Writing Design: Words and Objects

This text encourages readers to consider how we learn about the objects that surround us. Besides seeing and making use of objects through the senses, we also learn via language, in the written and spoken word. This includes shop advertising and product labels, or the recommendation of a magazine. However, despite design commentators becoming increasingly aware of the issues of mediation, the ways in which language and design interact are relatively under-discussed in the field. This book is an unprecedented exploration of what is at risk, or the potential loss in translation, when the material properties of designed goods are converted into a verbal or textual description. Some ideas that are examined are how text influences design consumption, designing with and through language, and the challenges raised by design without language. This book features several contributors from a wide professional background in order to highlight the problems, ethics and politics of writing about design.