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"The book is very clearly laid out and represents a thoughtful, diagrammatical approach to reading. Expertly written and well crafted, it avoids the 'heavy image' approach of other general design books." Shea Tillman, Auburn University, USA. "Very relevant for the Product Design element of the course. We have a well-equipped workshop and this book will provide a useful structure - moving from the social use of product design, throught the design cycle, to making it happen. Well illustrated, combined with well placed theoretical references." Sarah Britten Jones, Thames Valley University, UK. "Great book ... Nice layout - good pictures. All material up to date - very important." Christian Lystager, KEA, Denmark. 'This book gives a real insight into what it means to think and work as a product designer today. It reveals the breath of the subject and gives an excellent understanding and appreciation of the multi-disciplinary nature of product design ... I think this book will be essential for students to get a deeper understanding of the definition of product design.' Diane Simpson-Little, University of Sussex, UK.
Product Description
Thinking Objects: Contemporary Approaches to Product Design is an innovative, wide-ranging guide to great product design. This book reveals how designers can learn to read the signals an object sends, interpret meaning, discover historical context and use those messages in their own new product designs. Globalisation, technology, the media and the need for a sustainable future are all part of contemporary product design. This comprehensive guide helps students and designers everywhere to incorporate these influences and more. Thinking Objects: Contemporary Approaches to Product Design provides an essential reference tool that will enable the reader to find their own style and succeed in the industry.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent,
By
This review is from: Thinking: Objects - Contemporary Approaches to Product Design (Paperback)
Very well structured and a very fine selection of design products to back it up
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
very well structured book,
This review is from: Thinking: Objects - Contemporary Approaches to Product Design (Paperback)
When i got the book it was an inch thick and i was thinking i'd get bored. When i opened it though i was pleasantly surprised - the book is broken down into colour coded chapters so its easy to find what your looking for and save the other bits for reading later.The clear spacious pages are illustrated with full colour pictures and examples described in the text. The book looks at product design from different points of view including quotes of what various product designers think the definition of product design is, how they approach eg. the design and re-design process (eg. model making) etc. The book also looks at the complex duties of a designer including ethics and sustainability plus the pitfalls of copying someone elses existing design. The book challenges the linear approach to design; easy for a client to grasp but not always successful as a blanket solution. It talks about how a designers personal experiences can influence the way they design including cultural differences eg. bicycles in japan have small wheels and are foldable compared to somewhere else (like the uk) where the wheels are larger depending on what the customer wants. Each designer can make their own design choices and take tips from other designers rather than be told this is how you should design. Overall I think this book is a valuable resource for any designer and because the paragraphs are not that long you can break down your reading into chunks for more effective learning. I can't really think of any negatives to this book at the moment.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
well laid out book, great resource for any product designer,
By Ms Muli - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Thinking: Objects - Contemporary Approaches to Product Design (Paperback)
When i got the book it was an inch thick and i was thinking i'd get bored. When i opened it though i was pleasantly surprised - the book is broken down into colour coded chapters so its easy to find what your looking for and save the other bits for reading later.The clear spacious pages are illustrated with full colour pictures and examples described in the text. The book looks at product design from different points of view including quotes of what various product designers think the definition of product design is, how they approach eg. the design and re-design process (eg. model making) etc. The book also looks at the complex duties of a designer including ethics and sustainability plus the pitfalls of copying someone elses existing design. The book challenges the linear approach to design; easy for a client to grasp but not always successful as a blanket solution. It talks about how a designers personal experiences can influence the way they design including cultural differences eg. bicycles in japan have small wheels and are foldable compared to somewhere else (like the uk) where the wheels are larger depending on what the customer wants. Each designer can make their own design choices and take tips from other designers rather than be told this is how you should design. Overall I think this book is a valuable resource for any designer and because the paragraphs are not that long you can break down your reading into chunks for more effective learning. I can't really think of any negatives to this book at the moment.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
so good,
By Dan - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Thinking: Objects - Contemporary Approaches to Product Design (Paperback)
At first glance the colors, layout, even the texture of the pages gave me the impression this would be more of a pretty coffee table book with lots of photos covering product design through history, maybe with a few interesting stories. However, I was completely stunned by how much content there was.
The book starts out looking at the birth of product design as a career, then moves on to cover politics, cultural identity, the use of archetypes, semiotics, improvisation, taboo, and collective memory (to name a few), as they relate to the design of objects. The chapter on what motivates designers is absolutely jam-packed with inspiration and reading the section on the various design processes, thinking, and idea generation techniques blew my mind. Finally, the book concludes with a very practical section on employment, commission, and speculative work. I found that almost everything covered is written in a very dense (but clear) language. I had to read several parts more than once to completely soak in all the points. In addition, each page is littered with reputable sources, which can be looked to for more information on the various points covered in the book, and the photos selected to back up each argument are great examples and subsequently work as a fantastic selection of visual inspiration from a diverse range of backgrounds. But I think my favorite part about this book is how every sector of product design is covered in such an unbiased way. While Tim Parsons does strongly voice his opinion on matters such as `The Ethics of Labor', he consistently provides a case for designers who work in the realms of high technology, craft, design for contemplation, etc.... The book also covers topics such as sustainability and design for developing countries in a very sensitive yet dynamic way with arguments and ideas that go far beyond the obvious. This book is useful to anyone who thinks. Designer or not, I genuinely feel that after perusing this book you will walk away with something amazing.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive, and clever. Highly recommended!,
By Tal Sharon-huber - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Thinking: Objects - Contemporary Approaches to Product Design (Paperback)
So many times I heard students asking for a DESIGN THEORY course for Industrial Designers. While that may be a good idea for the program to have, there is no reason not to venture out and learn from other sources. THINKING: OBJECTS by Tim Parsons is probably the most readable, comprehensive, and clever book on the subject I had ever laid my brains on. Highly recommended!
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