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Design: Intelligence Made Visible
10th January 2008
Written by Stephen Bayley and Terence Conran, Design: Intelligence Made Visible is a encyclopedic evaluation of product and graphic design.
With over 300 pages, the book is introduced with eight essays overviewing design history through the ages and then an A-Z section, which concentrates on modern design and its icons. This is one hefty labour of love!
The design of the book is well thought out as we would expect, with a lot of breathing room for large images and clean text columns.
It’s snappily written, lively and doesn’t get bogged down with oblique references. They have managed to pull in a spectacular range of images; the roof of Mattè-Trucco’s Fiat Works and the Douglas DC-4 crossing Lower Manhattan are two beautiful examples.
What I find most interesting is both Bayley’s and Conran’s opinions on their subjects. This isn’t some dry exercise in illustrating history. There are amusing anecdotes and at times some strange comments which seem throw away and catty, which just adds to the pleasure.
It has been my favourite book to dip into since I bought it last year. All in all it is a wonderful reference (if very opinionated) and dare I say, it’ll look nice beside your IKEA catalogues on the coffee table.
