Design: The Whole Story

An essential visual guide to the sophisticated attempts of manufacturers to woo us with high functionality, good looks – and that indefinable feeling of the future

From the cars we drive and the products we buy to the graphics that surround us, we are all consumers of design. Design: The Whole Story provides all the information you need to decode the material world.

Design: The Whole Story takes a close look at the key developments, movements and practitioners of design around the world, from the beginnings of industrial manufacturing to the present day. Organized chronologically,
it locates design within its technological, cultural, economic, aesthetic and theoretical contexts.

From the high-minded moralists of the 19th century to the radical thinkers of modernism – and from the emergence of showmen such as Raymond Loewy in the 1930s to today’s superstars such as Philippe Starck – the book provides in-depth coverage of a subject that touches all our lives.

Iconic works that mark significant steps forward or that characterize a particular era or approach – such as Marcel Breuer’s Wassily chair of 1925 or Jonathan Ive’s iPhone, which rewrote the rules of the smartphone – are analysed in detail, while the text sets out the framework of ideas, intent and technology within which differing approaches to design have evolved.

Elizabeth Wilhide is the author or co-author of acclaimed books on design and interiors, including William Morris: Décor and Design, Sir Edwin Lutyens: Designing in the English Tradition, The Mackintosh Style and Scandinavian Modern Home. Jonathan Glancey was the architecture and design editor at the Guardian from 1997 to 2012. He now reports on architecture and design for BBC Culture.