Essential facts, authoritative opinions and a provocative list of the most influential designers.

Design: The Definitive Directory of Modern Design is a dynamic and comprehensive guide to the subject. Global in scope, this book includes architecture, industrial design, furniture, fashion, cars, clothing, graphics, consumer products, signs and much more -- all complemented by 300 color photographs. There are also up-to-date profiles of the innovators and visionaries past and present whose achievements have forever changed the way we view ourselves and the world.

A series of essays outlines the role of design in modern cultural history and includes Terence Conran's definition of design. The main section of the book is an A-Z directory of the most influential people, products and processes of the past and present centuries and includes biographies of leading designers. The authors also share their personal views on today's newest achievers.

Among the topics examined:

• Art, industry and the beginnings of design
• The consumer age and mass consumption
• The craft ideal of old values
• The Modern movement and the romance of the machine
• America of the thirties
• Italy since the fifties
• Symbolism, the language of objects and consumer psychology
• Postmodern design, and looking to the future.

Up to date, provocative and completely original, Design will be a sourcebook for professional designers, an essential guide for students of design, and a revelation for general readers hungry for information about design and designers.

Highlights:

• 100-page A-Z directory for easy look-up
• 300 full-color illustrations with detailed captions
• Biographies of designers past and present
• Corporate histories and product appraisals
• The influence of management, cultural and social theories
• Michelin-style ratings of today's up-and-coming designers
• Brand identity and assessing brand value
• The newest types and categories of design.

The featured subjects include, among many others:

• Bauhaus
• IBM
• Sony
• Benetton
• iPod
• Tom Wolfe
• Charles Eames
• Italy's Autostrade
• Victorinox
• Eric Gill
• Philippe Starck
• Vogue
• Ferrari
• Porsche
• Walt Disney
• Frank Lloyd Wright.