Design for the Real World

• essays, austrian, non-fiction, reading

Design for the Real World by Victor Papanek is a classic anyone involved in design can benefit from. In this edition, Victor Papanek examines the attempts by designers to combat the tawdry, the unsafe, and the frivolous. He provides a blueprint for sensible, responsible, eco-friendly design in this world which is deficient in resources and energy.

PART ONE: HOW IT IS

  1. WHAT IS DESIGN? A definition of the function complex

  2. PHYLOGENICIDE: A history of the industrial design profession

  3. THE MYTH OF THE NOBLE SLOB: Design, “art,” and the crafts

  4. DO-IT-YOURSELF MURDER: Social and moral responsibilities of design

  5. OUR KLEENEX CULTURE: Obsolescence and value

  6. SNAKE OIL AND THALIDOMIDE: Mass leisure and phony fads

PART TWO: HOW IT COULD BE

  1. REBEL WITH A CAUSE: Invention and innovation

  2. THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE: Biological prototypes in design

  3. DESIGN RESPONSIBILITY: Five myths and six directions

  4. ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN: Pollution, crowding, ecology

  5. THE NEON BLACKBOARD: Design education and design teams

  6. DESIGN FOR SURVIVAL AND SURVIVAL THROUGH DESIGN: A summation