A John Heskett Reader

A John Heskett Reader brings together a selection of the celebrated design historian John Heskett's key works, introduced and edited by Clive Dilnot of Parsons, the New School, USA. Heskett, who passed away in early 2014, was a pioneering British-born writer and lecturer. His research was foundational for the study of industrial design, and his research into the relationship between design, policy and economic value is still a regular reference-point for academics and students alike. This anthology represents well the great range of his work, covering such varied topics as the growth of Japanese industrialism, modernism in the Third Reich, and 1980's corporate design management. Including both hard-to-access and previously unpublished material like Crafts, Commerce and Industry and Economic Value of Design, the book demonstrates Heskett's passionate interest in exploring the relationship of design and making with economic value across the entirety of human history. Featured texts include, What is Design, Chinese Design: what can we learn from the past?, The 'American System' and Mass Production, The Industrial Applications of Tubular Steel, Creative Destruction: the nature and consequences of change through design, Reflections on Design and Hong Kong, besides many others.

Clive Dilnot is professor of Design Studies at Parsons The New School for Design, New York, USA. Recent publications include Ethics? Design? (2005) and, as co-author, Design and the Question of History (Bloomsbury, 2014).

Introduction: Clive Dilnot I. Key Themes Introduction 1. What is Design? 2. Commerce or Culture? Industrialization and Design 3. Design from the Standpoint of Economics/Economics from the Standpoint of Design II. Design in History & the History of Design Introduction (A) Designing and Making in the Pre-Industrial World 4. Some Lessons of Design History 5. Crafts, Commerce, Industry 6. Chinese Design: What Can We Learn from the Past? 7. Three moments in the History of Making: Nomads, Traders, Slaves (B) Designing in the Industrial World 8. The 'American System' and Mass Production 9. Writing the History of Design in the Industrial World 10. The Growth of Industrial Design in Japan (C) Design in Germany 1870-1945 11. Government Policy & German Design 1870-1918 12. The Industrial Applications of Tubular Steel 13. Modernism and Archaism in Design in the Third Reich III. Design, Business, Economics Introduction (A) Corporate design strategies Sharon Helmer Poggenpohl: Design between Economics and Practice 14. GM: The Price of Corporate Arrogance 15. Everything Changes, Nothing Alters 16. Design Management in Phillips in the 1980s 17. Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks: How RCA is using Design as a Strategic Tool 18. Current and Future Demands on Hong Kong Designers (B) National Design Policies Carlos Texeiria: John Heskett and design policy 19. National Design Policy and Economic Change 20. Learning from Germany's Integrated Design Policy 21. Design and Industry in China 22. A Design Policy for the UK: Three Suggestions (C) Creating Value by Design Tore Kristensen: John Heskett's contribution to the business and economics of design 23. Creative Destruction: The Nature and Consequences of Change through Design 24. Product Integrity 25. Cultural Human Factors 26: Creating Economic Value by Design IV. Reflections Introduction 27. Past, Present and Future in Design 28. Reflections on Design and Hong Kong 29. On Writing V. Last Words 30. Can the Centre Hold? List of acronyms Contributors Permissions and Acknowledgments Appendix: A first bibliography of John Heskett's published work Index