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Design as an Attitude
A subjective field guide to design from renowned design critic and author Alice Rawsthorn
Design is one of the most powerful forces in our lives—and it has never been more exciting. At a time when so many aspects of our lives are changing at a relentless speed on an unprecedented scale, design is increasingly seen as a way to help us benefit from the opportunities created by those changes (and to avoid their dangers).
Design is responding to an age of intense economic, political and ecological instability with resourcefulness and creativity. Public interest is soaring as a new generation of designers is using advanced technologies to pursue their political and environmental objectives in increasingly ambitious projects, as well as to reinvent the objects and spaces we use every day.
Written by one of the world’s leading design and culture commentators, London-based critic and journalist Alice Rawsthorn, Design as an Attitude is conceived as a subjective field guide to design. In an authoritative and enjoyable voice, Rawsthorn demystifies the field, explores the most dynamic developments in contemporary design and assesses their impact on our lives now and in the future. From book-making to social design, from the craft revival to design’s gender politics, Design as an Attitude offers a comprehensive survey of design today.
Based in London, Alice Rawsthorn (born 1958) is an award-winning design critic and the author of several books on design. Her last book, the critically acclaimed Hello World: Where Design Meets Life, explores design's influence on our lives. An influential public speaker on design, she has participated in important global events including the TED conference in Vancouver and the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She is a trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery and has been awarded an OBE for services to design and the arts.
Design is one of the most powerful forces in our lives—and it has never been more exciting. At a time when so many aspects of our lives are changing at a relentless speed on an unprecedented scale, design is increasingly seen as a way to help us benefit from the opportunities created by those changes (and to avoid their dangers).
Design is responding to an age of intense economic, political and ecological instability with resourcefulness and creativity. Public interest is soaring as a new generation of designers is using advanced technologies to pursue their political and environmental objectives in increasingly ambitious projects, as well as to reinvent the objects and spaces we use every day.
Written by one of the world’s leading design and culture commentators, London-based critic and journalist Alice Rawsthorn, Design as an Attitude is conceived as a subjective field guide to design. In an authoritative and enjoyable voice, Rawsthorn demystifies the field, explores the most dynamic developments in contemporary design and assesses their impact on our lives now and in the future. From book-making to social design, from the craft revival to design’s gender politics, Design as an Attitude offers a comprehensive survey of design today.
Based in London, Alice Rawsthorn (born 1958) is an award-winning design critic and the author of several books on design. Her last book, the critically acclaimed Hello World: Where Design Meets Life, explores design's influence on our lives. An influential public speaker on design, she has participated in important global events including the TED conference in Vancouver and the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She is a trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery and has been awarded an OBE for services to design and the arts.
195 pages, Paperback
Published August 28, 2018
62 people are currently reading
951 people want to read
About the author
Alice Rawsthorn
25 books24 followersAlice Rawsthorn is an award-winning design critic and the author of critically acclaimed books on design, including Hello World: Where Design Meets Life, Design as an Attitude and, most recently, Design Emergency: Building a Better Future. She is a co-founder with Paola Antonelli of the Design Emergency project to investigate design's role as a force for positive change. In all her work, Alice champions design's potential to address complex social, political and ecological challenges.
An influential public speaker and social media commentator on design, Alice has participated in important global events including TED and the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Her TED talk has been viewed by over a million people worldwide. One of The Big Issue's 100 Changemakers 2023 for her work on Design Emergency, she was awarded an OBE for services to design and the arts.
Born in Manchester and based in London, Alice graduated in art history from Cambridge University. She was an award-winning journalist for the Financial Times for nearly twenty years, working as a foreign correspondent in Paris and pioneering the FT's coverage of the creative industries. For over a decade, Alice was design critic of the international edition of The New York Times, writing a weekly Design column, which was syndicated to other media worldwide.
An honorary senior fellow of the Royal College of Art with an honorary doctorate from the University of the Arts, Alice is a founding member of the OECD's Future of Democracy Network, of the advisory board of the DemocracyNext research and action institute and of Writers at Liberty, a group of writers who are committed to championing human rights and freedoms as supporters of the human rights charity Liberty.
Alice has served on many cultural juries including: the Turner Prize for contemporary art; the Stirling Prize for architecture; the PEN History Book Prize; the Aga Khan Award for Architecture; the Buckminster Fuller Challenge; the Museum of the Year award; the Rome Prize for Architecture and Design; the Soane Medal for Architecture; and the BAFTA film and television awards.
A former chair of the boards of trustees of The Hepworth Wakefield museum in Yorkshire, Chisenhale Gallery in London and Michael Clark Company, the contemporary dance group, Alice was a longstanding trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery. A trustee of Arts Council England from 2006 to 2013, she is a past chair of the British Council's Design Advisory Group and a former member of the Design Council and of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Design. From 2018 to 2023, Alice was a member of the UK government's Honours Committee for Arts and Media.
As well as contributing essays to a number of books on design and contemporary culture, Alice is the author of an acclaimed biography of the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and Hello World: Where Design Meets Life, described by the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist as "panoramic in scope, passionately argued and highly addictive to read". Design as an Attitude is published globally by JRP|Ringier and Design Emergency: Building a Better Future, co-written with Paola Antonelli, by Phaidon. Alice's books have been translated into over a dozen languages.
An influential public speaker and social media commentator on design, Alice has participated in important global events including TED and the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Her TED talk has been viewed by over a million people worldwide. One of The Big Issue's 100 Changemakers 2023 for her work on Design Emergency, she was awarded an OBE for services to design and the arts.
Born in Manchester and based in London, Alice graduated in art history from Cambridge University. She was an award-winning journalist for the Financial Times for nearly twenty years, working as a foreign correspondent in Paris and pioneering the FT's coverage of the creative industries. For over a decade, Alice was design critic of the international edition of The New York Times, writing a weekly Design column, which was syndicated to other media worldwide.
An honorary senior fellow of the Royal College of Art with an honorary doctorate from the University of the Arts, Alice is a founding member of the OECD's Future of Democracy Network, of the advisory board of the DemocracyNext research and action institute and of Writers at Liberty, a group of writers who are committed to championing human rights and freedoms as supporters of the human rights charity Liberty.
Alice has served on many cultural juries including: the Turner Prize for contemporary art; the Stirling Prize for architecture; the PEN History Book Prize; the Aga Khan Award for Architecture; the Buckminster Fuller Challenge; the Museum of the Year award; the Rome Prize for Architecture and Design; the Soane Medal for Architecture; and the BAFTA film and television awards.
A former chair of the boards of trustees of The Hepworth Wakefield museum in Yorkshire, Chisenhale Gallery in London and Michael Clark Company, the contemporary dance group, Alice was a longstanding trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery. A trustee of Arts Council England from 2006 to 2013, she is a past chair of the British Council's Design Advisory Group and a former member of the Design Council and of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Design. From 2018 to 2023, Alice was a member of the UK government's Honours Committee for Arts and Media.
As well as contributing essays to a number of books on design and contemporary culture, Alice is the author of an acclaimed biography of the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and Hello World: Where Design Meets Life, described by the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist as "panoramic in scope, passionately argued and highly addictive to read". Design as an Attitude is published globally by JRP|Ringier and Design Emergency: Building a Better Future, co-written with Paola Antonelli, by Phaidon. Alice's books have been translated into over a dozen languages.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 27, 2022
Really interesting and well researched book about design and its challenges including important examples throughout the years.
A must read for every designer or design loving person.
I just wished there were more pictures showing the mentioned projects. As a designer who also studied the design history, most of the examples were familiar but there were still some left which I had to google while reading.
A must read for every designer or design loving person.
I just wished there were more pictures showing the mentioned projects. As a designer who also studied the design history, most of the examples were familiar but there were still some left which I had to google while reading.
January 31, 2023
Me ha gustado mucho este libro, está lleno de ensayos en que se reflexiona sobre el papel que tiene hoy en día el diseño. Me ha abierto la mente hacia otras ideas que no había tenido en cuenta y hablado de proyectos que no conocía.
October 30, 2021
Contemporary design challenges reflected through very readable storytelling
February 28, 2025
1) Me senti inspirada a criar coisas novas
2) Explica de forma simples, com referências diversas a abstração do design e o papel do designer atitudinal
3) Super interessante como coloca em perspectiva a famosa frase de 1896 "A forma segue a função"
4) Várias referências brasileiras
5) Fiquei interessada em sacar mais de design sensorial
2) Explica de forma simples, com referências diversas a abstração do design e o papel do designer atitudinal
3) Super interessante como coloca em perspectiva a famosa frase de 1896 "A forma segue a função"
4) Várias referências brasileiras
5) Fiquei interessada em sacar mais de design sensorial
May 12, 2025
3.5 Took a lot of notes from it! Was a complicated read for me, but I learned a lot!
May 11, 2021
An essencial book for people interested in design. Alice write about a lot of interesting design projects and also, about all the imperfections that are today in this area. It makes you change your mind about how this profession must change in the future and how you can be part of the movement.
January 26, 2023
Some of the ideas and mentioned projects were interesting and provided great inspiration and food for thoughts, but overall the book did not worked for me, I struggled to sort out, what the book aspires to be (is it short essays? is this just an overview of design projects that share certain qualities / attitudes?) Somehow it did not land with me. But to be fair, it might be just my bad expectation management.
December 24, 2022
A collections of essays that make a compelling argument in favour of reevaluating the importance of design for current and future problems and crises. It is incredibly well written and offers a wide selection of examples and references.
Some of the essays I liked less than others, but it is a great reference book for any student. Reminded me a lot of B for Bauhaus by Deyan Sudjic.
Some of the essays I liked less than others, but it is a great reference book for any student. Reminded me a lot of B for Bauhaus by Deyan Sudjic.
March 30, 2025
delícia ler um livro de design e escrito por uma mulher, esse combo é mais difícil do que parece e é sempre fortalecedor.
Aqui temos como resultado um livro inclusivo e diverso, aquele trata o design por uma perspectiva de atitude e não de mercado. Apresenta projetos com enfoque raciais, de gênero e para além do design eurocentrado.
forte recomendação a todos!
Aqui temos como resultado um livro inclusivo e diverso, aquele trata o design por uma perspectiva de atitude e não de mercado. Apresenta projetos com enfoque raciais, de gênero e para além do design eurocentrado.
forte recomendação a todos!
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January 25, 2022Recommended by Dr Michelle Darlington
She describes design as the imaginative pursuit of social and environmental justice. The book includes lots of nice stories and examples. It's inspiring, nicely written and not too long. Good summer reading.
She describes design as the imaginative pursuit of social and environmental justice. The book includes lots of nice stories and examples. It's inspiring, nicely written and not too long. Good summer reading.
January 6, 2026
o livro propõe o design como uma postura crítica e responsável, mostrando que projetar é sempre tomar posição ética, política e cultural… nunca um ato neutro; gostei muito da leitura e ela foi essencial para a minha pesquisa
September 8, 2018
Excellent survey of the recent trends and relevant topics in design.
January 20, 2020
I wish more popular design writing was like this. Historically literate yet timely, accessible yet insightful. And most importantly, focused and engagingly written. A treat.
January 3, 2021
I felt very artsy reading it.
May 25, 2021
Es genial para sacar referencias. Tiene capítulos más y menos sustanciales para mis intereses.
January 12, 2022
Great take on the constant evolution and value of a discipline where objects used to be the obvious and expected outcome.
January 19, 2025
It’s a real shallow analysis based on several case studies. It has the same critical dimension of the author’s Instragram posts.
August 31, 2021
A pretty indispensable snapshot of design as practiced today, knotty ethical conundrums and all.
July 21, 2025
Quizá por un tema de expectativas, me ha resultado un poco decepcionante - me quedaba constantemente con la sensación de que no me contaba nada nuevo. Eso sí, como material pedagógico para alumnado de diseño, indispensable. Aglutina en un libro muchísimas de las premisas que he ido reflexionando a lo largo de toda mi formación - un regalo, creo, para la gente que se está formando ahora.
November 8, 2019
Inspiring, but also quite repetitive and subjective at places.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews