Iconic Designs 50 Stories about 50 Things

Iconic Designs is a beautifully designed and illustrated guide to fifty classic 'things' – designs that we find in the city, in our homes and offices, on page and screen, and in our everyday lives. In her introduction, Grace Lees-Maffei explores the idea of iconicity and what makes a design 'iconic', and fifty essays by leading design and cultural critics address the development of each iconic 'thing', its innovative and unique qualities, and its journey to classic status.

Subjects range from the late 19th century to the present day, and include the Sydney Opera House, the Post-It Note, Coco Chanel's classic suit, the Sony Walkman™, Hello Kitty™, Helvetica, the Ford Model T, Harry Beck's diagrammatic map of the London Underground and the Apple iMac G3.

This handsome volume provides a treasure trove of 'stories' that will shed new light on the iconic designs that we use without thinking, aspire to possess, love or hate (or love to hate) and which form part of the fabric of our everyday lives.

Grace Lees-Maffei is Reader in Design History in the School of Creative Arts at the University of Hertfordshire, UK and is co-editor of The Design History Reader (Berg, 2010) and Made in Italy (Bloomsbury Academic, 2013).

General Introduction
PART ONE: HOT IN THE CITY
Part Introduction
1. Eiffel Tower, France (Gustave Eiffel, 1889)
2. Ford Model T, USA (Henry Ford, 1908)
3. London Underground Map, UK (1931)
4. Tuk Tuk, Italy/India (Corradino D’Ascanio, 1948-)
5. Sydney Opera House, Australia (Jørn Utzon, 1957-73)
6. McDonald’s Golden Arches, USA (Jim Schindler, 1962)
7. Mobility Scooter, USA (Allen R. Thieme, 1968)
8. Concorde, France/UK (Pierre Satre/Sir Archibald Russell, Aerospatiale/BAe, 1969)
9. The London Eye, UK (Marks Barfield Architects, 1999):
10. The Palm Islands, Dubai, UAE (Nakheel Properties, 2001-)
PART TWO: PAGE TURNERS AND SCREEN SIRENS
Part Introduction
11. Isotype, Austria (Marie Reidemeister, Otto Neurath, Gerd Arntz, 1925-1934)
12. Metropolis, Germany (Fritz Lang, 1927)
13. Penguin Books, UK (Allen Lane, 1935 and Jan Tschichold, 1947-9)
14. Helvetica, Switzerland (Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffman, 1957)
15. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band cover, UK (Peter Blake and Jann Haworth, 1967)
16. Bennetton Advertising Campaigns, Italy (Oliviero Toscani, 1986-)
17. World Wide Web, Switzerland (Sir Tim Berners-Lee, 1989)
18. Ray Gun, USA (David Carson, 1992-2000)
19. Ebay.com, USA (Pierre Omidyar, 1997)
20. Facebook, USA (Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, 2003)
PART THREE: GENIUS AT WORK
Part Introduction
21. Paper clip, USA (Samuel B. Fay, 1867)
22. Wooton Desk, USA (William S. Wooton, 1870)
23. Incandescent Light Bulb, USA (Thomas Edison, 1880)
24. Streamlined Pencil Sharpener, USA (Raymond Loewy, 1933)
25. Bic Cristal pen, France (Décolletage Plastique design team, Société PPA, 1949-50)
26. Polyprop Chair, UK (Robin Day, 1963)
27. Valentine Typewriter, Italy (Ettore Sottsass Jnr for Olivetti, 1969)
28. Rubik’s Cube, Hungary (Erno Rubik, 1974)
29. Post-It Note, USA, 1980 (Art Fry, 3M)
30. iMac G3, USA (Jonathan Ive for Apple Inc., 1998-2003)
PART FOUR: HOME RULES
Part Introduction
31. Jasperware, UK (Josiah Wedgwood, 1775)
32. Heinz Brand (Henry J. Heinz & L. Clarence Noble, 1869)
33. ‘Strawberry Thief’ furnishing fabric, UK (William Morris, 1883)
34. Frankfurt Kitchen, Germany (Grete Schütte-Lihotzky, 1926)
35. Model B3 ‘Wassily’ Chair, Germany (Marcel Breuer, 1925-6)
36. Princess Telephone, USA (Henry Dreyfuss for Bell Telephone, 1959)
37. LEGO, Denmark (Ole Kirk Christiansen, 1958)
38. Barbie, USA (Mattel, 1959)
39. Juicy Salif, Italy (Philippe Starck, 1990)
40. Dyson DC01 vacuum cleaner, UK (James Dyson, 1993)
PART FIVE: PERSONAL EFFECTS
Part Introduction
41. Chopsticks, Ancient China (n.d.)
42. Zori and Flip-flop Sandal, Japan/World (n.d.)
43. Levis Jeans, USA (Jacob Davis and Levis Strauss & Co., 1873)
44. Brownie Camera, USA (Eastman Kodak, 1888)
45. Swiss Army knife, Switzerland (Karl Elsener, Victorinox, 1891)
46. Chanel Suit, France (Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel, n.d., f. 1909)
47. Coca-Cola Bottle, USA (Earl R. Dean, 1915)
48. Hello Kitty, Japan (Yuko Shimizu for Sanrio, 1974)
49. Sony Walkman, Japan (Nobutoshi Kihara, 1978)
50. Wind-Up Radio, UK/South Africa (Trevor Baylis, 1992)
Notes
Bibliography
Index