The Design History Reader

Abstract

This text is an anthology that explores Design History as a discipline, an area of research, which is contextualising the role of design within our social history. The extracts featured begin in the 1700s, the point at which design and manufacture separated, to contemporary times. Design History takes information from scholarly and polemical books, articles, exhibition catalogues, and magazines, with the extracts placed in themed sections. These sections are individually introduced and finish with a guide for further research. Exploring both primary texts (for example, designer’s writings) and secondary texts (key works of design), this book provides an extensive outlook for understanding the history of design, the discipline’s development, and modern issues in design.