Critical Design in Context: History, Theory, and Practice

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Introducing critical design Challenging orthodoxy Challenging colloquialism: the problem with critical design What's so critical about critical design practice Why study critical design? Researching critical design practice 'Critical' in critical design practice Industrial design as a discipline The structure and approach to writing Chapter 2: History A forgotten history of critical design practice An emerging critical design practice Challenging hegemony Anti-design Participatory design Unikat Design: adding nothing but the concept Representative design Design Interactions Critical Design at the Royal College of Art Synergies between precedents and contemporary examples of critical design Chapter 3: Theories, methods and tactics Design as a medium for inquiry Post-optimal design and Para-functionality Rhetorical use Discursive design The aesthetics of use and meaningful presence Exploratory potential Design fiction Speculation and proposition Constructing publics Ambiguity Chapter 4: Criticism, function and discipline Design Art Design art and society Function in critical design practice The paradox of critical design in commercial use Modelling the field Design at users Directing critique through design practice Chapter 5: Practice Associative design Speculative design Critical design Design practice as satire The uses of narrative Rationality and ambiguity Towards a taxonomy of critical practices in design The taxonomy as an analytical tool Applications of the taxonomy Chapter 6: Critical design practice and its disciplinary contribution Summary Challenging disciplinary orthodoxy An extended role for industrial design: discipline, science and society Bibliography

About the Author :
Matt Malpass is a Senior Lecturer on MA Industrial Design and a Research Fellow in Critical Design at Central Saint Martin's College of Arts and Design, University of the Arts London, UK.

Review :
Matt Malpass introduces the boundaries of an increasingly influential subject area. Providing interesting examples, and making reference to interviews with key practitioners, a refreshing perspective is developed. This book is destined to become the definitive text of its type, and will be much sought by design researchers and practitioners alike. Matt Malpass offers a much-needed introduction and overview to critical design, covering its histories, theories and practices in a delightfully straightforward and well-organised manner. Written in a clear and engaging style, the book presents a broad and inclusive approach to critical design. Locating critical design as a response to the capture of (industrial) design by market logic, this book traces its historical and practico-theoretical antecedents as well as its salience among a plurality of like-minded contemporary design practices. A text like this is long overdue. There has been a groundswell in interest in critical design for years. From globalism to materiality to the impact of social design, this project tackles some of the biggest problems in the field. Its ambitions are significant, as is its scope.