Twentieth-Century Design

by Jonathan M. Woodham

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 the powerful and complex expression of aesthetic, social, economic, political, and technological forces.

Genres: Design, Art, Nonfiction, Art History, Reference, History

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Roxy]

4.5 rounded up

[Finn O'Bryan]

Good references.

[Ed]

Easy to pick up and fascinating. Having no deep knowledge of design, this shed a new light on part of the world for me. Great for occasionally picking up and making slow progress through.