The Invention of Design - by Maggie Gram (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Design has penetrated every dimension of contemporary society, from classrooms to statehouses to corporate boardrooms. It's seen as a kind of mega-power, one that can solve all our problems and elevate our experiences to make a more beautiful, more functional world. But there's a backstory here. In The Invention of Design, designer and historian Maggie Gram investigates how, over the twentieth century, our economic hopes, fears, and fantasies shaped the idea of "design"-then repeatedly redefined it. Nearly a century ago, resistance to New Deal-era government intervention helped transform design from an idea about aesthetics into one about function. And at century's end, the dot-com crash brought us "design thinking": the idea that design methodology can solve any problem, small or large. To this day, design captures imaginations as a tool for fixing market society's broken parts from within, supposedly enabling us to thrive within capitalism's sometimes violent constraints. A captivating critical history, The Invention of Design shows how design became the hero of many of our most hopeful stories-dreams, fantasies, utopias-about how we might better live in a modern world"--

Book Synopsis

A critical history of the idea of design--and its utopian promise

Design has penetrated every dimension of contemporary society, from classrooms to statehouses to corporate boardrooms. It's seen as a kind of mega-power, one that can solve all our problems and elevate our experiences to make a more beautiful, more functional world.

But there's a backstory here. In The Invention of Design, designer and historian Maggie Gram investigates how, over the twentieth century, our economic hopes, fears, and fantasies shaped the idea of "design"--then repeatedly redefined it. Nearly a century ago, resistance to New Deal-era government intervention helped transform design from an idea about aesthetics into one about function. And at century's end, the dot-com crash brought us "design thinking" the idea that design methodology can solve any problem, small or large. To this day, design captures imaginations as a tool for fixing market society's broken parts from within, supposedly enabling us to thrive within capitalism's sometimes violent constraints.

A captivating critical history, The Invention of Design shows how design became the hero of many of our most hopeful stories--dreams, fantasies, utopias--about how we might better live in a modern world.

Review Quotes

"[Gram] offers a rich, literate exploration of how the concept of design emerged as a way to humanize and soften the harsh edges of capitalism."--Kirkus

"Sweeping and superbly researched, Gram's account makes an intriguing case that design 'helped people imagine' that society was governed by 'rational' forces at a time when mass industrialization was tearing apart the social fabric. It's a riveting intellectual history."--Publishers Weekly (Starred)

"A lucid, humane, and consistently fascinating history of the concept of design told through the lives and ideas of some of its most talented exponents. A knowledgeable practitioner and a beautiful writer, Gram skillfully illuminates design's critical role in the shaping of modern society."--Nikil Saval, author of Cubed

"This book is the secret history of the twentieth century. Gram introduces us to a cast of characters whose names you have never heard, but whose ideas produced the user-friendly look and feel of our world. Her approach is beautifully balanced. She distinguishes the ingenuity from the hype--and there was a lot of hype. But she shows us that although design alone will not cure all the inequities of life under capitalism, it can help."--Louis Menand, author of The Free World

"This is a book I've been waiting for. Gram effortlessly synthesizes across histories of industry, geopolitics, craft, and social movements, animating each with characters both known and obscure-- the dreamers, pragmatists, revolutionaries, bureaucrats, and CEOs who all shaped the big tent known as design. Erudite, ambitious, and plainspoken, The Invention of Design is an ideal companion for the reader who wants to see design made newly strange and contingent."--Sara Hendren, designer and author of What Can a Body Do?

"With The Invention of Design, Gram has created something I did not think was possible: A sweeping account of the world of design that will engage curious readers who know nothing about the subject, and, at the same time, surprise readers who think they know everything about it. It is expansive, erudite, skeptical, optimistic, and an absolute blast to read. I only wish my mom had lived long enough to read it, so she could finally understand what I do for a living."--Michael Bierut, graphic designer, Pentagram

"A stunner. In a series of absorbing, well-crafted episodes, Maggie Gram both lures you into the world of design and poses hard questions about it. This book goes down easy but packs a wallop."--Daniel Immerwahr, author of How to Hide an Empire

"A sharp, perpetually surprising, connection-filled excavation of how 'design' came to rule our present. You won't look at your phone, your chair, or the horizon the same afterward."--Hua Hsu, author of Stay True

About the Author

Maggie Gram is a writer, cultural historian, and designer. She leads an experience-design team at Google. She has taught at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Washington University in St. Louis, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, and Harvard University, and she has written for n+1 and the New York Times. She lives in New York.