True Cost Button-Pushing: Rewriting Industrial Design in America

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Author(s)
Hall, Peter
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2011
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Histories of industrial design in the USA, with their flamboyant characters, Depression to postwar boom narratives, and eminently photogenic objects, are so deeply and vividly embedded in other histories of the twentieth century that any attempt to rewrite them faces palpable resistance. This paper is an attempt to encourage a re-writing by examining the pitfalls in predominant histories, which are premised on a model of a "naturally" acquisitive American character-type and a design profession invented to initiate and sustain a consumer culture of instant gratification through strategies of obsolescence.Histories of industrial design in the USA, with their flamboyant characters, Depression to postwar boom narratives, and eminently photogenic objects, are so deeply and vividly embedded in other histories of the twentieth century that any attempt to rewrite them faces palpable resistance. This paper is an attempt to encourage a re-writing by examining the pitfalls in predominant histories, which are premised on a model of a "naturally" acquisitive American character-type and a design profession invented to initiate and sustain a consumer culture of instant gratification through strategies of obsolescence.
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Journal Title
Design Philosophy Papers
Volume
2
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2011. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. For information about this journal please refer to the journal’s website or contact the author.
Subject
Design Management and Studio and Professional Practice
Design Practice and Management
Philosophy