An examination of the complex nature of design - the process and its influence within contemporary society.

A good long tradition. Design can change the world. Water. Well-being. Energy. Education. Mobility. Food. Play. Enterprise.

Written by a noted expert on and popular advocate of intelligent design, this book explores more than 60 of the toughest questions asked by experts and non-experts.

The evolution of Chinese design and the major shift in the culture of creativity in a post-Mao China. China is on the verge of a design revolution. A "third generation" of the People's Republic of China that came of age during China's "opening up" period of the 1980s now strives for fame, fortune, and self expression. This generation, workers in their thirties and forties, has more freedom to create--and to consume--than their parents or grandparents. In China's Design Revolution, Lorraine Justice maps the evolution of Chinese design and innovation. Justice explains that just as this "third generation" (post-Revolution, post-Cultural Revolution) reaches for self-expression, China's government is making massive investments in design and innovation, supporting design and creative activities (including design education programs, innovation parks, and privatized companies) at the local and national levels. The goal is to stimulate economic growth--and to establish China as a global creative power. Influenced by Mao and Confucius, communism and capitalism, patriotism and cosmopolitanism, China's third generation will drive the culture of design and innovation in China--and maybe the rest of the world. Justice describes and documents examples of Chinese design and innovation that range from ancient ceramics to communist propaganda posters. She then explores current award-winning projects in media, fashion, graphic, interior, and product design; and examines the lifestyle and purchasing trends of the "fourth generation," now in their teens and twenties. China's Design Revolution offers an essential guide to the inextricably entwined stories of design, culture, and politics in China.

Managers of design departments face numerous obstacles and questions when trying to make internal changes, including – Identifying waste in the design process Eliminating bottlenecks Reducing repetition to an absolute minimum Knowing when to employ parallel design instead of letting a designer work on a project from start to finish In this text, consultants Sekine and Arai first identify the difficulties of transforming designers from isolated, multi-project employees to team-based, production-style workers. They then explain how the latest production improvement tools such as U-cell design, one-piece flow, and waste elimination methods elicit maximum productivity from designers. A hands-on training for dramatically increasing the output of design departments, this comprehensive guide is filled with exercises, charts, Q&A, and a successful real world case study. Reaching far beyond theoretical discussion, it offers all of the information, data, and tools needed to immediately implement improvement.

Are there differences between design practice and the practice of design research? What alliances between text and artefact are possible in the search for new knowledge? How does design research translate and transform theories and methods from other disciplines? Is design research moving towards becoming a formal discipline and, if so, would this really be an advantage? 16 international authors address these four different aspects in the form of personal statements, and 19 researchers share their reflections based on their experience of having carried out a practice-based PhD. This book investigates the status quo of things in the multi-faceted and constantly evolving field of design research, and outlines the elementary issues faced by researchers. The compendium is a survey of a fast-growing field and, at the same time, provides pointers for personal orientation. With statements from: Uta Brandes, Rachel Cooper, Clive Dilnot, Michael Erlhoff, Alain Findeli, Bill Gaver, Ranulph Glanville, Matthias Held, Wolfgang Jonas, Klaus Krippendorff, Claudia Mareis, Mike Press, Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders, Arne Scheuermann, Cameron Tonkinwise, Brigitte Wolf