Japanese design - Kathryn B Hiesinger

This is a presentation of modern design in Japan, documenting an interpretation of the forms and aesthetics of products made for everyday use. Tracing the development of more than 250 objects - ranging from a simple white porcelain soy-sauce container of the 1950s to the complex electronic equipment and pace-setting fashions of the 1980s and 1990s - this book examines the work or designers who have challenged their Western counterparts in terms of adventurousness and originality.;Encompassing the fields of furniture, fashion, textile design, housewares, consumer electronics, graphics, packaging, and crafts, it explores the quality that makes the objects featured quintessentially Japanese.;The authors describe the antecedents of Japanese design and its postwar history. Seventeen Japanese designers, critics, and corporate managers discuss design education, marketing, government, and organizational involvements; survey the development of their particular fields; and provide personal statements and corporate profiles.