British design from 1948 : innovation in the modern age

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This visually stunning book, created for a major V&A exhibition, celebrates the best of British design from 1948 to today. Essays by leading curators as well as pieces by key designers--including Peter Saville, Barbara Hulanicki, Paul Smith, and Tom Dixon--build a comprehensive survey of more than 400 of the finest examples of fashion and textiles, furniture, ceramics and glass, theater design, graphics, photography, architecture, and fine art and sculpture from the period. From works commissioned for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II to the globally influential, and very British, counterculture, included here are works created for the 1960s boutiques of Mary Quant and Ossie Clark through the club cultures of punk, the new Romantics, and rave.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Britain barely survived WW II. The war was followed by a lengthy period of austerity. Yet the period during and after the war saw a flowering of creativity that continues today. Drawings, posters, photographs, film, furniture, fashion, and more--all depicting this period--are illustrated in this beautiful exhibition catalogue from the Victoria and Albert Museum. Intended to mark the 2012 London Olympics, it commemorates 60 years of British design. The catalogue is divided into three parts: "Tradition and Modernity 1945-79"; "Subversion 1955-97"; and "Innovation and Creativity 1963-2012." Each section comprises a collection of essays, with a focus article or two, written by a multitude of contributors. Eclectic--with some odd juxtapositions of themes and images--the catalogue can only skim the surface of such a lengthy period of multiple and divergent societal, economic, and cultural changes. Tying together such an extensive, varied period of creativity in one volume is difficult. This work on British design is itself well designed, with each section of the book set in a different British typeface. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates, professionals, and general readers. N. J. Quinlan Nova Southeastern University