Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #471312 in Books
• Published on: 1997-05-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Library Journal
One of the first six volumes of the new Oxford series, this is a useful and concise summary of 20th-century design in both the Western industrialized world and the Far East. Woodham (history of design, Univ. of Brighton) freely admits that some influences, such as multiculturalism, perestroika, and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, have been omitted in hopes that this will enhance future studies in these areas. The work reads like a global who's who of designers, architects, cultural and national design organizations, and corporate icons. Each of the ten chapters focuses on a component of design, such as modernism, consumerism, reconstruction after World War II, nostalgia and heritage, and social responsibility. The illustrations fit the text and reflect classic design examples. Woodham successfully highlights design as a powerful marketing tool that has captured the international consumer through culture, socioeconomics, politics, and technology. Highly recommended.?Stephen Allan Patrick, East Tenn. State Univ. Lib., Johnson City
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
`Twentieth-Century Design is extremely thoroughly researched' Art Review, April 1997

`for a good general introduction to the subject you could not go very far wrong with Jonathan Woodham's excellent Twentieth Century Design ... Yet another example of the impressive new Oxford History of Art series.' The Bookseller

`Fully and often surprisingly illustrated, carefully annotated and captioned, each combines a historical overview with a nicely opinionated individual approach.' Independent on Sunday

`Woodham gives a deftly organised, extremely cool-headed account of the ideological spoon-fights behind the product ranges of modern capitalism: his range of reference and eye for detail are superb.' The Guardian

`a superb piece of publishing' Rupert Christiansen, Spectator

...a valuable contribution to the field of design studies, and it deserves careful attention. Woodham is one of many intelligent writers in the new wave of British design history. His book...is likely to become a benchmark for measuring the aspirations and accomplishments of the movement. His book is a reasonable and valuable exploration of design history that is not easily falsified. - Richard Buchanan. Journal of Design History. Vol 11 1998.

About the Author

Jonathan M. Woodham is Director of the Design History Research Centre, University of Brighton, and review editor of Journal of Design History. His publications include Twentieth-Century Ornament: Decoration from 1900 to the Present.

Customer Reviews

"New" design history
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.