and contemporary ideas of nostalgia and heritage. Woodham sets the proliferation of everyday design against the writing of critics as diverse as Nikolaus Pevsner, the champion of Modernism, and Vance Packard, author of The Hidden Persuaders. The history which emerges is clearly seen for what it is: the powerful and complex expression of aesthetic, social, economic, political, and technological forces.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0192842048
ISBN13:9780192842046
Release Date:May 1997
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Length:288 Pages
Weight:1.52 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 6.8" x 9.4"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
"New" design history
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
Since Hesketts "Industrial Design" from 1990, this is the best comprehensive introduction to the "new" Design History view on the parallel histories of design developments in this century.It takes a relatively non-heroic attitude towards celebrated designers and design classics while trying to locate the meaning of design products in mass culture, lifestyles, corporations and consumption spheres instead of the designers "creative mind.
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
