Iconic Designs: 50 Stories about 50 Things

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Grace Lees-Maffei

Bloomsbury, London, New York, 2014, English

Nonfiction, Product/Industrial Design

7.5 x 9.75 inches, hardcover, 240 pages, 50 color illustrations

ISBN: 9780857853523

Suggested Retail Price: $40.00

From the Publisher. Iconic Designs is a beautifully designed and illustrated guide to 50 classic “things”—designs that we find in the city, in our homes and offices, on page and screen, and in our everyday lives. In her introduction, Grace Lees-Maffei explores the idea of iconicity and what makes a design “iconic,” and 50 essays by leading design and cultural critics address the development of each iconic “thing,” its innovative and unique qualities, and its journey to classic status.

Subjects range from the late 19th century to the present day, and include the Sydney Opera House, the Post-It Note, Coco Chanel's classic suit, the Sony Walkman™, Hello Kitty™, Helvetica, the Ford Model T, Harry Beck’s diagrammatic map of the London Underground and the Apple iMac G3.

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