Table Of ContentDesign: A Very Short Introduction
Very Short Introductions are for anyone wanting a stimulating
and accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and have
been published in more than 25 languages worldwide.
The series began in 1995, and now represents a wide variety of topics
in history, philosophy, religion, science, and the humanities. Over the next
few years it will grow to a library of around 200 volumes – a Very Short
Introduction to everything from ancient Egypt and Indian philosophy to
conceptual art and cosmology.
Very Short Introductions available now:
ANARCHISM Colin Ward CHOICE THEORY
ANCIENT EGYPT Ian Shaw Michael Allingham
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY CHRISTIAN ART Beth Williamson
Julia Annas CHRISTIANITY Linda Woodhead
ANCIENT WARFARE CLASSICS Mary Beard and
Harry Sidebottom John Henderson
THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE CLAUSEWITZ Michael Howard
John Blair THE COLD WAR Robert McMahon
ANIMAL RIGHTS CONSCIOUSNESS
David DeGrazia Susan Blackmore
ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn Continental Philosophy
ARCHITECTURE Simon Critchley
Andrew Ballantyne COSMOLOGY Peter Coles
ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes CRYPTOGRAPHY
ART HISTORY Dana Arnold Fred Piper and Sean Murphy
ART THEORY DADA AND SURREALISM
Cynthia Freeland David Hopkins
THE HISTORY OF Darwin Jonathan Howard
ASTRONOMY Michael Hoskin Democracy Bernard Crick
Atheism Julian Baggini DESCARTES Tom Sorell
Augustine Henry Chadwick DESIGN John Heskett
BARTHES Jonathan Culler DINOSAURS David Norman
THE BIBLE John Riches DREAMING J. Allan Hobson
BRITISH POLITICS DRUGS Leslie Iversen
Anthony Wright THE EARTH Martin Redfern
Buddha Michael Carrithers EGYPTIAN MYTH Geraldine Pinch
BUDDHISM Damien Keown EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
BUDDHIST ETHICS BRITAIN Paul Langford
Damien Keown EMOTION Dylan Evans
CAPITALISM James Fulcher EMPIRE Stephen Howe
THE CELTS Barry Cunliffe ENGELS Terrell Carver
Ethics Simon Blackburn MEDICAL ETHICS Tony Hope
The European Union MEDIEVAL BRITAIN
John Pinder John Gillingham and Ralph A. Griffiths
EVOLUTION MODERN ART David Cottington
Brian and Deborah Charlesworth MODERN IRELAND Senia Pasˇeta
FASCISM Kevin Passmore MOLECULES Philip Ball
FOUCAULT Gary Gutting MUSIC Nicholas Cook
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Myth Robert A. Segal
William Doyle NIETZSCHE Michael Tanner
FREE WILL Thomas Pink NINETEENTH-CENTURY
Freud Anthony Storr BRITAIN Christopher Harvie and
Galileo Stillman Drake H. C. G. Matthew
Gandhi Bhikhu Parekh NORTHERN IRELAND
GLOBALIZATION Manfred Steger Marc Mulholland
GLOBAL WARMING Mark Maslin PARTICLE PHYSICS
Habermas James Gordon Frank Close
Finlayson paul E. P. Sanders
HEGEL Peter Singer Philosophy Edward Craig
HEIDEGGER Michael Inwood PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
HIEROGLYPHS Penelope Wilson Samir Okasha
HINDUISM Kim Knott PLATO Julia Annas
HISTORY John H. Arnold POLITICS Kenneth Minogue
HOBBES Richard Tuck POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
HUME A. J. Ayer David Miller
IDEOLOGY Michael Freeden POSTCOLONIALISM
Indian Philosophy Robert Young
Sue Hamilton POSTMODERNISM
Intelligence Ian J. Deary Christopher Butler
ISLAM Malise Ruthven POSTSTRUCTURALISM
JUDAISM Norman Solomon Catherine Belsey
Jung Anthony Stevens PREHISTORY Chris Gosden
KAFKA Ritchie Robertson PRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY
KANT Roger Scruton Catherine Osborne
KIERKEGAARD Patrick Gardiner Psychology Gillian Butler and
THE KORAN Michael Cook Freda McManus
LINGUISTICS Peter Matthews QUANTUM THEORY
LITERARY THEORY John Polkinghorne
Jonathan Culler RENAISSANCE ART
LOCKE John Dunn Geraldine A. Johnson
LOGIC Graham Priest ROMAN BRITAIN
MACHIAVELLI Quentin Skinner Peter Salway
MARX Peter Singer ROUSSEAU Robert Wokler
MATHEMATICS Timothy Gowers RUSSELL A. C. Grayling
RUSSIAN LITERATURE SOCIOLOGY Steve Bruce
Catriona Kelly Socrates C. C. W. Taylor
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR
S. A. Smith Helen Graham
SCHIZOPHRENIA SPINOZA Roger Scruton
Chris Frith and Eve Johnstone STUART BRITAIN John Morrill
SCHOPENHAUER TERRORISM Charles Townshend
Christopher Janaway THEOLOGY David F. Ford
SHAKESPEARE THE TUDORS John Guy
Germaine Greer TWENTIETH-CENTURY
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL BRITAIN Kenneth O. Morgan
ANTHROPOLOGY Wittgenstein A. C. Grayling
John Monaghan and Peter Just WORLD MUSIC Philip Bohlman
Available soon:
AFRICAN HISTORY HIROSHIMA B. R. Tomlinson
John Parker and Richard Rathbone HUMAN EVOLUTION
THE BRAIN Michael O’Shea Bernard Wood
CHAOS Leonard Smith INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
CITIZENSHIP Richard Bellamy Paul Wilkinson
CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE JAZZ Brian Morton
Robert Tavernor MANDELA Tom Lodge
CLONING Arlene Judith Klotzko THE MARQUIS DE SADE
CONTEMPORARY ART John Phillips
Julian Stallabrass THE MIND Martin Davies
THE CRUSADES NATIONALISM Steven Grosby
Christopher Tyerman PERCEPTION Richard Gregory
THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Timothy Lim Jack Copeland and
Derrida Simon Glendinning Diane Proudfoot
ECONOMICS Partha Dasgupta PHOTOGRAPHY Steve Edwards
THE ELEMENTS Philip Ball THE RAJ Denis Judd
THE END OF THE WORLD THE RENAISSANCE
Bill McGuire Jerry Brotton
EXISTENTIALISM Thomas Flynn ROMAN EMPIRE
FEMINISM Margaret Walters Christopher Kelly
THE FIRST WORLD WAR SARTRE Christina Howells
Michael Howard TIME Leofranc Holford-Strevens
FOSSILS Keith Thomson TRAGEDY Adrian Poole
FUNDAMENTALISM THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Malise Ruthven Martin Conway
For more information visit our web site
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John Heskett
DESIGN
A Very Short Introduction
1
3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp
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© John Heskett 2002
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First published in hardback 2002
First published in paperback 2003
First published as a Very Short Introduction 2005
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Typeset by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed in Great Britain by
TJ International Ltd., Padstow, Cornwall
ISBN 0–19–285446–1 978–0–19–285446–9
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To Pamela
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Contents
List of illustrations xi
1
What is design? 1
2
The historical evolution of design 8
3
Utility and significance 24
4
Objects 37
5
Communications 55
6
Environments 68
7
Identities 84
8
Systems 97
9
Contexts 112
10
Futures 129
Further reading 137
Index 143
