Overview

In The Language of Things, the director of London's Design Museum charts our relationship with all things designed. With scintillating wit and an eye for the pleasures and dangers of rampant consumerism, Deyan Sudjic takes us from luxury car commercials to glossy advertisements for seasonal variations of the Prada purse to the hype surrounding the latest version of the iPhone, exploring how we are manipulated and seduced by our possessions. Who would've thought that it's the subtle visual similarity between the Volkswagen Golf GTI and the barrel of an automatic pistol that makes people want to get behind the wheel? And why is it that digital cameras in cell phones ""click"" even though they don't have a shutter? Sudjic's illuminating argument will resound with anyone who has ever been affected by how things look—lured, in other words, by the powerful siren call of design.

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Reviews

The Language of Things reads like a good conversation with someone who has a deep understanding of his subject matter.... A provocative and effective way of looking at our world through the lens of objects. --John Dunningan, Dean of Architecture and Design, Rhode Island School of Design

A mind-broadening look at how designers of all kinds make our material world what it is.... Full of eye-opening examples of design at its most daring--and most successful.--Henry Petrosky, author of Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design

[Sudjic] writes beautifully, communicating an expert knowledge of design in words so well crafted that you look forward to every sentence.--Bill Moggridge, cofounder of IDEO and author of Designing Interactions A deep, penetrating look at the ever-perilous battle among the competing forces of art, fashion, and practicality.... Difficult to read because I was laughing so much, I kept losing my place.--Donald Norman, author of Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things [Sudjic] views the world of objects that surrounds us with both unabashed passion and supreme skepticism.... We could ask for no better guide.--Michael Bierut, author of Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design A mind-broadening look at how designers of all kinds make our material world what it is.... Full of eye-opening examples of design at its most daring--and most successful.--Henry Petrosky, author of Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design An evocative, sometimes disturbing, always intelligent book about the poetry of material things.--Richard Sennett, author of The Culture of the New Capitalism The Language of Things reads like a good conversation with someone who has a deep understanding of his subject matter.... A provocative and effective way of looking at our world through the lens of objects.--John Dunningan, Dean of Architecture and Design, Rhode Island School of Design

<em>The Language of Things</em> reads like a good conversation with someone who has a deep understanding of his subject matter.... A provocative and effective way of looking at our world through the lens of objects.</p>--John Dunningan, Dean of Architecture and Design, Rhode Island School of Design

Author Information

Deyan Sudjic is director of the Design Museum, London. He is the author of 100-Mile City and The Edifice Complex and the coauthor of The Architecture Pack.

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