Overall Rating: 8.5/10
Reviewed by James Novak
Overview:
A book of inspiration for both designer and gadget
lover alike, this book is full of products that collapse, interlock, fold,
expand, inflate, stack, stretch, concertina, wrap… you get the idea. Hundreds
of illustrations and photos, with simple supportive text, make the book very
enjoyable and quick to flip through as you seek ideas for your own work.
Products range from furniture, tents, containers, utensils, clothing,
electronics, transportation and many more, so you are bound to find something
new and exciting within the pages of this book.
About the author:
At the time of writing, Per was director of Mollerup
Designlab, a leading Scandinavian design firm. However, as of February 2009,
this company was closed after 25 years. Currently Per is sharing his knowledge
as a professor at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.
Relevance to product
design: 10/10
This book was
recommended to me as I was experimenting with different ways for a particular
design to open/close and be stored in a compact way. Chances are at some point
you will be looking for solutions to similar problems, and this book may just
provide the inspiration you need. Often an important part of designing a
product or packaging solution is the overall size or ability for it to be
compactly stored away when not in use, and this book neatly categorises
existing solutions to these and many more problems.
Is the book informative?:
7/10
Great diagrams
and/or photos describe exactly how the design collapses, with simple text used
to provide added information regarding materials, uses, manufacturer etc. Added
to this, the book includes designs from several centuries ago up until the date
of publishing (2001) so it is possible to see how space-saving ideas have
progressed throughout history, and also learn from these tried-and-tested
techniques.
Is the book easy to read?: 10/10
As I have mentioned, this book is extremely easy to
flip through and quick to understand. Great images explain exactly what you
need to know, and text is kept to a minimum, used to supplement the images with
additional facts rather than attempting to explain ideas with words only.
Is it aesthetically
pleasing?: 7/10
Of course a book
full of useful, descriptive images will be visually appealing. The chapters are
neatly organised, and the layout of projects, while sometimes a little random,
is meant to encourage idea generation and quick viewing. It would be great for
an updated version to be released with more recent designs and a slightly more
modern format.
Is it a favourite book?:
YES
Consider this book a tool
for idea generation; it is fantastic as a source of inspiration, and provides a
specific bank of knowledge that I am sure all product designers would make use
of at least once in their career. Obviously I am already a fan as it has helped
my design project progress, and I can recommend it to anyone looking for a book
full of fun, unique, quirky and proven ideas to the problem of storage and
space-saving.
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