Product Description
Corporate design may often look as though it were created by a machine, or a committee. But the most memorable and beautiful consumer products, packaging, and environments are the work of individuals with high standards and a unique vision. Profile Pentagram Design focuses on the personalities of the 19 partners who run the world-famous firm based in London, Berlin, New York, San Francisco, and Austin, Texas. Lively essays by 19 writers, including radio host Kurt Andersen, novelist Louis Begley, and author Alain de Botton, humanize the firm's serenely iconic status. Each partner's approach involves a personal blend of intuition and analysis. Kit Hinrichs, who has worked for companies from Crocker Bank to Dryer's Ice Cream, says he creates "time bridges" in his work with treasured objects from his suburban California youth, including Boy Scout merit badges, Popular Mechanics magazines, and an edition of the Bible in which key passages were printed in red type. Daniel Weil says his understated designs for plates, blankets and other cabin accessories for United Airlines were based on a study of purchasing systems and business customer expectations. While Pentagram is known for the elegance and clarity of its work, some of the partners push that classicism into unexpected places. Paula Sher's passion is letterforms. She views typography as a kind of illustration, with huge, bold letters staking out psychic territory on a poster or swarming over a building. Then there's DJ Stout, former art director at Texas Monthly magazine, who put a drawing of Ross Perot as Alfred E. Newman on the cover of the June 1992 issue. As a Pentagram partner, Stout's wit takes more subtle forms, including his canny remake of an early Land's End lighthouse symbol into a timeless emblem—-a stack of three white stripes topped with a triangular beacon. Elegantly designed (by Pentagram), with more than 200 illustrations, this book is a must for anyone interested in the look of contemporary objects, from books to buildings. —-Cathy Curtis
About the Author
Susan Yelavich is a freelance writer based in New York and specializing in design. The Assistant Director for Public Programs at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum from 1994-2002, Yelavich co-curated the Museum's acclaimed National Design Triennial. Her publications include Inside Design Now (2003), and The Edge of the Millennium (1993). She is a contributing editor to various magazines and in 2003 was awarded the Rome Prize in Design from the American Academy in Rome. Rick Poynor is the founder of Eye magazine. His books on design and visual culture include Typographica and Obey the Giant: Life in the Image World, a collection of essays. No More Rules, a critical study on graphic design and postmodernism, was published in 2003. Janet Abrams is Director of the University of Minnesota Design Institute, a think tank on public realm design. She is also a journalist and architectural historian. Kurt Andersen is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Turn of the Century and host of Studio 360, an award-winning weekly public radio program about culture. He was co-founder and editor of Spy magazine, editor-in-chief of New York magazine, a cultural columnist for The New Yorker, and Time magazine's architecture and critic. Stephen Bayley created the V&A's Boilerhouse Project and London's Design Museum, which evolved from it. He is a well-known commentator on design and popular culture whose books include Taste, Harley Earl and the Dream Machine, Sex, and In Good Shape. Louis Begley is a lawyer and critically acclaimed author, most notably of the international bestsellers Wartime Lies and Schmidt Delivered. Alain de Botton is a philosopher living in London. His most recent books include How Proust can change your Life, The Consolations of Philosophy, and The Art of Travel. Robert Draper is a writer-at-large for GQ magazine, a former senior editor at Texas Monthly and the author of several fiction and non-fiction books. Owen Edwards, the former executive editor of American Photographer, is the author of two best-selling design books, Quintessence and Elegant Solutions. He was also the founding editor of Parenting magazine. Paul Goldberger is the architecture critic of The New Yorker, and the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in criticism for his writings in The New York Times. He is now at work on a book on the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. Rose George writes features for The Independent on Sunday, The Guardian, London Review of Books, JANE, and others. She is also Features Editor of TANK magazine. Mike Hicks is a designer, writer, author, artist, and composer living in Austin, Texas. His work has been featured in numerous shows, magazines, and museums. John Hockenberry is a design writer and prominent correspondent for NBC News. He is the author of Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs and Declarations of Independence, a memoir, and the novel A River Out of Eden. Karrie Jacobs writes about architecture and design for Metropolis and The New York Times. She was the founding editor of Dwell Magazine. Emily King is the designer/editor of Frieze magazine. Recent projects include editing the book Designed by Peter Saville and curating the British Council exhibition The Book Corner. Lance Knobel is an independent writer and strategy adviser. He has served as an adviser in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit in London and was formerly director of the programme of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum. Jeremy Myerson is Professor of Design Studies & Co-Director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre at London's Royal College of Art. He is the author of a number of books, including Rewind: 40 years of Design and Advertising and New Public Architecture. Deyan Sudjic is the editor of the architecture magazine Domus, and a columnist for the Observer. He is writing a book on the connections between architecture and power. Kurt Weideman is a noted author and type designer. He is a Professor at the Stuttgart Academy of Fine Arts and has published several books on typography, design, and language. Lorraine Wild is a graphic designer in Los Angeles. She teaches at the California Institute of the Arts.
