Design as Art

Munari's short, witty, illustrated book argues that design is not a lesser form of art but a more honest one — art that has accepted the constraint of usefulness and is better for it. The book is a collection of essays on chairs, lamps, typography, exhibitions, and the difference between luxury and comfort, written with the light touch of someone who has been thinking about these questions for decades. For product direction the value is in the attitude: Munari treats design as a way of thinking, not as a profession, and the essays train the habit of looking at ordinary objects with unusual attention. Read alongside Sennett's The Craftsman and Papanek's Design for the Real World for complementary registers. Italian design thinking at its best — short, visual, generous.