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Design Handbook: Concepts, Materials, Styles
Knowledge is power: A to Z design definitions At last: a highly affordable, user-friendly handbook on design that covers all the major concepts, materials, and styles over the last 150 years with concise, easy-to-understand definitions. And as you'd expect from TASCHEN, it's packed cover to cover with outstanding images too. An absolutely indispensable book for all design fans! The editors: Charlotte J. and Peter M. Fiell run a design consultancy in London specializing in the sale, acquisition, study and promotion of design artifacts. They have lectured widely, curated a number of exhibitions, and written numerous articles and books on design and designers, including TASCHEN?S 1000 Lights, 1000 Chairs, Design of the 20th Century, Industrial Design A-Z, Designing the 21st Century, and Scandinavian Design.
- GenresDesignArtNonfiction
189 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
5 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Fiell
111 books26 followersCharlotte Fiell is a leading authority on the history, theory and criticism of design and, to date, has written 60 books on the subject.
Charlotte initially studied at Heatherley School of Fine Art in London and then later at the British Institute in Florence. She subsequently took a BA(Hons) degree in the History of Drawing and Printmaking with Material Science at Camberwell College of Arts (UAL), London. Following on from this, she trained at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London.
Charlotte initially studied at Heatherley School of Fine Art in London and then later at the British Institute in Florence. She subsequently took a BA(Hons) degree in the History of Drawing and Printmaking with Material Science at Camberwell College of Arts (UAL), London. Following on from this, she trained at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 26, 2018
I flipped through this book in the library, and it looked pretty interesting, so I picked it up. The Design Handbook is a beginner's guide to design, and it covers various concepts, materials and styles through time (mainly modern time).
The writing in this book is clear and easy to read through. Non-fiction books can be boring for me, and I didn't find this one boring (almost). Moreover, the topics in this book are quite interesting, however, multiple topics are repeated a lot through out the book, making it a little irritating. I don't want to re-read about the same topic.
I am personally not well-knowledged about design, design trends and materials, so this book is an eye-opening read for my case. Nevertheless, I was hoping to receive more from this book (which didn't happen), and toward the end of the book, I simply lost interest in it.
It is interesting reading about all the design movements from the 18th and 19th century, but the authors of the book could've covered a little more about older periods too. At the beginning of the book, a couple old design trends are covered, and then directly after we never go back to anything before the 18th century. This led to the book being quite repetitive. It would talk about materials, movements, art institutions, magazines/journals and theories from that time era, and it keeps mentioning modernism and post-modernism... and so on.
It is an okay read for me. I don't hate it, but I don't like it either.
Nonetheless, if you are looking for a book that covers the topics I have mentioned in my review, you might actually enjoy reading this book and find it interesting.
The writing in this book is clear and easy to read through. Non-fiction books can be boring for me, and I didn't find this one boring (almost). Moreover, the topics in this book are quite interesting, however, multiple topics are repeated a lot through out the book, making it a little irritating. I don't want to re-read about the same topic.
I am personally not well-knowledged about design, design trends and materials, so this book is an eye-opening read for my case. Nevertheless, I was hoping to receive more from this book (which didn't happen), and toward the end of the book, I simply lost interest in it.
It is interesting reading about all the design movements from the 18th and 19th century, but the authors of the book could've covered a little more about older periods too. At the beginning of the book, a couple old design trends are covered, and then directly after we never go back to anything before the 18th century. This led to the book being quite repetitive. It would talk about materials, movements, art institutions, magazines/journals and theories from that time era, and it keeps mentioning modernism and post-modernism... and so on.
It is an okay read for me. I don't hate it, but I don't like it either.
Nonetheless, if you are looking for a book that covers the topics I have mentioned in my review, you might actually enjoy reading this book and find it interesting.
December 4, 2019
Nagyon érdekes olvasni, hogyan változtak a stílusok, anyagok és termékek a 19. század végétől. Arra jó, hogy utána egy kicsit más szemmel nézek a bútorokra (főleg a székekre, mert annyi fotó volt székekről a könyvben :D). Meg tudtam a soha nem kérdezett neveket, azaz a modern anyagok feltalálóit (Többek közt azt is, hogyan jutottunk el és mivé lett a "sátáni" műanyag). A tervezett elévülés és a környezetvédelem is említésre kerül, amire nem számítottam, de örültem neki. Vannak olyan információk, amik többször is szerepelnek, mivel a stílusok és alkotók hatással voltak egymásra, de ez talán nem is olyan baj. Jobban rögzül. Egyet hiányolok, ami miatt 4 csillagot kapott: a fogalmakat ábécé sorrendben mutatja be, nem pedig időrendben. Így a fejemben nehezen alakul ki a folyamat, ami a 2000-es évek design kialakulásáig vezettek.
May 14, 2022
Parfait pour réviser si vous êtes en STD2A 👌🏼
January 23, 2026
Informative and great design, thx Taschen.
March 25, 2011
Non ho trovato il titolo in italiano, tradotto per la Taschen "Guida al design".
Idea e impostazione del libro sono ottime. Sostanzialmente il libro è fatto e pensato bene, peccato che sia stato scritto con un italiano un po' pesante. Ma probabilmente per essere sintetici non si è potuto fare altrimenti. Il libro ripercorre per filo e per segno e sempre in modo sintetico la storia del design attraverso non solo le correnti artistiche e filosofiche, ma anche attraverso grandi invenzioni e scoperte come quelle: della bachelite, dell'alluminio, della ceramica, della fibra di carbonio, ed altre.
Idea e impostazione del libro sono ottime. Sostanzialmente il libro è fatto e pensato bene, peccato che sia stato scritto con un italiano un po' pesante. Ma probabilmente per essere sintetici non si è potuto fare altrimenti. Il libro ripercorre per filo e per segno e sempre in modo sintetico la storia del design attraverso non solo le correnti artistiche e filosofiche, ma anche attraverso grandi invenzioni e scoperte come quelle: della bachelite, dell'alluminio, della ceramica, della fibra di carbonio, ed altre.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews