100 of the World's Most Exceptional Young Product Designers Selected by 10 Design Critics, Including Tom Dixon
"Designers have a responsibility to show the future as they want it to be--or at least as it can be--not just the way an industry wants it to be..." -Yves Béhar, designer
Five years after the success of the groundbreaking SPOON (2002), which featured a steel-covered spoon shaped book cover, Phaidon announces the publication of a follow up collection. AND FORK is a comprehensive global overview of new industrial design today. This generously illustrated volume presents 100 of the most exceptional product designers that have recently emerged on the international scene, selected by 10 of the world's top design critics including Chieko Yoshiie of Casa Brutus in Japan, Francesca Picchi of Domus, Tom Dixon from Habitat UK and Sang-kyu Kim, a Korea-based design curator.
AND FORK features 1,000 color illustrations of hundreds of innovative products created by the most forward-thinking young designers working today. A wide range of objects (including chairs, lighting, footwear, kitchen accessories and electronics) provide an up-to-date snapshot of the newest developments in the design world. The book will be an indispensable reference for students, designers, architects and the general public interested in learning about contemporary design in everyday life.
With the expertise of a highly knowledgeable group of design stars, AND FORK is set on the same table as Spoon. The 100 designers selected come from an impressive 24 countries including Brazil, Japan, Finland, UK, Denmark, Israel, Australia, South Korea and USA. Recent trends in design are revealed, such as a new generation of designers more concerned with social responsibility and the ethics of design, new product design that caters to our increasing dependence on portable and personal technology, and a rise in collaboration between young designers.
Some highlights from AND FORK include:
* D-Bros: The Japan-based design group is best known for their charming Hope Forever Blossoming Vase. It's a simple flat plastic bag, but when you pour water into it, it expands to take on both the look and behavior of a glass flower vase.
* Piet Hein Eek: Much of the Dutch designer's furniture is made from reclaimed scrap wood. He is an example of many of the young designers featured in AND FORK that are using environmentally-friendly or recycled materials and innovative manufacturing techniques. Eek says, "I like using materials that are worthless and acting as though they are precious."
* Jennifer Carpenter: The New York-based designer has made her most distinctive mark on children's products, designing an infant bed that easily converts into toddler furniture. She has said, "Let's face it, baby products are not the sexiest arena, some designers would rather be working on the next iPod...but the breast pump is what really needs the help."
* Simon Heijdens: Heijdens is fascinated with the way things evolve over time which inspired the Broken White project (2004). He designed a set of ceramic bowls and plates that are immaculate and white when new, but as they are used, delicate cracks appear in the glazing and with time slowly spread to form a decoration. In result, the most used, favorite items stand out portraying the intimate relationship between user and object.
Arranged in alphabetical order, AND FORK displays each designer on four pages that include photographs, technical drawings and text written by the curators on why the designer's work has been chosen and details on future design plans. Each curator has also chosen one piece of design, such as the Radio Ts2 or the Schwinn Stingray bicycle, for the 'Good Design' chapter of the book. These are classics that have made a significant impact on the design world, and still influence young designers today.
The pages of AND FORK illustrate superlative cutting-edge work from designers whose products often display subversive manufacturing techniques, exciting displays of materials or refreshing twists on the everyday object. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of design.
Emilia Terragni, Editorial Director at Phaidon Press, says in the book's introduction, "Good design has never before been so readily available, whether in products that make our lives simpler, or simply in those that make us smile. AND FORK is an invaluable reference book on an industry that continues to shape the way we live."...
