[...]... Courtesy Amazon 27 Harry Beck’s London Transport map, 19 33 10 2 © London Transport Museum 18 American and Japanese bathrooms 72 © Gary Russ/Image Bank; © Michael Freeman/Corbis 19 TBWA/Chiat/Day offices in Los Angeles by Clive Wilkinson 79 Courtesy TBWA/Chiat/Day 28 Hong Kong dual language road signage 10 4 © Corbis 29 Siematic modular kitchen system Courtesy Siematic UK 10 9 30 Nokia portable telephone 11 7... the basic characteristics of what it is to be human, and an essential determinant of the quality of human life It affects everyone in every detail of every aspect of what they do throughout each day As such, it matters profoundly Very few aspects of the material environment are incapable of improvement in some significant way by greater attention being paid to their design Inadequate lighting, machines...This page intentionally left blank List of illustrations 1 Greenland Eskimo kayak 11 6 19 36 Oldsmobile convertible © Staffan Widstrand/Bruce Coleman 21 © Ludvigsen Library 7 Toothpicks 2 The Australian aboriginal woomera 13 © Corbis 29 8 Rolls-Royce Park Ward 2000 30 © AutoExpress 3 Guild houses, Grand Palace, Brussels 15 Courtesy Belgian Tourist Office 4 Commode attributed to André Charles Boulle, Paris,... nuclear physics, can be so esoteric that no such mutual understanding exists and approaches from first principles become necessary 1 Design Design sits uncomfortably between these two extremes As a word it is common enough, but it is full of incongruities, has innumerable manifestations, and lacks boundaries that give clarity and definition As a practice, design generates vast quantities of material,... highly variable, dependent upon levels of individual taste in the absence of any fixed canons These do indeed constitute a significant part of contemporary design practice, and are the subject of much commentary and a substantial proportion of advertising expenditure Other points of emphasis might be on technical practice, or on the crafts Although substantial, however, these are all facets of an underlying... widespread agreement about its significance and value, much confusion surrounds design practice In some subject areas, authors can assume common ground with readers; in an introduction to architecture or history, for example, although the precise degree of readers’ knowledge might vary substantially, a reasonably accurate concept of what constitutes the subject can be relied on Other subjects, such as nuclear... Courtesy Nokia 32 OXO Goodgrips kitchen tools –‘Y’ peeler 11 9 Courtesy OXO International 31 ERCO architectural lighting systems Courtesy ERCO 11 8 33 Danish Design Council books 12 4 The publisher and the author apologize for any errors or omissions in the above list If contacted they will be pleased to rectify these at the earliest opportunity This page intentionally left blank Chapter 1 What is design? ... Herman Miller/ www.hermanmiller.com/europe 24 FedEx redesigned corporate logo by Landor Associates 94 Courtesy Landor Associates 15 Hong Kong street signs 56 © Corbis 16 Munich Olympic pictogram system by Otl Aicher, 19 72 © Topfoto.co.uk/FNP 57 © 19 76 by ERCO Leuchten GmbH 17 Amazon.com page 25 Lady Thatcher covering up the new BA identity with a handkerchief 95 26 British road signage system templates... Paris, c 17 10 © Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg 39 Courtesy Modus Publicity 17 © Partridge Fine Arts, London/ www.bridgeman.co.uk 5 Lidded jug by Christopher Dresser, Sheffield, 18 85 9 ‘Juicy Salif’ by Philippe Starck, for Alessi 10 Vienna streetcar, designed by Porsche 11 19 41 Courtesy archiv.pg/Siemens VW Golf by Giorgetto Giugiaro, 19 74 43 © National Motor Museum, Beaulieu 12 Braun travelling... Type AB 312 , by Dieter Rams and Dietrich Lubs 20 US strip malls 44 © OUP, permission courtesy Braun 13 Apple iMac by Jonathan Ive 81 © Joel W Rogers/Corbis 21 Niketown, Chicago 83 Courtesy Niketown Chicago 22 The national identity of Slovenia 45 86 © Corbis Courtesy Apple 14 Aeron chair by Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf for Herman Miller 23 0ld and new BT telephone kiosks 88 © BT Corporate Picture Library . Introductions available now: ANARCHISM Colin Ward ANCIENT EGYPT Ian Shaw ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Julia Annas ANCIENT WARFARE Harry Sidebottom THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE John Blair ANIMAL RIGHTS David DeGrazia ARCHAEOLOGY. DeGrazia ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn ARCHITECTURE Andrew Ballantyne ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes ART HISTORY Dana Arnold ART THEORY Cynthia Freeland THE HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY Michael Hoskin Atheism Julian Baggini Augustine. illustrations 1. Greenland Eskimo kayak 11 © Staffan Widstrand/Bruce Coleman 2. The Australian aboriginal woomera 13 © Corbis 3. Guild houses, Grand Palace, Brussels 15 Courtesy Belgian Tourist Office 4.