Design as an Attitude

Authoritative and engaging, Design as an Attitude explains how design is responding to an age of intense economic, political, and ecological instability. It shows how resourceful designers are using new digital tools to help to tackle the environmental and refugee crises, and to reinvent dysfunctional social services.The book charts different aspects of contemporary design: from its role in interpreting new technologies and the emergence of a new wave of digitally empowered designers in Africa, to the craft revival, design's gender politics, design's contribution to tackling the environmental crisis and climate change, and its use in expressing our increasingly fluid personal identities. Design as an Attitude also tells the stories of the new design adventurers, such as Irma Boom, Studio Formafantasma, Jing He, and Hella Jongerius, among others.Design as an Attitude consists of an introduction followed by 12 chapters: What is Attitudinal Design?; Spot the Difference--Design and Art; The Craft Revival; The Descent of Objects; Back to the Future; Is Design Still a (cis) Man's World?; Design's Colour Problem; The Fun of the Fair; Choices, Choices, Choices; Out of Control; Design and Desire; and, When the Worst Comes to the Worst.An award-winning design critic and author, Alice Rawsthorn OBE (b.1958, Manchester) wrote a weekly design column for The New York Times, which was syndicated worldwide for over a decade. Her previous books include the critically acclaimed, Hello World: Where Design Meets Life (2013).Based in London, Rawsthorn speaks on design at global events, including TED and the World Economic Forum in Davos. This book is part of the JRP Ringier Documents series, co-published with Les presses du réel and dedicated to critical writing.