The Language of Things
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
We live in a world drowning in objects. But what do they tell us about ourselves?In The Language of Things, Deyan Sudjic charts our relationship - both innocent and knowing - with all things designed. From the opulent excesses of the catwalk, or the technical brilliance of a laptop computer, to the subtle refinement of a desk lamp, he shows how we can be manipulated and seduced by our possessions.
Sudjic delivers an exhilarating insider’s history of design as he introduces us to the world's most original innovators and reveals the hidden meanings in their work. How did the design of a pistol influence a car? Why did a chair make a cafe the most fashionable place in Paris? What can we learn from a banknote, a police uniform or a typeface? And why can't any of us decide what size to wear our trousers? In an age when the word ‘designer’ has become synonymous with the cynical and manipulative, Sudjic examines the qualities behind successful design and explores the conflicting tensions between high art and mass production.
Brilliant and courageous, The Language of Things defines the visual vocabulary of our time and gives us a powerful new way of seeing the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Like "geese force-fed grain until their livers explode, to make foie gras, we are a generation born to consume," says this witty commentary on rampant consumerism enabled by design innovation. Indeed, Sudjic (director of London's Design Museum and author of The Edifice Complex) says, consumer snobbery and design obsession can border on "high-functioning autism." Writing almost conversationally, he explores how "consumer engineering" expanded the design process, inspiring the world to "consume way out of the Great Depression"and becoming the present marketing ideal. Luxury, fashion and art, says Sudjic,are the highlights of modern design, with fashion as the "most developed form of built-in obsolescence" and consumers are willing to pay dearly for the impermanence. Brimming throughout with primarily British examples, pricing and language, Sudjic's appreciation of first-rate design shows through his vivid descriptions of universally classic functional or aesthetically pleasing archetypes. Especially appealing to marketers and design connoisseurs, this is easily digestible for the average consumers interested in knowingly purchasing quality design for the senses if they can still afford it in today's economy. 71 b&w illus, 5 color illus.
