A subjective field guide to design from renowned design critic and author Alice Rawsthorn

Design is one of the most powerful forces in our lives--and it has never been more exciting. At a time when so many aspects of our lives are changing at a relentless speed on an unprecedented scale, design is increasingly seen as a way to help us benefit from the opportunities created by those changes (and to avoid their dangers).

Design is responding to an age of intense economic, political and ecological instability with resourcefulness and creativity. Public interest is soaring as a new generation of designers is using advanced technologies to pursue their political and environmental objectives in increasingly ambitious projects, as well as to reinvent the objects and spaces we use every day.

Written by one of the world's leading design and culture commentators, London-based critic and journalist Alice Rawsthorn, Design as an Attitude is conceived as a subjective field guide to design. In an authoritative and enjoyable voice, Rawsthorn demystifies the field, explores the most dynamic developments in contemporary design and assesses their impact on our lives now and in the future. From book-making to social design, from the craft revival to design's gender politics, Design as an Attitude offers a comprehensive survey of design today.

Based in London, Alice Rawsthorn (born 1958) is an award-winning design critic and the author of several books on design. Her last book, the critically acclaimed Hello World: Where Design Meets Life, explores design's influence on our lives. An influential public speaker on design, she has participated in important global events including the TED conference in Vancouver and the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She is a trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery and has been awarded an OBE for services to design and the arts.