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Thinking: Objects: Contemporary Approaches to Product Design

Tim Parsons


Thinking: Objects: Contemporary Approaches to Product Design is an in-depth study of contemporary product design. It discusses influences on modern product design such as globalization, technology, the media and the need for a sustainable future, and demonstrates how students can incorporate these influences into their own work.

The book also discusses how students can learn to read the signals an object sends, interpret meaning and discover historical context. Thinking: Objects provides an essential reference tool that will enable a student to find their own style and succeed in the industry.

Key Points

  • A detailed overview of contemporary product design.
  • Discusses the trends and influences on modern product design and explores how students can incorporate these into their own work.
  • Includes informative case studies and a wide variety of illustrative examples from the best in twenty-first-century product design.

Readership: Required Reading Range (Course Reader)

  • These reference titles are specifically structured to support the lifetime of an undergraduate degree and provide a detailed exploration of the discipline covered.
  • This book is an ideal core text for modules based on contemporary product design or contextual theory, as part of a larger design degree.

Tim Parsons is a product designer, writer and lecturer on design. He has worked with manufacturers in Britain and Europe and exhibited widely. He has contributed articles to publications including Blueprint and Phaidon’s Design Classics. His London studio creates tableware, lighting, accessories, furniture, and more.

Visit his blog, Object Thinking.

I am impressed by the scope and richness of the content. Very interesting and sober analysis of ‘phenomena’ within the design field. Well done! Relevant to anyone working professionally or in education.

Olof Kolte, Lund University, Sweden

978 2 940373 74 1

$45.00 srp

192 pages
200 colour images
300mm x 220mm
Paperback with flaps

Spring 2009