Available for purchase via Bloomsbury etextbooks on publication date
Description
This is a revised and updated introduction to the diverse range of theories and methodologies in design history.
Design history has become a complex and wide-ranging discipline, examining artefacts from conception to development, production, mediation and consumption. This book presents a comprehensive overview of the seminal theoretical frameworks and methodological underpinnings for analyzing objects in recent decades, tracing the historiography, interdisciplinary approaches and key issues concerning knowledge and meaning in design.
Restructured and updated throughout, this new edition includes:
- Expanded analysis of design history in dialogue with neighbouring fields such as design research, material culture, museology, anthropology, business history and the history of technology
- Perspectives and findings from recent scholarship focusing on decolonial approaches, politics of identity and pluralistic outlooks in design history
- New illustrations, now in colour, including examples beyond Eurocentric contexts
- Two new chapters covering:
1. Geographies of design history, discussing world history, globalization and the planetary, as well as regional histories, decolonial approaches and the notion of the transnational
2. Ecologies of design history, addressing the attempts to grapple with issues of ecology, sustainability and environmental concerns
A map to the intellectual landscape of design history, this book is an invaluable and up-to-date guide for both students and scholars.
Accessibility Information
Additional accessibility information
- PDF/UA-2, 1.4
- accessibility@bloomsbury.com
Hazards
The publication contains no hazards
Support for non-visual reading
Has alternative text descriptions for images
Navigation
- Page list to go to pages from the print source version
- Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
- All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1. Historiographies
Chapter 2. Objects and Objectives
Chapter 3. Theories and Methodologies
Chapter 4. Epistemologies
Chapter 5. Geographies
Chapter 6. Ecologies
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Product details
| Published | Dec 10 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 2nd |
| Pages | 224 |
| ISBN | 9781350568136 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Visual Arts |
| Illustrations | 60 colour illus |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |

























